QUALITY CULTURE

Building arobust quality
cultureQuality World chats to Martin Davies, project quality director at smart
infrastructure solutions company Costain UK, to find out how its Quality Culture
Programme is making a difference to large complex infrastructure projects
ILLUSTRATION: ANDREW ROBERTS

W

e live in a world where pressure to deliver value
for money on high-performing, complex infrastructure
projects is relentless. According to The construction
productivity imperative, a report published by McKinsey in2015, an estimated 98 per cent of megaprojects experience
cost overruns of more than 30 per cent, and 77 per centof projects are at least 40 per cent late. Additionally, a2017 research paper by Professor Bent Flyvbjerg, a Danish
economic geographer, revealed that nine out of ten
megaprojects experience cost overruns. He added that
overruns of up to 50 per cent in real terms are common andover 50 per cent are not uncommon, and overruns haveremained high and constant for the past 70 years.
The UK Government formed the Infrastructure and Projects
Authority in 2016 as a response to the growing need to bring
together the financing, delivery and assurance of projects
ranging from large-scale infrastructure projects to majortransformation programmes. Of the major projects identified
between 2013 and 2019, the number of projects classified as“probable of a successful delivery” had fallen sharply from 48
per cent in 2013 to just 17 per cent in 2019.
Delivering to plan is of increasing importance on a politicaland financial level. Projects running over estimated budgets
and timescales have knock-on effects on the client, customer
and the supply chain. These issues have led to a plethoraof potential remedies being developed, where quality has
emerged as a key enabler for success – improving performanceand enhancing personal and organisational reputation. By
investing in planning, integrating risk management andquality management early on, clients and their supply chains
have the best opportunity to deliver faster, better and greener

18 | QUALITY WORLD | SUMMER 2021

projects at a lower cost. In 2016, the Get It Right Initiative(GIRI) was established with the aim of eliminating potential
risk to both the public and investors, by improving quality andproductivity, and reducing costs and waste.
GIRI – comprised of the UK’s major construction companies– adopted a multidisciplinary approach to raising awareness,with a focus on changing culture and attitudes by improving
knowledge, decision-making powers and planning skills.
To support this approach, Costain – a GIRI member with arepresentative on the board – developed a Quality Culture
Programme to assist both project teams and stakeholders.
Quality World talks to Martin Davies, Project Quality
Director at Costain, to find out how the programme isbeing used to spearhead quality and productivity and,most importantly, change quality culture across multipleinfrastructure projects.

Quality World: What are your principal duties at Costain?
Martin Davies: I am primarily responsible for quality
management across multiple projects within our defence
and energy sectors. I have been working at Costain forthe best part of seven years, and in that time, I have been
fortunate to have been given the responsibility for managing
quality on two of the largest and most complex civil anddefence nuclear infrastructure projects in the UK.
QW: Could you tell us more about your work in the civil anddefence sector and why you believe a robust quality culture isparamount to its success?
MD: We are working on several major infrastructure projects,
across both nuclear sectors (civil and defence) where theQUALITY CULTURE“Top-levelcommitmentand buy-into quality
management
is what drives
a leadingqualityculture”

QUALITY.ORG | 19

QUALITY CULTURE
scope of our work ranges from decommissioning of existing
plants to supporting major complex construction projects.
As with any project, the goal is to complete the projecton time, to the correct specification and leave a successful
legacy (which incorporates high standards of safety andquality). Due to the complexity and scale of a large project,with its wide-ranging scope of supply, manufacture andconstruction, there are risks. We have a tried and tested
management system to identify and address various
risks through defined processes. However, as with any
good management system, people’s compliance withthe requirements, ownership and engagement is vital togetting the desired outcome. At Costain, we identified theimportance of culture, and specifically a quality culture, tothe success of the project.

QW: What have been some of the main challenges you’ve
identified on those large-scale projects and how did you
overcome them?
MD: One of the recent projects we were working on wasdata rich, which meant we had to spend time analysing thequality assurance and quality control data, before we could
decide on how we were going to approach it from a quality
management perspective.
From our own inspection reports, observations and audits,
we discovered there were several nonconformance issues
across the supply chain that were not being detecteduntil further down the line. After a detailed investigationand speaking with our client’s project quality director(my counterpart), we found that the main cause of thisissue was the perception from people that correcting
the nonconformity at source was enough, hence notcommunicating it to be actioned through root cause
investigation and preventing recurrence elsewhere. Our
further investigation into this revealed that a possible root
cause was the lack of engagement between leadership andtheir employees in the supply chain.

The results of our investigation pointed to a review of theculture, ie, what was the prevailing culture and how would
we find out?
We had a light-bulb moment when we realised that oneof the core elements of the client’s management system
is “nuclear professionalism”. This includes six important
attributes – leadership, communication, compliance,competence, personal values and ethics.
After conducting a review of our management systemon the project last year, we investigated those elementsof nuclear professionalism and what they would look likein the context of quality. This involved trying to identify
the expectations and behaviours that would support thoseelements as well as how the latter could be transposed into
other sectors.
This led to the development of our Costain Quality Culture
Programme in June 2020.
We introduced a suite of behaviours and expectations formeasuring the quality culture on this project and others in
Costain’s portfolio.

QW: What steps have been introduced to measure the quality
culture for this project correctly?
MD: The Costain quality team decided that a survey was thebest approach. Although we had some data, it was beneficial
for to us to find out more about the perspective of theindividuals and determine the cultural maturity at all levelsof the project team.
The quality team identified and agreed the key leadership
attributes and expectations to explore through the survey.
We provided statements – things that people could easily
see, believe or act upon and asked the participant to rate
them in order of importance.
We issued our Quality Culture Survey to circa 800 project
personnel in September 2020. A total of 14 companies
participated in the survey with responses from senior leadersand management through to technical leads, supervisors

SEPTEMBER 2020

JANUARY 2021

ACHIEVED 502 SURVEY RESPONSES, 60%+ RESPONSE RATE(SCORES BY SURVEY CATEGORY)

ACHIEVED 710 SURVEY RESPONSES, 70+% RESPONSE RATE(SCORES BY SURVEY CATEGORY)

5.0

3.3

LEADERSHIP
5.0

4.0
VALUES & ETHICS
3.7

3.0

COMPLIANCE

2.0

4.1

1.0

COMMUNICATION

+0.1

3.8

3.5
COMPETENCY+0.2

LEADERSHIP

4.0
3.0

COMPLIANCE

2.0

4.1

1.0

➪

0.0

3.4

VALUES & ETHICS

3.5

0.0+0.2

3.5

COMMUNICATION

3.7+0.2

COMPETENCY

Each was rated a score of 1 to 5, where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree. Overall scores are the aggregated result (mean average).

The charts show a marked increase in engagement and scores from the first survey in September 2020 compared to the second in January 2021. The
Quality Culture Survey results are based on individual responses to a series of 40 statements.

20 | QUALITY WORLD | SUMMER 2021

“By investing in planning,
integrating risk management
and quality management
early on, clients and their
supply chains have the best
opportunity to deliver faster,better, and greener projects
at a lower cost”

Costain and Balfour Beatty were the main
contractors for the London Bridge Station
redevelopment. The station received the RIBA
London Award 2019 and was also named RIBA
London Building of the Year 2019.

Costain, together withSkanska and Balfour
Beatty, delivered a newand improved section of
the A14, eight months
ahead of schedule.

and specialist experts. We had a 60 per cent response andcompletion rate, which was in part due to the survey
being accessed in hard copy at site as well as online for
office-based personnel.
Independent data analysis was conducted by our partner
INCIGHT Ltd to ensure impartial results.

QW: How does the culture survey tie in with Costain’s Quality
Culture Programme and your core expectations of leadership,compliance, communication, competency, personal values
and ethics?
MD: I hear leaders talking about quality daily. This top-levelcommitment and buy-in to quality management is what
drives a leading quality culture. Leaders need to be overtly
championing quality every day to keep it at the forefront of
their projects and teams’ minds. The outcome of the survey
directs the strategy for the year on our complex projects
and is an inherent and vital part of Costain’s Quality
Culture Programme.
When we set out our quality strategy with the client, weworked with them to incorporate the key quality cultureelements as well as the more routine compliance elementsthat are critical to the project’s success.
Quality culture elements are the things that we collectively
decide we will measure to gauge the current culture, suchas leadership, competency and communication. In our case,
we used our client’s nuclear professionalism characteristics
and developed them in a quality context. For example, thecompetency element became “Secure in your competency
in nuclear safety and have completed all SQEP (Suitably
Qualified Experienced Personnel) assessments”.
The routine elements are those you would expect tofind on infrastructure projects, such as compliance withspecifications and procedures.

QW: How have you been maintaining cultural inputs andoutputs for this project and others through Costain’s Quality
Culture Programme?
MD: We introduced culture and desired behaviours fromthe beginning, which included inductions with Costain
employees and supply chain representatives for the projects
that we work on. This included training on leading quality
and behavioural management.
As part of our Quality Culture Programme, we have KPIs
that are regularly reviewed. The results are addressed at theorganisation’s monthly Quality Leadership Forum to supportand underpin the cultural aspects that we measure throughthe survey. The survey is updated and sent out every quarter.
QW: Could you tell us more about Costain’s Quality
Leadership Forum and the changes you’ve implemented
to improve business relationships across small- andlarge-scale projects?
MD: In general, we found that we were working a little tooindependently within the confines of our projects, and that
it would be beneficial to develop a common language,
platform and areas of focus to improve the quality culture.
This led to the launch of our Quality Leadership ForumQUALITY.ORG | 21

THEATRE CULTUREQUALITY
INDUSTRY
where we were able to start discussing quality at leadershiplevel. We already had Costain’s senior sponsors on board,
who understood and supported a more coherent approachto quality management, and our client’s quality leader was
fully behind our approach as well.
We now have other working groups in place, such as theProject Quality Forum, which is a monthly meeting to review
and discuss data derived from inspections and internalaudits, as well as provide a platform for leaders to share
their experiences of quality management.
We also have a Director Quality Forum which takes place
within each project. Costain has handed over the traditional
project quality meetings to the project directors of thecompanies who are delivering the projects to further embedand change the perception of quality being one team’sjob – it is everyone’s responsibility. Costain’s quality teamcontinue to offer support to the quality directors as andwhen required.
Some of the initiatives that have come out of Quality
Director Forums include behavioural training, rewards, animproved SHEQ (safety, health, environmental and quality)
card process to encourage better behaviours in identifying
potential hazards, large group engagements (sociallydistanced) and feedback.

QW: What standards does Costain work to and how do theytie in with Costain’s Quality Culture Programme?
MD: We work in accordance with the ISO 9001 and 14001
series of standards. Costain’s Quality Culture Programme isvery relevant because it has been developed and aligned tothe standards’ leadership, communication and competency
frameworks as well as the CQI’s core competencies(Governance, Leadership, Assurance, and Improvement).
QW: What are the main challenges facing the defence
and energy sectors and how will Costain’s Quality Culture
Programme help to address them?
MD: As well as the ongoing challenges and impactsof Covid-19, many organisations are adapting to thebiggest challenges in our changing world such as ageing
infrastructure assets, increased connectivity and useof digital technology and the increasing impact ofclimate change.
Quality runs through everything we do, and it is the qualitythat largely determines the overall cost, where better quality
leads to better outcomes. A standard set of key criteria willallow us to benchmark performance, understand how we canimprove (encompassing other tools that Costain use), andensure we become the best we can be across all markets.
For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, we were able
to utilise our technology capabilities to conduct remote
inspections. This meant we were able to maintain and deliverall inspections with 100 per cent completeness, ensuring
little or no impact to our schedule.

QW: Why are other businesses interested in adopting
Costain’s Quality Culture Programme?
MD: In the words of one of our key supply chain leaders:“Poor quality impacts the bottom line”. The excellent workby GIRI suggests that 21 per cent of construction costs
come from unnecessary costs (for example, reworks, poorquality, etc). Continuous support and focus on quality not
only minimise risk, but can also reduce cost and time when
proactively managed and prioritised by all on a project.
Comments gathered in our survey demonstrate the impact
a good quality culture can have on a programme, suchas “it is an exceptional environment in a very challenging
project” and “this project has the strongest leadership I haveexperienced in 40 years in the construction industry”.
Our data tells us that by focusing on the culture and notjust the procedures and processes, we can improve our “rightfirst time”delivery. Businesses can learn about their quality
culture and understand not only the impact it has on thenow, but also the potential positive impact an improved
quality culture could have.
QW: How are you taking the Quality Culture Programme
forward this year?
MD: Our aim is to ensure everyone understands what quality
culture is. The Costain Quality Culture Programme will act
as a useful roadmap to help other businesses move towards
that goal of understanding and enforcing a robust
quality culture.
To do this, businesses need to agree what it is in theirorganisations that best describes their culture and what
they need to measure. I personally want to make as manyorganisations aware of the initiative as possible, to help
quality become a top priority. I believe the programme isthe first of its kind in the nuclear, defence and construction
sector, so the opportunity to share this leading-edge
approach and encourage others to adopt a similar process isagain part of the culture of quality management.

QUALITY CULTURE ACTIVITY TIMELINE (2020/2021)
Quality Culture Programme
developed.
Quality behaviours andexpectations defined.

JUN

22 | QUALITY WORLD | SUMMER 2021

Quality Forum established.
Launch systems approach toinspections.

JULLaunch Quality CultureSurvey.

‘Leading Quality’ trainingdelivered.

SHEQ cards for quality issues
and improvement ideas.

Quality Culture‘dashboard’
metrics readout.

AUG

SEP

Quality Culture Survey
output feedback and actions.

OCTQUALITY CULTURE“We haveprogressively
put other working
groups in place
to discuss quality
and ways toimprove, which
are actionorientated”
Above: The Thames
Tideway Tunnel isa £3.8bn, 25 km
super sewer. Costain
has been working
alongside client,
Tideway, and in joint
venture with VINCIConstruction Grands
Projets and Bachy
Soletanche on the east
section of tunnel.

QW: What advice would you give to other businesses who aretrying to create and maintain a robust quality culture?
MD: Approach it like any project by identifying and involving
your stakeholders. Engage leaders to gain commitment forchange and action, be clear on the initial scope and agree
what you want to see that defines the quality culture (thereare many commonalties but some differences that you may
want to pull out).
Leaders and leadership teams should set out a timeline ofactivities that build structure and capability. Measure what
they deem as important to creating a strong quality culture
and then communicate, communicate, communicate!
Additionally, by involving everyone in the process via
training, surveys, submitting feedback cards, rewards,
toolbox talks, workshops, among other initiatives, willdevelop the expectations, routine, and over time, thebehaviours and habits that support a strong quality culture.
We hope that our Quality Culture Programme will help
to drive positive change by reiterating the importance ofquality and ensuring that it is the central driving force forany project that is undertaken.

Right: In a joint
venture with Skanska(CSJV) on behalf ofNational Grid, Costain
has constructed
approximately
32 km of a highvoltage electricity
cable tunnel to create
a new electricity
superhighway deep
below London.

Quality ‘Reward &Recognition’ Programme
started.
World Quality Day comms,
and focus on customer
satisfaction.

NOV

Weekly SHEQ Walk-rounds
established
New audit process
in place.

Updated Quality induction.
Routine Quality KPls in place.
Quality Comms & LFE
Framework in place.

Quality Reps forum
established.

Next Quality Culture Survey.

DECQ1

Routine Quality Culture
framework activities, Survey
and 2021 quality objectives.

Q2

Q3

QUALITY.ORG | 23