Why Skills-Based Recruitment Drives Innovation in Rail

I recently joined Johannah Randall and Liam Henderson on the Rail Innovation Group'sWhat Moves Us podcast, and one of the things we discussed was the question of why so many good people in transport are currently choosing to stay where they are.

From the conversations with my network, Great British Railways, bus franchising and Mayoral Combined Authorities taking on routes are all big factors in this. There’s a huge amount of change, all landing at once, and what I’m seeing is candidates who would potentially normally be open to a move, deciding to wait it out instead. There could be a promotion around the corner, or maybe a severance package - or there could be useful learnings by simply staying put. They’re all valid reasons but I wonder what impact this will have on a sector that needs fresh thinking.

I've spent a lot of my career encouraging clients to look outside the sector. I ask them to look at the job spec and the person spec, and ask why. Why do you need all of this? Who else in your organisation already has some of these skills? What could you genuinely live without? What could you accommodate if there's a gap? Because I really believe that you can teach someone the technical knowledge but you can't teach attitude.

The richest source of innovation in any organisation isn't technology, it's the range of thinking your people bring, and you simply don't get that range by hiring the same profile every time.

You can listen to the full conversation, including a bit about the leap of going solo and my work with Women in Transport, here.