Powercor owns and manages one of Australia’s largest electricity distribution networks, including the poles and wires that deliver electricity to more than a million homes and businesses in Victoria. They are responsible for the quality and reliability of electricity delivered to customers across their networks.
The Challenge
In 2015, Powercor set out to establish a focused innovation program within the Project Design & Delivery team. Working closely with GHD during establishment, the following tasks were undertaken:
- Alignment of organisational strategy with innovation targets focused on operational savings
- Ideation facilitation (workshops and materials)
- Appointment and capacity building of innovation champions
- Introduction of PIVOT for online idea management
With the success of the innovation program, the challenge has shifted. Whilst in 2015 the focus was on soliciting, capturing and evaluating ideas for operational savings. The challenge today is driving the delivery of these ideas. This includes the following key tasks:
- Keeping track of idea status
- Providing progress updates to Powercor leaders (inc. business case documents)
- Capturing and sharing review group feedback
- Tracking the value of program outcomes
The Solution
The GHD Digital Innovation team worked with Powercor senior leaders and program design and delivery teams to identify areas for improvement. The design-led approach included workshops to identify:
- Problems, stakeholders and unmet needs
- Long list of ideas to improve program performance
- Prioritised list of improvement actions
- Pilot initiatives to test and refine improvement actions
The Benefit
Since the program’s establishment, some outstanding outcomes have been achieved. The Powercor team performance and innovative culture has improved greatly, as indicated by:
- Team members contributing ideas and collaborating on PIVOT
- Operational savings identified and delivered through the program each year
Powercor now has the ability to identify actions and initiatives that can help their people deliver more value to internal and external stakeholders, including their customers.