As demand for skilled energy professionals rises, industry veterans are retiring in droves, taking their valuable institutional knowledge with them. That’s why having an electric utility succession plan is crucial.
By coordinating the right training and knowledge-sharing initiatives, electric utilities can mitigate the adverse effects of employee retirement and continue providing safe, reliable and affordable power to consumers at the end of the line.
7 tips for deploying an electric utility succession plan
- Share institutional knowledge whenever possible. Provide continuous opportunities for seasoned employees to teach new workers what they know, especially when it comes to safety measures, work procedures and accountability.
- Capture and document knowledge. Video, audio and written documentation can be stored on an easily accessible cloud-based system.
- Plan ahead to identify future knowledge gaps. Identify roles that will need to be filled when a seasoned employee retires. If that person has talked about retiring soon, it’s time to plan for how their duties will be covered.
- Constantly assess employee talent. Set goals for workers through formal leadership development programs so they can attain the proper capabilities and experiences to advance.
- Understand the long-term business strategy. Be mindful of upcoming changes to the business model or technology. This might mean that managers will have to change the way certain tasks are completed.
- Gain support from the executive leadership. Senior-level transparency and acknowledgement of the need for an electric utility succession plan is needed for any program to be effective.
- Partner with knowledgeable supply chain distributor professionals. Utility specialists with the right distributor will be experienced in the energy industry and can help industry professionals stay up to date on the latest trends and innovations.
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