West of England
Case studies
CIPR PRIDE AWARDS 2008
West of England
Category 23 – Outstanding In-house Public Relations Team
Name of entrant: Oldbury Power Station Communication Team
Business Objectives
Oldbury Power Station – a generating nuclear power station on the banks of the River Severn – has nine site specific business objectives. The Communication team contributes to each objective however two of the nine objectives relates specifically to the work of the team:
- Ensure key stakeholder support for our operations and plans
- Secure and maintain a competent, confident and enthusiastic workforce
Projects undertaken by the team contribute directly towards the achievement of these business aims. Our staff are ambassadors in the local community – more than 50% live within seven miles of the site – and the team works with the whole workforce to communicate messages to the wider community.
Campaign examples
Three significant campaigns have been undertaken by the team in the last 18 months, demonstrating that we communicate effectively with internal and external audiences.
One of the most important projects for the site in the last two years has been to secure permission from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to decommission Oldbury. This permission is critical to Oldbury when it stops generating electricity and begins to remove the fuel from the reactor, transport nuclear waste out of the area and dismantle buildings.
The communication team was central to the project on submission of the document to the HSE, when a three-month public consultation period began. Key to this was our campaign to raise awareness in the community of the process. We arranged 12 presentations and six exhibitions for local community groups, generating 14 pieces of positive media coverage.
Oldbury’s top priority is safety, and to help staff work safely we devised a Christmas Star campaign based on the concept of “Stop, Think , Act, Review” (STAR).
Events included a giant advent calendar at the main entrance displaying a STAR message of the day and a roadshow with all staff allocated time away from work to attend. At the roadshow we ran a competition with a prize of a trip to Paris on Eurostar. All activities were supported by articles in the site’s weekly team brief and monthly newsletter as well as a poster campaign and information displayed in briefing rooms across site.
Environmental communication has been another project key to the team’s success over the last 18 months. A campaign, designed to demonstrate Oldbury’s commitment to the environment, was launched to both staff and stakeholders with activities including the celebration of World Environment Day, preparing the site’s overgrown orchard for the production of “Apple Core” cider, the launch of seasonal walks for staff, press releases on unusual wildlife spotted on site – including the extinct native Great Bustard bird spotted at our nuclear power station, which gained huge media attention – and regular articles such as ‘Nature Trail Notes’ included in site and company magazines.
Outstanding achievements
In addition to the campaigns outlined in the section above a number of other significant pieces of work have been undertaken. These include:
- Introduction of newsletters for staff and stakeholders. The introduction of the monthly Oldbury Oracle in April 2007 mixes corporate messages with competitions and other informal articles about members of the Oldbury team. A quarterly newsletter for stakeholders, PowerLines, was also introduced at this time to provide the community with additional information about the power station.
- Promotion of work with schools, colleges and community groups. The communication team coordinates and manages an ‘Outreach’ programme with members of the team making presentations and delivering workshops about electricity generation. This programme had lost momentum during 2006, but active promotion resulted, over the last year, in almost 40 visits to schools and more than 15 presentations to community groups. Our commitment to this programme has recently been rewarded with an award from Gloucestershire County Council for our ‘outstanding contribution’.
- Development of socio-economic investment. The site has traditionally invested a small amount of money in local charities and organisations. Over the last 18 months the team has forged relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and in the last financial year more than £60,000 was donated. This has generated significant positive regional press coverage and improved working relationships with key stakeholder groups.
Evaluation
Traditionally a male-dominated and engineering-focused organisation, the site has struggled to embrace the ‘softer’ skills needed to ensure that the business is successful.
The communication team has been instrumental in a fundamental change in this regard. For the first time, the team is now at the table for all senior management discussions and decisions, where previously we were not represented.
Our other significant contribtions include the recognition of Oldbury as the lead site within the company for environmental awareness, the timely achievement of decommissioning consent at the beginning of 2008, the positive feedback from staff and stakeholders with regard to the newsletters, and the increased interest in our socio-economic development fund and our Outreach programme.
In terms of budget the team’s major cost is staff; each project outlined here has been achieved for less than £10,000.
What makes the team special?
A new Communication Officer and Assistant Communication Officer were recruited less than two years ago to lead the team, which prompted a creative change of direction with ideas and innovation flowing freely. The resulting achievements have reflected our new-found capability.
Historically, communication was an afterthought; now it is integral to a project. The team is now involved in the development of each new initiative across the site before roll out, which demonstrates the huge improvements in team working both within the team and with other departments. This has taken tenacity and determination on the part of each member of the team.
The team is small but perfectly formed – three full-time and two part-time – and each member has different strengths and weaknesses. We often refer to ourselves as a pizza – a steady base with lots of random toppings. Some might say that it shouldn’t work, yet it does, and we have great satisfaction in developing and producing a wide range of high-quality communication for staff and stakeholders.
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