The challenge of the past year has taken Western Australia’s regional power provider to a whole new level when it comes to driving change, with Managing Director Frank Tudor and his team setting themselves the goal of halving discretionary operating costs.
It seems that change is the only constant at Horizon Power. The last time we spoke to Frank in June 2011, the company was in the process of implementing a comprehensive organisational restructure to improve project delivery and build business capability.
“A key focus was creating a performance management culture that started with clarity around single-point accountability down to the level of the individual,” Frank says. ”Today, we are a differentand I would argue a better business that is not in any way precious about what it does and does not do. The core values and enduring purpose as espoused by our chairman, Brendan Hammond, and the board remain steadfast the creation of intergenerational assets.”
“This is not just about investment in infrastructure and the creation of poles and wires to deliver electricity; it is about investing in intangible assets in communities, such as education, Aboriginal employment which is nudging 10 per cent and the development of other capabilities to help boost regional development in Western Australia, Frank explains.”
Horizon Power has overhauled project execution since 2010. A very rigorous project management methodology and gating process that moves projects through major milestones is now used.