William H. Lowthert, Ph.D.
AIP Associates
home page: www.alwaysimproving.com
Ó William H. Lowthert, 1996

This research identified positive relationships between the implementation of certain high performance work practices and nuclear power plant performance in electrical production and nuclear safety.

The data indicate that nuclear plants who have empowered workers, organized workers into teams, granted the teams substantial authority, created teams that cross functional and organizational boundaries, and reduced layers of management have obtained better nuclear safety ratings.

The data also indicate that reduced layers of management and higher worker involvement in improving work processes, redefining jobs, solving problems, selecting new technology, modifying products or service, and meeting with internal customers is related to higher electrical generation.

The electric power industry is facing a new challenge. Customers will soon be able to select who supplies their electricity (Skinner, 1994). Electric utilities will soon face competition for markets that were exclusively theirs because of their franchise. The threat of deregulation is forcing electricity producers to increase electric production and reduce costs to be profitable (Warkentin, 1995). However nuclear power plants may not compromise nuclear safety.

Nuclear power plants must be economical to be successful in a competitive environment. The three nuclear success strategies are adherence to the highest safety standards, production of competitively priced energy, and generation of sufficient revenue to provide a return on investment to the owners (Byram, 1994). The nuclear power industry realizes that improvement in human performance is the best approach to meet the competitive economic challenges that it faces (Better Performers, 1995; Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, 1995).

This study describes High Performance Work Practices as organizational procedures and policies that allow individuals in an organization to perform effectively, so that both the organization and the individuals succeed. It identifies relationships between the implementation of some recommended high performance workplace practices and higher nuclear plant electrical generation and nuclear safety performance.

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between ten high performance workplace practices recommended by the U.S. Department of Labor in the guideline, Road to high performance, a guide to better jobs and better business results (1994) and the performance level of individual nuclear power plants. This study provides insight to managers concerning opportunities to improve performance through the implementation of high performance workplace practices that are used at better performing nuclear power plants.

This study is a status study in which data concerning variables were collected but not manipulated. This strategy allowed the researcher to report status, association, and relationships among data. This research is composed of four design components: acceptance of the recommendations of the U.S. Department of Labor concerning workplace practices, identification of implementation status of those recommendations in nuclear plants, determination of actual performance levels of individual nuclear plants, and comparison of actual nuclear plant performance levels to the implementation status of the recommendations.

The U. S. Department of Labor's Office of the American Workplace published the Road to high performance, A guide to better jobs and better business results (1994) to lead organizations to high performance. The purpose of this guide is to help create better jobs and better business results. The guide combines common elements of high performance workplaces using empirical evidence from successful companies to develop workplace practices that lead to high performance.

The ten high performance workplace practices recommended in the participation, organization, and partnership section of the guide were selected for this study. The recommended work practices were edited to create survey items using nuclear plant specific terminology. They edited workplace practices are

The review of the literature indicates the U.S. Department of Labor's guideline, Road to high performance, A guide to better jobs and better business results (1994) provides a good basis for specific research on characteristics of high performance work environments and high performance work practices. Other literature on high performance supports the characteristics proposed in the Department of Labor guide.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria provide core values and concepts that should direct organizations toward high performance (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1995). The Baldrige criteria core values and concepts are customer driven quality, leadership, continuous improvement, continuous learning, employee participation, employee development, fast response, design quality, problem prevention, a long range view of the future, management by fact using measurement and analysis, internal and external partnerships, corporate responsibility, citizenship, and an orientation toward results.

"A learning company is an organization that facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself" (Pedler, Burgoyne, & Boydell, 1991, p. 1). Chris Argyris discusses the concept of organizational learning (Argyris & Schon, 1978). He proposes that organizations often know less that the sum of the knowledge of individual members, even though organizations learn through the experiences and actions of their members.

Peter Senge (1990) describes organizations as complex interactions. Senge presents high performing organizations as four core disciplines and the fifth discipline, systems thinking, that brings the other four together to cause success. Mills (1991) recommends a cluster organization with few managers, a weak chain of command and empowered workers who make decisions and take action with little management direction.

The National Center on Education and the Economy commissioned a study of workforce skills in America to generate recommendations that would improve America's competitive position, increase our productivity, and ensure a more prosperous future. It identified the guiding principle of high performance work organizations as reducing the bureaucracy by giving workers direct authority over a greater variety of tasks. (Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, 1990).

The implementation levels of the workplace practices were provided by nuclear plant management. One senior manager from each of the 70 nuclear power plants in the United States was surveyed regarding the extent of implementation of each high performance workplace practice at the plant through a mailed questionnaire. A scale was constructed for each workplace practice to allow selection from a range of no implementation to fully implemented. Responding managers were asked to select the position on a scale that identifies the extent to which each workplace practice was implemented in their plant on January 1, 1995. The survey response rate was 73%.

The questionnaire was pre-tested to identify defects in the questionnaire or the survey procedure. Approval of the questionnaire was received from the professor in charge of the Workforce Education and Development program and the Pennsylvania State University, Office for Regulatory Compliance.

Three variables, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) safety ratings, electrical production, and cost of generation were used as measures of nuclear plant performance. These variables have been used in benchmarking activities for nuclear power plants (Hintz, 1993; Martin, 1994). Capacity factor is used as the indicator of electrical production. Capacity factor is a method for comparison of electrical production by generating plants. It is calculated for a plant by dividing the amount of electricity actually produced over a period of time by the amount of electric power that would have been produced if the plant were operated at its design electrical rating for the entire period. This allows comparison of plants of different size.

These performance measures are public information. NRC safety scores are made public during the Systematic Assessment of License Performance evaluation process (Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 1993). Cost and capacity factor data are reported annually to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Blake, 1995; U.S. Utilities Tell FERC, 1995). All are interval data.

Data analysis examined the relationship between the implementation level of the high performance workplace practices and the performance level of nuclear power plants. Data were analyzed by applying the least-squares regression method to describe the relationship between the implementation level of each recommended workplace practice and each measure of nuclear plant performance. The null hypothesis related to the research question is stated as there is no relationship between the level of implementation of the practices recommended and the performance level of nuclear power plants at the 95% significance level (H₀:B=0; p< 0.05). If the regression line indicated a relationship exists (H₁:B¹ 0; p< 0.05) the null hypothesis was rejected and the relationship was described. A Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was calculated to describe the relationship between the variables of interest.

This research found a desirable relationship between the implementation level of five work practices and nuclear power plant safety performance as indicated by the NRC Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance rating. It also found a desirable relationship between the implementation level of four work practices and electrical production. There were no relationships identified between the implementation level of any work practice and cost of generation. There were no undesirable relationships identified where implementation of a work practice was related to decreased nuclear plant performance.

The data indicate that workplace practices that involve teams and empowering workers have a positive correlation with nuclear safety ratings. This relationship suggests that some nuclear power plants have been able to obtain better nuclear safety ratings by organizing workers into teams, granting the teams substantial authority, and creating teams that cross functional and organizational boundaries. Reducing layers of management and involving workers in decision making, problem solving, selecting new technology, modifying their product or service, and meeting with internal customers are also related to better nuclear safety ratings.

Implementation levels of workplace practices that provide workers some control over their work processes and reduce layers of management are related to higher electrical production. The data indicate a relationship between plants with better electrical generation performance and workers involved in improving work processes, redefining jobs, solving problems, selecting new technology, modifying their products or service, and meeting with internal customers.

This study found a desirable relationship between the implementation level of five work practices and nuclear power plant safety performance as rated by the NRC. Higher implementation levels of these workplace practices were related to better NRC ratings.

No relationships were found in which increased implementation levels of a work practice were related to decreased nuclear safety performance. In five cases there was no relationship between the implementation level of a work practice and nuclear safety.

This research found a desirable relationship between the implementation level of four workplace practices and electrical production measured as plant capacity factor. Plants who reported higher implementation levels of these work practices had higher relative electrical production. The workplace practices related to increased capacity factors are

No relationships were found in which increased implementation levels of a work practice indicated decreased capacity factors. In six cases there was no relationship between the implementation level of a work practice and electrical generation.

This study found no relationship between the implementation levels of the recommended high performance workplace practices and the cost of generation in mills per kilowatt of electricity produced. This lack of a relationship is important. If the implementation of the recommended workplace practices is not related to desired cost performance, then other management practices cause the variation in cost performance.

It is possible that there is a longer delay time for the impacts of high performance workplace practices on cost of generation than upon other measures of nuclear plant performance. Perhaps utility spending and procurement practices had not changed sufficiently during the time period of the data, 1992 to 1994 to gain from high performance work practices in operations. Future studies will be performed periodically to reassess the relationship between the recommended work practices and the cost of generation

No relationships were identified between nuclear plant performance and these work practices.

Although this study was an association study, not designed to prove causal relationships, managers can consider the relationships identified through this research in planning performance improvements for organizations.

There is a relationship between better nuclear safety performance as rated by the NRC and high performance workplace practices that involve teamwork. Nuclear plants with empowered workers, who are partners with management in decision making, problem solving, selecting new technology, and modifying products or service, also have better safety ratings. Organizations should consider expanding the application of these work practices. Organizations with less than desired safety performance could begin an organizational development intervention that identifies opportunities for increased use of teams, increased team authority, cross functional teams, innovative activities that cross organizational boundaries, and employee empowerment.

Nuclear plant electrical generation performance has a desirable relationship with workplace practices that empower workers. Organizations should consider introduction of changes in management systems that allow workers to continuously improve their work processes; to redefine their jobs; to become actively involved in problem solving, to become involved in selecting new equipment, to modify their product or service, and to meet with internal customers. Managers should also identify opportunities for workers to modify work processes to correct quality, production, safety, or other procedures.

This research used actual nuclear industry data to validate several of the workplace practices recommended by the US Department of Labor. Future research should attempt to duplicate the results of this study in other industries.

The nuclear power industry provides an excellent research environment because measures of performance are public record through the NRC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. HRD researchers could analyze the implementation level of other recommended workplace practices to assess their relationship to nuclear plant performance.

The research methodology used in this study could be applied in any setting in which implementation levels of workplace practices could be determined and accurate measures of organizational performance are available.

Argyris, C. & Schon, D.A. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Better performers discuss traits at strategic planning conference. (1995, May 25). Nucleonics Week, 36(21), 1, 10-11.

Blake, E.M. (1995). U.S. capacity factors: Still higher from necessity. Nuclear News, 37(7), 36-44.

Byram, R.G. (1994, December). Positive change begins with a vision of the future. Paper presented at the Executive Conference of the American Nuclear Society, Scottsdale, AZ.

Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. (1990). America's choice: High skills or low wages! The report of the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. Rochester, NY: National Center on Education and the Economy.

Hintz, D.C. (1993, November). Using benchmarking to improve performance. Paper presented at the Nuclear Energy Forum United States Council for Energy Awareness, San Francisco.

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Lowthert, W.H.. (1996). The relationship between the implementation of high performance work practices and nuclear power plant performance. (1996). doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University (on-line). Available: http://www.alwaysimproving.com/

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Skinner, S. (1994, Summer). One executive's view of utility operations. Energy Digest. Pittsburgh, PA: Westinghouse Electric Corporation Energy Systems.

U.S. utilities tell FERC they made dramatic cuts in 1994 O&M spending. (1995, June 22). Nucleonics Week, 36(25), 1, 5-13.

United States Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology. (1995). Malcolm Baldrige national quality award 1995 criteria. Gaithersburg, MD: Author.

United States Department of Labor, Office of the American Workplace. (1994). Road to high performance, A guide to better jobs and better business results. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Warkentin, D. (1995). Investor owned utilities top 100 1994 financial performances. Electric Light and Power, 73(6), 21.

APA reference citation: Lowthert, W. (1994 The relationship between the implementation of high performance work practices and nuclear plant performance (On-line). Available: www.alwaysimproving.com.

Contact Bill Lowthert at BillatAIP@aol.com

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