Strategic Talent Management for Utilities in a Post-Pandemic World

We are in the midst of a generational shift taking place right before our eyes. With this shift, America's workforce is changing, and rapidly. According to the Pew Research Center, Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the nation's largest living adult generation. This trend is expected to continue through the 2030s as the millennial generation continues to grow and join the workforce while Boomers continue to age and retire. The impact of this ongoing transition is felt in nearly all segments of the economy, including the utility industry. Vast amounts of knowledge and experience are walking out the door as retiring employees look to start new chapters of their lives. In too many cases, this is happening without that valuable knowledge and insight being imparted to the next generation of utility professionals. As a critical component of the utility management infrastructure, especially during and after the COVID-19 public health crisis, water utility leaders need to be thinking proactively and strategically about ways to effectively leverage aging employees as a valuable resource and develop a succession plan to ensure future continuity within the organization. This session will provide historical and projected labor force data and emphasize the importance of growth, development and learning for employees from onboarding through retirement. We will demonstrate what a strategic talent management process looks like in today's environment and review the stages of developing and implementing an effective plan. The speakers will highlight the benefits of strategic talent management for both current success and future sustainability. Key learning objective: Discuss and demonstrate the importance of an effective talent management program for water utilities, including an understanding of the full talent management lifecycle from talent acquisition (workforce planning, recruitment, selection), through talent development (onboarding, training, performance management), talent retention (leadership development, employee engagement, rewards and recognition) and talent sustainment (succession planning, knowledge transfer). Participants will learn about the critical stages of talent management and understand the essential components of a strategic talent management program, along with leading industry practices to help utilities successfully manage changing workforce challenges.