How RWE standardized skills and training across 20 sites and 20,000 employees

No single answer to “who’s qualified?”

RWE works across several countries and sites, with thousands of people in its power generation business. Its teams need to know that people have the right training, skills and technical knowledge to do their jobs safely. But that information was spread out.

Different countries and sites managed training, requirements and skills in different ways. Some information was in Excel. Other information was stored on SharePoint and in local systems. So RWE did not have one clear picture of who could do what.

Who was qualified? Where were the gaps? What needed to happen next?

These questions were especially hard to answer when an audit was coming.

Audit prep: 10 hours a week to 15 minutes

RWE has to meet its own requirements as well as external regulations.

Before AG5, getting ready for an audit meant looking through different files and systems. Teams had to find the right training records and make sure everything was up to date. Now they can see it in one place.

As Arjan van der Stelt, Head of Knowledge Management and Business Improvement at RWE, explains:

Preparing for an audit used to mean searching through different documents to find the right information. Now we can see everything in one place with the push of a button.

Arjan van der Stelt

Head of Knowledge Management and Business Improvement, RWE

And the time saved is significant. Preparing training records for a small group of employees used to take around 10 hours a week. Now it usually takes 15 to 30 minutes.

RWE no longer has to search for the information when an audit comes around. It is already there. But audits are only one part of the story.

When something goes wrong, RWE can find the right expert instantly

The same information can help when there is a problem on site. Take a steam turbine issue. The person who knows how to fix it may not work at that site. They may be working somewhere else in the company.

With AG5, RWE can find people with the right skills and experience.

We can find the right person with the right competences to help us fix the issue, which also saves downtime. This will save us thousands of euros per year.

Arjan van der Stelt

Head of Knowledge Management and Business Improvement, RWE

This is where the information becomes useful in day-to-day operations.

One view helps RWE work across sites

RWE had different requirements for the same jobs across different sites and countries. So even when people had the same job, the requirements were not always the same. Training was also handled differently.

Now RWE has a common set of requirements across its sites. It can see what each role requires and what training people need.

We can now see who is doing what training, and we can standardize.

Arjan van der Stelt

Head of Knowledge Management and Business Improvement, RWE

The goal is not to make every site exactly the same. It is to give everyone a clear view of what is needed, while still allowing each site to manage its own needs.

RWE can now see: Every site. Every employee. Every skill.

And whether people are qualified and compliant.

Hiring for the gaps managers can actually see

Managers can also use this information when they need to hire. They can look at the skills already available in their team and see what is missing.

“When I have a vacancy, I can see which competencies I need and what kind of person I need to hire.”

Sander Gerritsen

Daily Operations Team Lead, RWE

That gives managers a clearer idea of who they need to hire and what skills that person needs.

Employees can spot problems themselves

The information is not only useful for managers. Employees can also see their own skills and training.

In one case, an employee noticed that one of his training requirements was almost out of date. He raised it with his manager, who was then able to arrange the right training.That helped the employee stay compliant.

More importantly, the employee spotted the issue himself. The information is no longer held only by the training team. Employees and managers can see it and act on it too.

RWE can now answer a simple question

The value of AG5 is not just better training records.

RWE can now see: What people need to know. Who is qualified. Where the gaps are. What needs to happen next.

That helps with audits. It helps with training. It helps with hiring. And when something goes wrong, it helps RWE find the right person.

For a business like RWE, that leads to one simple question:

Who can do the work?

RWE can now answer that question much more quickly.