Defence Nuclear Enterprise
Using digital approaches to tackle skills challenges and empower people to build fulfilling careers
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As competition for individuals with technical skills intensifies, how can workforce challenges be addressed to create a more secure future? With ambitious plans to grow its workforce, against the backdrop of challenges in recruitment and retention, the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) needed a radically different approach to retain and develop people within the Enterprise.
We worked with the DNE to develop and launch a digital careers Hub, and its impact was immediate. Within 10 days of launching over 1,000 people had accessed the Hub and had an overwhelmingly positive response and it has subsequently seen 1,400 people accessing the Hub each month.
The Hub represents a new initiative, helping to foster collaboration, facilitating employee engagement, and supporting the development of rewarding careers within the DNE.
Building the workforce to keep the country safe
The Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) is a partnership of organisations that operate, maintain, sustain, and renew the UK’s nuclear deterrent, playing a critical role in safeguarding the security and prosperity of the nation. To fulfil this role the DNE plans to increase its workforce by 29,000 people in the next 10 years. The DNE aims to recruit, develop, and retain people with skills in areas including engineering, programme management, cyber security, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Attracting, recruiting, and retaining people with these types of skills for both the private and civil nuclear sector is becoming increasingly challenging, with national level critical skills shortages creating strong market competition. The DNE has implemented an innovative strategy to develop skills, accelerating time to proficiency and productivity, and retain talent. It aims to inspire its people to explore the varied career opportunities available to them through ‘zig-zagging’ or cross organisational careers.
The career opportunities in the DNE are endless and we recognised the need to implement innovative solutions to attract and retain the right people with the right skills to deliver this. PA Consulting worked as a collaborator to co-develop the toolset, helping our military and civilian personnel to manage their careers in line with their interests, career ambitions, and the needs of the DNE. The result is a Hub that enhances our Employee Value Proposition for those considering a career in the DNE and those in the DNE looking at developing their capabilities.”
Understanding what people need at the moments that matter
We brought together a team with an understanding of these challenges across the DNE and skills in employee engagement, user centric design, and digital development to dig into the challenges the DNE was facing. We spoke to over 800 employees and technical experts from across the organisation to understand what would help them sustain an enduring career in Defence Nuclear. We also discovered gaps where greater support was needed for employees to thrive – clearer mentoring programmes, understanding of skills requirements, and visibility of job opportunities outside of their immediate team.
Giving employees greater control over their career development
To promote collaboration, our team began creating a central hub for the DNE. The concept emerged during the discovery phase, guided by the principle of providing a single source for career mobility and professional development information. Our experts helped develop content to engage and inspire employees, enabling greater mapping for career development.
We understand the inner workings of defence organisations, so we were able to quickly navigate potential blockers and risks and pivot towards solutions and technologies that would pass the DNE’s robust approvals process at pace.”
We mobilised a minimal viable product (MVP) of the DNE Career Development Hub. To do this, we brought in experts in delivery, digital strategy and experience, branding and marketing, architecture engineering, and DevOps, who worked across the content, design, technical, user testing and adoption aspects. The MVP launch was driven by enterprise-wide collaboration and alignment with open standards and UK Government service standards. Importantly, the Hub has a ‘low-code, low-maintenance model’ with built-in feedback mechanisms that allow the DNE team to engage with users and update the platform easily and incrementally.
Standout features include the ‘career stories’ section, showcasing real-life career paths, links into Enterprise-wide job adverts, and a quiz that matches users with career possibilities suited to their personality types. Around 48 percent completed the quiz within two weeks of the Hub's launch.
It was crucial we didn’t just launch a digital tool; we needed to embed new ways of thinking and ensure everyone at the DNE understood the value of addressing workforce challenges in this way.”
Creating real impact for thousands
The new Hub provides DNE employees with content and tools that will help them shape their career pathways and identify opportunities for professional development.
Civil Nuclear partners can collaborate and share learning on the adoption of a Digital Hub.
PA has developed and deployed a platform that is helping shape a culture of openness, collaboration, and a greater sense of community across the DNE.”
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