Petaurum Solutions Designs HR Strategy for Leading Electrical Engineering Firm to Drive Business Performance and Growth

The need:

Leading Electrical Engineering firm, Baldwin & Francis, with a hundred year history in powering hazardous environments such as mining, rail, industry, oil and gas, identified the need for an injection of specialist HR capability to ensure it was fit, agile and well positioned to deal with the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. Managing Director, Stephen Clarke, sought out Petaurum Solutions to assist Baldwin & Francis with the design of an HR Strategy and framework for future growth.

Having little in the way of a framework for Human Resources, Baldwin & Francis were looking to implement consistent, modern HR practices that would drive business performance and future expansion. The objectives of the project were to scope a comprehensive HR Strategy and roadmap for implementation; and to develop the detailed components of an HR Framework to ensure that the basic HR foundations were in place.

At the centre of this HR strategy was the aim to create a sustainable solution for the future – assuring the company’s presence for the next 100 years. In order to achieve this, Petaurum Solutions were mindful of the need to:

• Focus on the benefits of an engaged workforce with high staff morale
• Manage risk
• Understand the individual and collective performance contributions of the workforce within a highly technical profession
• Instil a culture based on high performance and mutual respect

Implementation:

With over twenty years of experience in HR strategies and solutions, Adam Davey Director at Petaurum Solutions, set about developing a six tier HR strategy to take the business into the twenty-first century to become a high performing business, whilst still retaining its core values.

“One of the greatest strengths of the business was how they thought about their staff. The business acted and felt like a family, and staff morale was a key component in developing the HR strategy. However, because the business didn’t have any formal HR practices, the culture and values of the business weren’t clear and in order to enable future growth, we needed to set clear expectations regarding staff performance and rewards to maintain morale and to encourage growth.”

“Through our onsite engagement and analysis of the needs of the business, we developed an HR Strategy based on the following core pillars:”

1. Career Family Framework – A simple framework that set out how the business organises, manages and develops their people.
2. Reward and Recognition – A plan which outlines the way that staff are rewarded as a whole.
3. Values and Behaviours – Setting expectations and defining the key characteristics of an employee.  These were built into all aspects of the HR Framework.
4. Performance and Development – Creating a high performance culture which includes a Performance & Development Review process, Job Descriptions, Core Objectives, Induction Programme, Skills Matrix and Training Needs Analysis.
5. Workforce Planning – A strategy document that links the business demands with resource requirements. This also included sections on Talent Management, Resource Planning, Succession Planning and the approach to Recruitment.
6. Communication and Engagement – A plan to win hearts and minds through communicating effectively.

“Our direction was clear – to create a sustainable and reliant HR solution that the business would be able to drive at their own pace and manage themselves without having to be reliant on external HR consultants.”

With this objective in mind, Petaurum Solutions approached the project through a blend of onsite engagement and offsite delivery.  Mary Jones, HR consultant at Petaurum Solutions, would visit Baldwin & Francis regularly, not only to soak up the culture of the business, but also to gather information and meet with key stakeholders to better understand the business and its requirements.

This information was then taken away, where the component parts of the HR strategy were designed and joined together in a cohesive way to create a sustainable solution that Baldwin & Francis could implement and drive for themselves. The components of the strategy included: the six core pillars and a set of guiding principles and values that influence how colleagues in the business deal with each other and behave at work.  This was underpinned by the HR Foundations, including; the creation of policies and procedures, contracts of employment, a Governance Framework and set of controls; as well as a Management Information Dashboard.

Mary’s onsite engagement also played a pivotal role in the introduction of the new HR strategy and overseeing the change management process where she began introducing and familiarising the key stakeholders to the newly designed HR components.

The Outcome:

The entire creation and implementation of the HR framework for Baldwin & Francis, was completed within eight months. The approach taken by Petaurum Solutions in consultation with Baldwin & Francis, resulted in the business becoming an adaptable multi-skilled workforce that continually improves business performance through the effective use of staff resources. Through the implemented Reward and Recognition strategy, Managers ensure that the staff are recognised and rewarded for their productivity and commitment to the business. The current workforce is also skilled and better equipped to meet the current and future needs of the business, ensuring the longevity of Baldwin & Francis for another 100 years. Baldwin & Francis’ commitment to their staff and their wellbeing has continued to be at the core of the new HR approach, securing their loyalty and performance in years to come.

Stephen Clarke, Managing Director at Baldwin & Francis, said:

Our work with Petaurum Solutions was built upon an open and honest relationship with candid dialogue, where we worked together to explore HR strategies and concepts that would benefit Baldwin & Francis. I was able to define the outcomes that I felt were essential to Baldwin & Francis to motivate staff and grow the business. Petaurum Solutions then translated these into sustainable and bespoke HR solutions that we could implement and manage ourselves. I am pleased that this partnership and process has resulted in us achieving our objectives, leading to Baldwin & Francis becoming an engaged and high performing business, where our staff feel motivated and proud to work for the business.