NOC-AE-02001411, Letter from J. J. Sheppard to Ellis Merschoff Final Report from Management Insight Technologies for 2002 Focused Cultural Assessment for South Texas Project
| ML041380344 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | South Texas  |
| Issue date: | 10/30/2002 |
| From: | Sheppard J South Texas |
| To: | Merschoff E NRC Region 4 |
| References | |
| EA-97-341, FOIA/PA-2004-0138, NOC-AE-02001411 | |
| Download: ML041380344 (12) | |
Text
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October 30, 2002 NOC-AE-02001411 10CFR50 Mr. Ellis W. Merschoff Regional Administrator, Region IV U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400 Arlington, Texas 76011-8064 South Texas Project Units 1 and 2
-Docket'Nos. STN 50-498, 50-499 South Texas Proiect Focused Cultural Assessment
References:
- 1. Letter, A. A. Thadani to W. T. Cottle, "Confirmatory Order Modifying License (Effective Immediately) and Exercise of Discretion," (EA 97-341), June 9, 1998 On September 16, 2002, we received the final report from Management Insight Technologies for the 2002 Focused Cultural Assessment for the South Texas Project (STP). As required by the confirmatory order dated June 9, 1998 (Reference 1), the executive summary of the report is attached. The complete report is considered proprietary and is available at the station for your review.
You previously granted our request to modify our methodology for this interim cultural assessment in order to get more immediate feedback and to have the ability to ask in-depth follow-up questions should the need for clarification or more information arise. The individuals who conducted these interviews have significant experience in these techniques and had specific instructions to ask follow-up questions on any interview answers that had any implication of affecting nuclear safety. As discussed in the attached executive-summary, the investigators conducting the interviews found no indication of any compromise of nuclear safety occurring in the targeted organizations.
The results of this assessment, documented in the executive summary, indicate a high level of job satisfaction in the Maintenance (i.e., I&C Maintenance, Mechanical Maintenance, Electrical Maintenance and Support Services) and the Plant Protection (i.e., Wackenhut) organizations. There are, however, as indicated in the report, a number of issues that need to be addressed, especially 91a-~
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IU NOC-AE-02001411 Page2of3o3 concerning the relationship between workers and management. These issues are similar to th6se identified in other assessments, independent of this effort, and the recommendations from this assessment are enveloped by the ongoing improvement plans in these organizations.
STP plans to conduct its next full Comprehensive Cultural Assessment to survey the entire site organization in January 2003 and will apprise you of the results of that survey when they are received.
If you have any questions, please contact Robyn Piggott at 361-972-7438 or me at 361-972-8757.
J. J. Sheppard Vice President &Assistant to the President & Chief Executive Officer RDP
Attachment:
South Texas Project Focused Cultural Assessment Executive Summary O\WP\NL\NRC-AP\MISC-02\02001 411 .doc STI: 31495461
NOC-AE-02001411 Page 3 of 3 cc:
(paper copy) (electronic copy)
U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- Mohan C. Thadani Attention: Document Control Desk U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission One White Flint North 11555 Rockville Pike R. L. Balcom Rockville, MD 20852 Reliant Energy, Inc.
Richard A. Ratliff A. Ramirez Bureau of Radiation Control'- City of Austin Texas Department of Health 1100 West 49th Street C. A. Johnson Austin, TX 78756-3189. AEP - Central Power and Light' Company Cornelius F. O'Keefe Jon C. Wood U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Matthews & Branscomb P. 0. Box 289, Mail Code: MN1 16 Wadsworth, TX 77483 C. M. Canady A. H. Gutterman, Esquire City of Austin Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Electric Utility Department 721 Barton Springs Road M. T. Hardt/W. C. Gunst Austin, TX 78704 City.Public Service
II SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT FOCUSED CULTURE ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
- prepared for -
South Texas ProjectNuclear OperatingCompany
- by -
Management Insight Technologies October 2002 Revision 0 Principal Investigators Eric V. Fries Michael D. Quinn STPNOC Proprietary Information Jogn ao it Sa ei c it..
INVSI GHT T TECHNOLOGIES
STPNOC Proprietary Information South Texas Project'Nuclear- Operating Company FOCUSED CULTURE ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
CONTENTS PAGE Background 2 Assessment Objectives and Scope ; 2 Assessment Approach 3 Assessment Results - Maintenance - 4 Assessment Results - Wackenhut 6 Concluding Remarks 7 About Management Insight Technologies 8 South Texas Project Focused Culture Assessment Pagel Executive Summary, Revision 0 Copyright 2002, Management Insight Technologies, all rights reserved.
IN STPNOC Proprietary Information South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company Focused Culture Assessment Executive Summary
Background
In 1998, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a confirmatory order that required, among other actions, that STP conduct a series of Comprehensive Cultural Assessments (CCAs) at the station. The purpose of the CCA is to measure the values, behaviors and practices that shaped the culture and performance at STP. These assessments work in concert with other activities undertaken by STP as a result of the confirmatory order to enhance the culture and safety conscious work environment at STP. These other activities focused on enhancing leadership skills and practices, and strengthening strategic focus and teamwork at all levels of the organization. Three full CCAs and one 'mini' CCA have been performed to date at STP. The last full CCA was conducted in December 2001.
The results of the December 2001 (12/01) CCA indicated satisfactory progress continues to be made at STP in achieving and sustaining the desired culture.
However, variation exists among organizations. Specifically, based on the results of the 12/01 CCA, groups within the STP Maintenance organization (i.e., I&C Maintenance, Mechanical Maintenance, Electrical Maintenance and Support Services) and the Plant Protection organization (i.e., Wackenhut) were designated as Priority 1 targeted groups based on their CCA scores being lowest relative to the rest of the STP organization. Based on this designation, STP leadership sought to understand the basis for the lower CCA results in the Maintenance and Plant Protection organizations and to understand the actions that will have the greatest positive impact on the values, beliefs and behaviors in these two organizations.
To that end, STP chose to conduct a focused assessment of the culture of the Maintenance and Plant Protection organizations using structured interviews, in lieu of conducting a mid-term 'mini' paper survey, as had been done previously. Following NRC approval of this revised approach, STP contracted Management Insight Technologies of Framingham, MA to conduct the structured interviews.
Assessment Obiective and Scope The objective of the focused culture assessment for the Maintenance and Wackenhut organizations was to provide the information and insights needed by STP Leadership to:
- achieve a current picture of selected elements of the culture in the Maintenance and Wackenhut organizations
- understand the key factors driving the values, beliefs and behaviors in these organizations
- identify specific actions likely to positively influence these factors South Texas Project Focused Culture Assessment Page2 Executive Summary, Revision 0 Copyright 2002, Management Insight Technologies, all rights reserved.
STPNOC Proprietary Information The assessment concentrated on three key areas related to living the STP Core Values (i.e., consistent translation into behaviors):
- maintaining an inclusive work environment where the opinions, ideas and views of knowledgeable team members are valued and/or sought out by management
- effectiveness of communications: including the effectiveness of~vertical (e.g.,
-- within the chain of.command from executives to individuals) communications and the receptivity of management to communication that occurs outside the chain of command
- management effectiveness in addressing performance problems of subordinates Assessment Approach To assure a comprehensive approach to the assessment, Management Insight designed a customized study to meet STP's specific information needs. This began with conducting 11 studyedesign interviews with key STP leaders and stakeholders to focus study goals and content. The results of these interviews were combined design interviews with research from background documents to prepare the structured interviewing guide. The structured interviewing guide was reviewed and approved by STP. Individuals to be interviewed were selected by Management Insight from potential candidate lists prepared by STP. In addition, Management Insight added a small number of interviewees through a random/focused selection process.
The structured interviewing guide consisted of primarily open-ended questions, included a section where individuals were asked to rate 18 attributes (e.g., trust, management credibility, communications, worker involvement, vision of the future) on a one to seven scale, with one being the lowest and seven being the highest.
Interviewers then focused on finding the basis'for low rated attributes and then asked each individual to pick three of the attributes that should be improved the most and what changes they sought.
Management Insight.p'ersonnel conducted 44 structured interviews during the course of the data collection phase of the assessment.- Thirty-nine of the interviews were conducted face to face and five were conducted over the telephone. Average duration of each interview was about an hour, with a few lasting over two hours.
Overall, 29 individuals from Maintenance (19 individual contributors, 7 first line supervisors and 3 division managers) and 15,individuals from Wackenhut (7 security officers, 4 lieutenants and 4 shift force supervisors) were interviewed.
While sample size did not provide rigorous statistical validity, it was considered sufficient to accurately represent opinions in these two organizations.
South Texas Project Focused Culture Assessment Page3 Executive Summary, Revision 0 -
Copyright 2002, Management Insight Technologies, all rights reserved.
II STPNOC Proprietary Information Assessment Results - Maintenance Summary of Assessment Insights and Recommendations (note: recommendations are shown in italics)
- Management Insight personnel perceived genuine concern and commitment to the success of STP on the part of the majority of Maintenance individuals interviewed
- Perceptions of the overall STP work environment were strong with 60%o of respondents saying it is Among the Best or the Best
- Job Satisfaction ratings were very strong overall with 93% of respondents reporting Satisfied to Extremely Satisfied
- Striking differences exist between management and non-management perceptions of specific attributes of the STP work environment and improvement priorities:
- Decreased trust was the common theme of most interviews
- Raise awareness among Maintenance management (managers and first line supervisors) that improving trust is the top improvement priorityand is key to:
- acceptance of change - including the raising of standards
- meeting the challenges of deregulation
- gaining support for organizationalstructure changes
- Leadership practices and style appear to be the basis for decreased trust, amplified by the uncertainty of the [then] unresolved contract and deregulation
- Incorporateand consistently practice the elements of leadershipstyle that will likely contribute to increasedtrust and management credibility:
- establish a credible presence in the field and genuine rapport with workers
- demonstrate interest in employee input and take time to listen
- - follow through - explain the basis for decisions and changes in decisions
- develop a no-nonsense style - be a problem solver
- increase the use of '2C's'-type meetings
- Provide a consistent means of coaching all levels of management to develop these attributes, as well as facilitative and situational leadership
- Resolving individual performance problems was viewed as ineffective
- Establish clear and consistent expectations - 'reset' the standards
- Align the Maintenance management team on the issue of resolving individual performance problems and commit to solving performance issues
- Align Maintenance management and Human Resources on the resolution of individual performance problems South Texas Project Focused Culture Assessment Page4 Executive Summary, Revision 0 Copyright 2002, Management Insight Technologies, all rights reserved.
STPNOC Proprietary Information
- Allow use of 'Supervisor Files' to informally document worker performance
- Revisit facilitative and situational leadership - provide mentoring to assist management individuals
- Considerforming a cross-functional body to review proposed actions prior to implementation Employee recognition and valuing the individual are problematic
- Establish an effective senior management presence in the field interfacing with workers, taking and giving feedback and appreciation
-- Evaluate existing incentive programs'for improvement opportunities
- Ensure consistency in applicabilityand implementation of employee recognition across the organizations
- Supervisors need to give-craft workers regularperformance feedback by way of an Employee Contact'Log Change management efforts vary in effectiveness and impact
- Establish a means to actively involve employees in the planning and implementation processes
- This is especially true for the currently on-going Maintenance Improvement Team
- Carefully consider reasons for change - be sure you know what you're fixing
- Assess readinessfor change and the potential scope of the resistance
- Communicate and dialog the basis for'changes and the alternatives' considered
- The new STP vision again needs to be communicated and then dialoged at
'the local level with the goal to increaseworker ownership and' internalization Increasing first line supervisor (FLS) effectiveness was the top management improvement priority
- From the.interviews, top improvement actions are to'increase their time in the field (e.g., give them the time to be facilitative leaders), increase their authority, increase consistency between FLS's, and enrich their leadershipskills
- Continue with efforts to'align Maintenance Thanagement
- Consider developing alternatemeans of assessing FLS
- Be preparedto remediate or replace FLS's that demonstrate inadequate performance
- Challenges exist for current and future worker satisfaction and engagement
- Leadership needs to consider means to add to career enrichment and diversity (e.g., place time limits on craft worker'participationin the back-shift maintenance crew so mdre workers can rotate through)
South Texas Project Focused Culture Assessment Page5 Executive Summary, Revision 0 Copyright 2002, Management Insight Technologies, all rights reserved.
II STPNOC Proprietary Information
- The detail provided in procedures needs to be carefully balanced against worker qualifications to avoid excessive detail that, in the context of mature, experienced workers, that may cause challenges to human performance
- Workers may be receptive to large scale Maintenance department reorganizationif the goals are well explained, workers are actively involved in planning and implementation, and it provides new opportunitiesfor development and career enrichment The Work Management process has opportunities for improvement.
- The existing multi-disciplinedgroup designing changes to the work control process needs to consider inclusion of changes that address key issues raisedby respondents:
- reducing FLS admin burden and increasingFLS authority
- enhanced coordinationbetween groups
- strengthen work order quality and schedule accuracy
- invigorate craft worker responsibilityand authority
- focus on making work production and documentation easier Assessment Results - Wackenhut Summary of Assessment Insights and Recommendations (note: recommendations are shown in italics)
- Respondents generally see positive changes in STP Security and Wackenhut
- Overall perceptions of the work environment are strong with 60% of respondents saying it is Among the Best or the Best
- Overall Job Satisfaction ratings are positive with 73% reporting Satisfied, Very Satisfied or Extremely Satisfied
- Stay the course with the actions taken over the past year and consider supplementing them with the following actions
- Many officers were withholding judgment of Wackenhut until the union contract was resolved (a new three year contract was ratified September 4, 2002 and is retroactively effective from February 3, 2002)
- Expeditiously work to get past the organizationaltension caused by the union contract issue
- Address the amount of overtime worked by security officers, which will likely improve worker perceptions of Wackenhut and contribute to higher morale
- Increased overtime is a significant driver of respondent perceptions
- Considermeasures that can be taken to reduce the amount of overtime to minimize potentially negative individual and organizationaleffects South Texas Project Focused Culture Assessment Page6 Executive Summary, Revision 0 Copyright 2002, Management Insight Technologies, all rights reserved.
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- Consider reevaluating the officer patrol/firewatchapproach; assess how these jobs can be accomplished in a less physically demanding manner
- Leadership practices are-seen as inconsistent and sometimes problematic
- Wackenhut leadership; with the support of STP Security management, needs to continue their actions to improve leadership skills of Shift Force Supervisors (SFSs) and lieutenants Individual needs assessments could be conductedfor each SFS and Lt, and a specific program developed for each - assessments must minimize the possibility of opinions and 'popularity' influencing results -
Consistency in leadershipstyle and practice needs to be increasedbetween and within shifts Wackenhut and STP Security management presence in the field needs to include specific observation of conformance to management standardsof behavior
- Wackenhut respondents want to be an integral part of STP's future
- Wackenhut and STP Security management need to continue efforts to make Wackenhut personnel feel an integral part of the station
- STP senior leadershipneeds to increase interface with Wackenhut staff
- STP management needs to ensure deficiencies with plant equipment that impact security personnel are prioritizedproperly and resolved in a timely manner
- Include images of Wackenhut personnel in future vision pictures, posters and photo montages Concluding Remarks
- STP leadership has a solid base upon which to build a future in a deregulated environment
- no indication workers felt that nuclear safety was being compromised or that
'corners' were being cut
- STP has set a high standard for itself through the STP Core Values, the We Team, and the concept of facilitative leadership
- The culture appears strong - comments made during the interviews reflect apparent gaps of varying degree between these standards and actual practice
- The top improvement actions revolve around consistent demonstration of behaviors that close these perceived gaps
- Workers seek an adult-adult relationship with their leaders, but feel they are sometimes limited to an parent-child relationship by the actions of leadership South Texas Project Focused Culture Assessment Page7 Executive Summary, Revision 0 Copyright 2002, Management Insight Technologies, all rights reserved.
II STPNOC Proprietary Information About Manapement Insight TechnoloRies Management Insight Technologies is a research firm dedicated to helping our clients better understand their market environment and the effectiveness of their organization. We apply advanced, best-in-breed analytical methods to give leaders the information and insights they need to make successful business decisions.
We have performed significant studies for the following clients:
. Intel
- Microsoft
- Hewlett-Packard
- Tivoli Systems
- Supply Chain Consultants
- Macromedia
- IBM
- Foxboro/Invensys
- Allaire
- Oracle
- IDC Consulting
- Northeast Nuclear Energy Company Management Insight Technologies 1071 Worcester Road, Suite 4A Framingham, MA 01701-5247 508-875-0500 508-875-0733 (fax)
South Texas Project Focused Culture Assessment PageB Executive Summary, Revision 0 Copyright 2002, Management Insight Technologies, all rights reserved.