The team is required to discuss the role of HR in terms of recruitment and selection, training and development and compensation and benefits administration and recommend policies, practices and systems that will facilitate the achievement of ProRail Traffic Control Digital Vision. What recommendations can be given from the Operations Manager? Can vacation days be increase with the 24/7 work shifts, how will that affect overall operations etc?
Strategic Workforce Planning at Dutch Railway Infrastructure Manager- ProRail Traffic Control
Introduction
The Dutch Railway system processes 1.3 million passengers and more than a million tons of cargo daily with high reliability and safety and a low CO2 profile. In the coming 10 years, the daily number of trains will need to grow 30% to enable train operators to deliver on the growing demand for Passenger and Cargo traffic. This is a major challenge for the Dutch Railway infrastructure manager, ProRail Traffic Control.An obvious choice would be to change and grow the rail infrastructure within the Netherlands. But
growing the infrastructure would require a multi-billion Euro investment and may take too much time and space in urban areas. So to meet this growing demand, ProRail Traffic Control needs to invest in technologies that make it possible to automate and digitize large parts of the now manual traffic control process. This way the transportation capacity can be increased with the current infrastructure. This case study will focus on the strategic workforce challenges for the 700 Train Traffic Controllers and 150 operational planners whose jobs will change tremendously because of this.
Where we stand now:
In the past decades, the level of automation at ProRail Traffic Control has increased. At the moment, the train schedule runs automatically if it fits into the pre-planned train schedule. However, the core of technology like signalling and safety systems has not had a fundamental upgrade in decades.When the trains run as scheduled, the system requires minimal intervention by operators. But in case of a disruption, a lot of manual actions are required of the operators. This means all workstations are manned for handling disruption and result in extremes in highs and lows in stress on the operators.
Planning for the future:
To achieve the projected capacity growth for the Traffic Control business unit, management and experts from the technical staff developed a 10-year vision on the required changes together with IT and the scheduling department. As the means of digitizing the traffic control process is central
to this vision, it was dubbed ‘Digital Vision’.
Digital Vision noted the following:
1. Business continuity: All workstations must be manned by a certified employee at all times, so 24/7.
2. Re-schooling: European governments and national train management companies decided to unify the technology of train safety management to a European standard (ERTMS). This will require a re-schooling of large numbers of people.
3. Turnover: Due to the digitization of processes the number of employees required will need to be reduced by 10%. However, it is anticipated that 30% of the workforce will be lost to retirement over the next 5 to 10 years. However, recruitment must take into consideration the specific competencies required for Train
4. Capacity growth without rising costs. The major driver for the Digital Vision was enabling the required capacity growth without rising costs. For the last 5 years ProRail has only been able to breakeven and in order to fund the Digital Vision has acquired a loan of 500 million Euro.
5. Trade Dispute: The union representing the Train Operators and Traffic Controllers demand an increase in vacation days from 11 standard working days (Monday to Friday) to 15 working days and an increase in salary by 8%. The last increase was in 2019 of 5%.
The Netherlands is ranked the sixth in the world in terms of the quality of railroad infrastructure. However, in order to prepare for the future, the currently existing infrastructure needs a 30% increase in capacity and tremendous changes in the current workforce. ProRail Traffic Control has put together a team to assist in drafting a strategic workforce plan
that will help it achieve its objectives. The team is required to discuss the role of HR in terms of recruitment and selection, training and development and compensation and benefits administration and recommend policies, practices and systems that will facilitate the achievement of ProRail Traffic Control Digital Vision.
What recommendations can be given from the Operations Manager? Can vacation days be increase with the 24/7 work shifts, how will that affect overall operations etc?
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