We are committed to the development of our people at all levels within the organisation, to ensure strong leadership and succession planning, senior management and team leader competency and the highest standards of skills across all disciplines.

Our key focus is to ensure employees are equipped to carry out their roles effectively. We have a company-wide employee development review (EDR) process, which assesses talent and development needs and helps to support succession planning. Individual employee requirements in all aspects of training are incorporated in the annual business training plans. Some requirements are fulfilled in company-wide programmes, other development needs for specific roles are addressed through individual development and training interventions.

Global Energy MBA (Warwick Business School)

Building on the success of 2009 when we sponsored five managers to participate in the Global Energy MBA at Warwick Business School, we sponsored another two managers to take the MBA. The three-year, part-time programme is based on Warwick’s MBA, but with a specific focus on the needs of the energy sector.

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People Leader Programme

Our People Leader Programme is designed to support our people as they begin their management careers. The programme consists of four separate modules, totalling seven days’ development:

1. Your Role As A Leader – covering leadership models, coaching, feedback and personal awareness
2. Leading Health & Safety – covering management responsibilities with regard to health and safety
3. Performance Management – covering the Performance Management policy and process and the soft skills needed to conduct face-to-face interventions
4. Dealing With People Situations – covering the interpretation and application of ScottishPower’s HR policies and procedures, such as the grievance, disciplinary and absenteeism policies.
   • Develop high quality Graduates, instilling them with the skills and confidence to take on key responsibilities and achieve business results
   • Enable graduates to take responsibility for their actions and their own development with the guidance and support of others
   • Increase their self-awareness and develop an understanding of how they are perceived by others. As a result, the graduates will be better positioned to both influence and lead others in their roles as managers in the future
   • Develop the key skills and behaviours associated with the IBRDROLA and ScottishPower Leadership model and our competency framework

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Leadership Development Review (LDR)

During 2010 we evaluated a further eight Senior Managers against our new Group Leadership Model, “Energising Leaders”, which was developed in partnership with an external consultancy, YSC Group.

The evaluation was undertaken to help us improve understanding of our current capabilities, strengths and areas for improvement, both at an individual and organisational level. Participants now have personal development plans in place, based on the feedback provided.

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Visionaries – Benchmark for Business

Visionaries: Benchmark for Business is a leading developer of management conferences which take the world’s finest management thinkers through a programme of world-class business events where top executives and corporate leaders can share inspirational insights on the future of business success.

Considering the purpose of this development, Visionaries became an extension of our development offerings, enabling our senior executives and high potential people to learn face-to-face from the world’s finest management thinkers and business brains. To date, six senior leaders have participated in these events.

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Graduate Development

We continue to recruit young, graduate talent and aim to provide a learning environment in which our graduates can develop personal and business skills that will enable them to become effective managers and leaders in the future.

The modular Graduate Development Programme is designed to:

• Develop high quality Graduates, instilling them with the skills and confidence to take on key responsibilities and achieve business results
• Enable graduates to take responsibility for their actions and their own development with the guidance and support of others
• Increase their self-awareness and develop an understanding of how they are perceived by others. As a result, the graduates will be better positioned to both influence and lead others in their roles as managers in the future
• Develop the key skills and behaviours associated with the IBRDROLA and ScottishPower Leadership model and our competency framework.

In 2010, 19 international and 5 UK graduates were recruited onto the programme.

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Apprentice Programme

We have an on-going Apprentice Programme across the company. Recruitment into the programme was more limited in 2010 than in previous years, with an intake of five Apprentices into our Energy Wholesale business. Apprentices from previous years’ intakes continued their development.

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National Skills Academy

ScottishPower is a founder and contributing board member of The Power Academy, which was established in 2004, as part of the Government’s National Skills Academy programme. It brings together power companies and universities, to address the shortfall in engineering expertise in the electrical power industry.

The Power Academy benefits the company by ensuring we have access to fresh talent from the top engineering universities in the UK and enhanced opportunities to promote sector attractiveness.

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Addressing the Skills Gap

ScottishPower’s engineering and technical skills requirements will increase in the years ahead as the company delivers major investments in the electricity infrastructure.

This increased requirement comes at a time when 18% of the existing workforce will be eligible to retire within the next 10 years.

To address a potential skills gap, we have been working to promote sector attractiveness in schools and universities and we can expect to see graduate and apprentice recruitment increase in the years ahead.

In addition, Iberdrola Engineering and Construction UK expanded its Scottish operations in 2010. The company has established an office in Bellshill to support major infrastructure investments being made by ScottishPower and ScottishPower Renewables, as well as future energy projects, including Carbon Capture and Storage and new-build nuclear.

During 2010, the company expanded from 30 employees to around 150 by incorporating 96 Energy Networks employees and through external recruitment. It plans further expansion in the years ahead.

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Ongoing Development

We have a large requirement for technical training to ensure our employees have the highest levels of competency required for the safe operation and maintenance of the electricity infrastructure.

Our two purpose built training centres at Dealain House in Cumbernauld and Hoylake, near Liverpool, deliver dozens of courses both to ScottishPower employees and to the external marketplace.

These centres of excellence cover training in areas such as high voltage operations, low voltage operations, cable jointing, roads and streetworks, wiring, live line working and public lighting. The syllabus is revised continually in response to emerging regulations to ensure the appropriate training can be delivered before changes in regulations come into force.

The training centres provide skills training for staff, our external contractors and also offer a range of courses for the external marketplace.

We remain committed to employee development across the business to ensure high standards of quality and safety and in 2010 provided a total of 800 training courses with over 21,500 delegates taking part, in subjects ranging from risk assessment to customer service. Employees also had access to 221 online courses through our e-learning service.

Our 8,039 employees clocked up 169,612 hours of training during 2010.

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Community Based Development

During 2010, 190 employees participated in Community Based Development – participating in community programmes that support employee development.

Community Based Development provides opportunities for employees to engage with a cross-section of the communities we serve, helping the company understand the diverse needs of its customers.

Examples include gaining Board experience and enhancing leadership skills as a volunteer on the Arts and Business Board Bank, or team leadership in a community project. For further information on Community Based Development, see the Our Communities section of this Review.

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