Description

The risk that, due to the many projects, the complexity of their content and the many interdependencies, the necessary changes will not be achieved (or not on time), as a result of which we fail to fulfil the agreements and the expectations of our stakeholders.

Explanation

We need to implement organisational and other changes in order to improve our services and achieve our operational targets. This further increase in our professionalism is a challenge because staffing capacity is at a critical level and because of the knowledge required. In addition, a large number of changes are involved and there is a high level of interdependency between them. Finally, the underlying processes are very complex at NS, which means that it is not always easy to implement changes in good time.

Measures

We are boosting the professionalism of the portfolio management. This is an important instrument for properly managing the large number of programmes and projects, and their interdependencies. The managers discuss the strategic change agenda in order to make sure that the intended changes can be jointly implemented effectively and smoothly. The HRM department is actively working on increasing expertise regarding change programmes. NS has set up a programme designed to bring about a change in the NS corporate culture. We assess new projects in terms of contribution they can make to performance in the franchise KPIs.

Risk control trend

The increase in the number of changes and the associated complexity means there is a need for more coordination and priority setting. The improvements in NS-wide portfolio management should make an important contribution in this regard. So far, the level of risk control has remained unchanged; the desired changes have been initiated.

Residual risk

High. The current risk profile does not yet match the desired risk profile.