Railway Reform: Toolkit for Improving Rail Sector Performance - ppiaf

Railway Reform: Toolkit for Improving Rail Sector Performance
12. Commercial Management Practices
And Strategy Development
12.4.2 Finding qualified staff
Railway reform efforts often include investments in new technology. Most modern
equipment requires employees with higher education to accommodate the
new organization structures and functions, and new skills—computer and electrical,
hydraulics, mechanics, operational; and business skills such as marketing,
management, market research, and pricing, among others needed to operate a
modern business enterprise.
Implementing railway reforms and restructuring requires new organizational
structures, which should be accompanied by job descriptions that specify responsibilities,
outputs, and the required skills and educational levels. Often, during
restructuring, external recruitment will be necessary to fill many new jobs that
require new skills in marketing, market research, and management. However,
before looking outside, internal recruitment may turn up staff capable of satisfying
the new job requirements, or willing to undergo training to develop the necessary
skills.
12.4.3 Incentive structures
New commercially oriented organizational structures require matching remuneration
systems. A complete human resources management program for designing
and implementing railway reforms includes right-sizing, benchmarking, buyouts,
retraining, and developing new pay structures.
New pay structures usually include incentive pay schemes, which should be designed
to elicit desired behaviors or skills. Effective pay incentives are large
enough to be meaningful but should not represent more than 15 percent of overall
compensation for any one employee. Higher incentive levels tend to be counterproductive
because employees can develop tunnel vision about the incentivedriven
behavior, which can erode or eradicate most of the other skills needed to
effectively fulfill the position.
The World Bank Page 195