Head turner

Turner & Townsend has attracted plaudits both at home and abroad, but in order to sustain growth it continues to invest heavily in the people who deliver project success: its staff. We profile the APM Award-winning Project Company of the Year.

To get a sense of what marks out a leading project management consultancy take a look at its business portfolio.

Mining and metals processing, oil and gas production and alternative energy, water and power distribution, waste management, IT and telecommunications, banking and public and private sector commercial development make for sound commercial investments. While airport expansions, rail and automotive transportation, high tech manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, residential and leisure development, museum and heritage projects, health and education, and sustainable regeneration, all add to a healthy work mix the real clincher, the USP if you like, is a company that has proved instrumental in developing the art and science of project management internationally.

Turner & Townsend fits the bill on all fronts. With more than 2,400 employees operating from a worldwide network of 59 offices and offering a wide range of project delivery and business improvement services, the company has enjoyed rapid growth over the past five years and has established project management businesses in the Middle East, Australia, China, India and the US as well as growing the long established European and southern Africa businesses.

In addition to the 620 UK project management staff, there are a further 150 project managers employed worldwide.

Focus

Much of this success can be attributed to a step-change in the range of services and a focus on improving the quality of delivery through sharing knowledge and innovation. By continually adopting new techniques and prioritising staff advancement, Turner & Townsend has placed project and programme management at the heart of its development programme.

An emphasis on high-quality communication encourages formal and informal discussion with direct line managers, other member of the team and the wider business.

Individual opinions and contributions are valued and effective communication is driven through a range of media face-to-face, workshops, group meetings, emails, reports and dashboards, intranet enabling the company to empower individuals in a safe and effective environment.

This drive has been supported by a range of initiatives: 

 Excellent Ideas intranet portal where staff can post ideas, good practice and new tools and products for the wider benefit of Turner & Townsend. Over 200 excellent ideas have been submitted to the business under this initiative since its inception two years ago. Fifty five per cent have been implemented or are under development and a further 18 per cent are under review.

Knowledge breakfasts where junior staff discuss and summarise over breakfast a particular project related topic and subsequently present their findings to their teams.

Intranet feedback the intranet, T2, has individual owners assigned for all areas of technical knowledge and service delivery. Staff are encouraged to submit pieces of best practice and guidance to the area owners to make sure that the online knowledge base is continuously improving.

The result is a culture of openness and acceptance, which recognises the strengths that the companys diverse workforce brings and which encourages shared ownership and success.

A recent staff survey identified that 86 per cent of staff felt proud to work for T&T (Turner & Townsend), 84 per cent of them would recommend it to others as being a good place to work and 78 per cent that their opportunities for career development are good or very good.

Proactive

But there is no room for complacency. T&T continues to invest one per cent of turnover in training and development, supporting a wide range of training initiatives, both in-house and externally. Rather than imposing a set policy, an individually focused learning cycle is encouraged, driven by learning needs identified as part of the annual appraisal process.

This is underpinned by a bespoke e-learning programme, developed using external skills, which delivers focused training, e-courses and business videos to teams in a flexible and interactive environment. Use of an external training provider on PRINCE2 and MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) ensures consistency across the business and staff are encouraged to undertake further study (e.g. Masters Degrees, general management courses, APMP and CPM qualifications) to develop their understanding and approach.

At senior level many of the team have been through the Institute of Directors Certificate in Company Direction. There is also a recently established partnership with an external provider for a Global Leadership Programme for all board members.

Process

By way of process, tools and techniques, T&T is equally ambitious. Presently one per cent of turnover is invested in research and innovation, ensuring staff have new project management tools and techniques at their fingertips.

The latest development is the inTTegrate tool which provides a controlled integration of un-related software tools to deliver planning, risk management, change control, and cost control functions. This system enables data to be maintained in a clients own (proprietary) tools and systems, thus maintaining ownership and control of that data with the client and avoiding any need for long-term reliance upon an external consultant.

In terms of delivery all commissions are mapped against industry standard delivery models. These include: Assess & Engage, or understanding the clients requirements and business case, and building strong working relationships with the client and key stakeholders; Develop & Improve, the development of strategies and plans for project implementation of the project, which are collated into the Project Execution Plan; Deliver & Benefit, the implementation of the plan to achieve successful delivery of the programme.

Assets

To date the results have been impressive; client satisfaction is riding high and the current level of repeat order business is at over 90 per cent of year-on-year turnover. The real test, however, is how the business adapts to the changing market. Sustainability is now the dominant issue influencing strategic decision-making throughout the public and private sectors, and fiscal consolidation continues to put the squeeze on big business.

In a tough market it pays to protect your assets and for T&T, good project and programme management is definitely one of them.