West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Thee may be some heritage railways where you can just turn up for the first time with your overalls and boots and get involved but that is not the case with either of those I am involved with, one large and one small. The first visit has to be pre-arranged and involves the dreaded but necessary H&S induction. It's easy to say that all is OK because Joe Bloggs is working under close personal supervision with someone but that first visit soon becomes a second visit and a third, all under those same supervisory conditions. Before you know it, Joe Bloggs has become an accepted member of the team and has slipped through the net, with no paper trail for when things go wrong or Mr. ORR simply makes a routine inspection of the SMS.
Don't get me wrong; I'm of an age where you simply did just turn up and would love a return to those days of happy memories when you looked after yourself but the world has moved on and I've been dragged along with it, despite my protests.

 

Can I just record that this is complete bunkum from my life's experience. Sorry to be blunt.

 

Then posting history has nothing to do with it. You can work in a team even if you don't agree 100% on something. So what's the problem or are you out there looking to make a problem where there wasn't one previously?

 

Thank you, any reaction is better than no reaction!

 

I'm not - are you? @torgormaig has highlighted the need for good team working, and I've commented that some posts may have cast doubt on that ability to disagree amicably. My experience is that not all volunteers are worth having, and that those who can't blend into an existing and effective team are particularly risky, as the extra contribution they provide may not match the impact on others. And the manner of disagreement may be at the heart of that.

Personal chemistry matters.

 

I don't think such volunteer roles exist with the WSR Company, unless you include booking office roles.

 

Seriously, you have no volunteer admin staff? Vast amounts of work is done on the GWSR at volunteers' homes and on their computers, and we have a "personnel team" who manage people from initial enquiry to finding the right department, allowing existing volunteers to change or join another department, resolve disputes, plus I'm sure loads of other stuff I haven't thought of. I think there's about half a dozen of them in total, perhaps the WSR could learn something from this?

 

I think the question to ask is, would it be good if they did?

My own line has paid staff including operating manager, commercial office staff, core engineering team, and until recently a part-time paid operations admin clerk (who also volunteered in other operations roles). That part-time paid operations clerk has recently been replaced by a volunteer upon the retirement of the former incumbent. I see no difference between a volunteer giving his time for at least one day per week, and a part-time paid clerk. (Except that the volunteer may well give more time than the commitment)

 

An excellent model, though I seriously hope the associated data protection issues have been fully thought through.

 

Ergo, they exist ...

Surely it is irrelevant whether someone is paid or not, just that the role (and associated business process) exists. Do you not already have volunteer drivers, volunteer directors? If it is possible for volunteers to do safety-critical and regulatory roles like those as volunteers, why can’t someone administer a process of dealing with volunteer queries and ensuring that potential volunteers get matched to roles, have an appropriate induction etc.

I’m not saying that a railway of the size of the WSR could function without any paid staff; only that there is no reason why you shouldn’t look at any role and consider whether a volunteer could do it reliably. Whether someone receives a salary or not should not be taken as an indicator of whether they will do a good job or not.

Tom

 

and the explanation was?

For those of we shareholders who were not present

 

Leading no, but part of the team I suggest

 

Volunteers are a very fickle breed and need to be treated with kid gloves.

Remember we put up with a lot as Employees but when we Volunteer we have to be Respected to enable us to Engage or we just walk!

That is the reason why the Recruitment and Retention of Volunteers is so important because without them there is no WSR

I think further thought ought to be given to this very delicate subject

 

All I am saying; is that with the number of Association volunteer liaison people who have left in the past few years, why doesn't the PLC undertake volunteer recruitment, it is to their advantage.

Don't forget that volunteers can belong t0 numerous bodies(PLC, Association, WSST or anybody else, or nobody at all for that matter) all guided through the PLC administration. If the PLC take on volunteer clerical staff then I might agree with your argument, but I doubt it.

 

What do you mean?

The implementation of the Coombs Report?

 

Depends how you define admin staff. There are volunteer roster clerks, gala planners and other non-customer facing volunteer roles. Volunteer station masters and staff necessarily perform various admin tasks of course. I believe HR roles are contracted out to a third party and commercial department is entirely paid staff.

 

I apologise if I have impugned your motives,

The Plc Chairman has stated that employment costs have been reduced from £1.25 million per
12 months to £900K and also stated his wish to see it reduced further.

Whilst I recognise the classic approach to preparing a strategic/business plan might be ' where did
we come from ? where are we now ? where do we want to be ?' this seems somewhat laborious when
an organisation is in the 'sh one t'. I remember some years past Shareholders/Stakeholders were
proffered a 110 page strategic plan followed by a business plan, minus any numbers, running to
almost 40 pages !

The current Board has overseen a reduction in overheads greater than 25% ( there is a theory that
most mature organisations can survive 25% without significant structural change, above this
there has to be meaningful change unless a marked increase in volunteer involvement can
be secured.)

A recovery plan I suggest is the current priority: the reduction in overheads might be
regarded as stage 1. Stage 2 I submit should be a costed marketing/sales plan aimed
at optimising/ increasing revenue. If this cannot be produced then the current business
model appears unsustainable. Perhaps your experience might be of assistance to the
existing commercial function ?

Michael Rowe.

ps there are obviously other business models e.g. PandD, North American scenic
Railways, French style ' out and back ' excursions, reduced line length etc but
all of these IMHO are less appealing than the current modus operandi. Good
luck

 

Perhaps the nominated WSRA Volunteer Director would like to investigate this situation?

or can The WSR afford to miss such opportunities of help?

 

They have, we've been lucky to benefit from the experience of some volunteers who previously had to engage with that side of things in a professional capacity.
I should also add all the people on the team hold "normal" roles across the railway; guards, stationmasters etc. and heading it up is our volunteer resources director (also a TTI) so a direct link to the board too.

 

Beyond the point. Just cause you think you disagree with someone doesn't mean you have to voice it to them.

Personally I've volunteered in a few places with people I thought were idiots to put it tamely,
The difference is I enjoyed what I was doing and didn't voice said sentiment. You don't have to get on with everyone and it won't affect the end product. Except in Somerset where it seems mandatory that you are in full agreement with everyone and everything or you aren't welcome to play trains or a part in trains running with them.

You see the common problem here, W,e,s,t S,o,m,e,r,s,e,t R,a,i,l,w,a,y. None of this seems to be an issue on other railways. But then again none are the undisputed heavy weight champions of infighting.