West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I'm not sure that having a string of letters after your name is of any relevance to running a railway. Some friends I know are academics with degrees, Masters, PhDs etc... they have spent most of their useful career years in education and learning, but are completely oblivious of how to run or organise a profitable business.
Robin L G8APZ, AIB, WSRA, Open Range RAF .303 marksman RAF Leuchars, Principles of Flight certificate Birkenhead School CCF (RAF Section), Competent hand in a sailing boat (Norfolk Broads), Top local candidate in Trinity College of Music Pianoforte Grade 1 and 2 exams.....need I go on (yawn)

 

Quite! I am talking about degree level qualifications not NVQs or the like. If the post nominals tell me the person is a Chartered Accountant, mechanical engineer or has a formal management degree then that gives some indication of their likely business expertise.

 

The relevant professional bodies for railway operations are the Institute of Railway Operators and / or the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. Membership of either is only available to those who have passed the relevant exams and/or who have demonstrated the relevant experience.

So holding the MIRO and /or MCILT post-nominals might be thought relevant.

I would heartily recommend IRO student membership to those heritage railway folk who would wish to improve their operational knowledge.

Robin

 

Thanks for that Robin. Certainly the former is very relevant, It is my belief that it is business management and expertise is the essential requirement.

 

Any effective board will include a range of skills and experience, some general to all business and some specific to the type of business they are conducting.

Robin

 

While I fully agree with you that business expertise is fairly essential I should point out, as Frank has mentioned, that a look at a persons CV will tell you more. As for professional accreditations. I let mine lapse when I retired. I therefore have no right to stick the relevant letters after my name.
Anyway I fear we are in danger of more thread drift.

 

Railway Supporters Day 24 February
A reminder that this takes place next saturday. Meet at 11am in BL station carpark for guided tour of BL station. Then at 2pm at BL village hall for an update on current activities, a chance to contribute to the new draft corporate plan and a Q&A session. Plus tea, coffee and biscuits! Open to all supporters of the railway.
Ian Coleby

 

Agreed.

Fair comment though knowing someone is a retired XYZ is useful to know though of course this does reduce the usefulness of post nominals.

 

Some photos taken yesterday as we were trial loading the military train in readiness for the March Spring Steam Gala on 22,23,24 & 25th March and the 1940's Weekend of 15 & 16th September.

 

I've been unable to access the official WSR website for the last couple of days. My iPad tells me that the server cannot be found.

Have any others had this experience, or is it possibly a problem at my end?

Stef.

 

http://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk loads ok for me.

 

...and it loads OK for me.
Robin L

 

Actually I don't think Mike that this is thread drift. Management is I submit, using the broadest definition, an operational issue.

Organisations that are volunteer based, let alone those with Heritage responsibilities, I believe represent a significant challenge. The WSR, (I am referring to the Plc specifically) has traditionally assumed a volunteer Board and a salaried Management (Heads of Department). I think the recent change whereby two Senior Managers have been elected to the Board is a necessary and appropriate step.

So what should be expected from the other Board (unpaid) Members ?

I suggest before anything else, there must be an enthusiasm, dare I use the old fashioned 'proven work ethic', and a 'stickability' (It is easy, particularly in retirement to collect titles and simply turn up to Board, Governor, Trustee meetings etc.)

Having decided that there is an enthusiasm, then relevant experience becomes the key (as Frank has said a resume will help more than simply qualifications). Business acumen certainly, a specific qualification ( in the broadest sense eg accountancy, engineering, business administration etc) probably although perhaps in organisations as per the WSR Plc ( in financial terms small, but inordinately complex) a good 'generalist' outweighs a specialist. ( I can hear some saying 'It would be great to have the choice.)

But then we perhaps come to the imponderables and why it is always easier, and therefore often happens, that 'unknowns' rather than 'faithful servants' ( despite the 'better the devil you know' mantra ) are recruited.

The ability to be a proactive contributor to a team and recognise 'cabinet responsibilities'.
To work with and motivate 'volunteers'. (Volunteers often demand access to information, recognition and show scant respect to hierarchical structures, in a way a salaried employee would probably not, mortgage payments etc are a great restrainer ,)

So are there any answers: I am afraid the WSR ( and I suspect other Heritage Railways) faces the likelihood of an increased salary bill as the overall company management, both day to day and strategic, falls on the shoulders of the senior paid management.

It is not that volunteers are not capable; (later retirement ages, lower valued pensions means the pool is smaller whilst increasingly public bodies call for voluntary help,) they are simply not there in such large numbers. Certainly they are not available, as 25 years past, to commit several days a week.

I do think that increasingly organisations such as the Plc require the old fashioned 'team spirit'. Of the many attempts to address management relationships, I still think the 1980 Harvard Business Review 'Managing your Boss' 1980 Gabarro & Kotter has much to offer those of us volunteering/working in the so called 'volunteer sector'.

It behoves us all to support our Board ( and of course Trustees of supporting organisations), criticism yes, but perhaps constructively and perhaps to a Board Member or Manager first.

Michael Rowe

 

Many thanks for that. I got on okay using your link.

I think I'll delete my bookmark and install it again.

Stef.

 

Signwriting live.

Mink A 16307 getting the treatment at Minehead C&W. I’ll add photos as the work progresses.

(1) North side chalked up.
(2) Lunchtime
(3) South side done and ends chalked up
(4) The end? Well, one of them but not quite...
(5) Finishing touches. Underframe detail. Red V for vacuum, white star for release cord and white Bar for ‘brakes both sides’, G and W given coat of gloss and all white given second coat.

Phew!

 

That's done the trick. Up and running again.

Thanks for the help.

Stef.

 

My only concern would be where you are faced with 'professional' managers. Those that may have a degree and been through a managerial training programme but have no idea of the works or processes they are now 'managing'. Having had to 'politely' explain to several of these certain basic facts of engineering life (such as just letting stock run down to free up 'cash' locked in stock does not help - the old, non moving stock is still there and the everyday stuff is now at such low levels it hinders production...) I fear that sometimes too much emphasis is placed on qualifications rather than practical ability.

 

It would appear that board members can suffer from "the older I get, the better I was" syndrome.

 

Another reason, surely, for not adopting organisational structures more complicated than absolutely necessary.

PH

 

Yes, in my working life I had problems with managers who were 'imported' from outside and knew nothing about how things really worked on the "coal face" and regularly asked us to do things that were either impractical or detrimental to the operation of the site. Managers that were promoted from 'within the ranks' were much better as they understood how the company worked from personal experience. The downside being that they also knew all the little 'skives and schemes' having done them themselves, but they usually turned a blind eye to them.