Navigating Staffing Issues through the Decades in Niagara Falls

There are many challenges with keeping water and wastewater infrastructure functioning and serving the public. The physical challenges are readily understandable but another challenge no less formidable involves the human element -- keeping our facilities staffed with adequate numbers of trained individuals who can function as an effective team. During the past 50 years Niagara Falls has endured a staffing evolution accompanying its evolution in governance and infrastructure. Faced with a mix of common and unique staffing issues, some measures have worked well while others have had only limited success. The current Niagara Falls Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) was built under the federal Construction Grants Program of the 1970s and 1980s. Generous staffing from the start, hirings required by a federal Consent Decree, and the phasing out of operating aid from the state began the financial squeeze on the city. By the mid-1990s pressures grew as federal pretreatment regulations forced local industrial customers to sharply reduce their discharges. While rejecting an independent engineering assessment and holding off privatization overtures, the city administration permitted the plant staff to pursue a self-guided effort to improve and streamline the department. The effort achieved some modest success, but substantial changes to staffing levels and the associated costs were not among them. Entering the new millennium, financial attention shifted to the city's water utility. Declining consumption and rising debt service was creating its own funding crisis. A new mayor formed a Utilities Task Force to evaluate options and make recommendations. The three options considered were the status quo (with a 75% rate increase), privatization, and transferring water and wastewater assets to a newly formed authority, allowing refinancing of debt that the city could not undertake. The authority option was ultimately recommended and accepted, resulting in the Niagara Falls Water Board (NFWB). In 2004 the first Executive Director initiated a competitive assessment (CA), which determined that a 27% gap existed between the NFWB and the best-run utilities of similar size. Several strategies were identified for narrowing the gap. The CA also elevated the sense of urgency of the approaching silver tsunami. The CA consultant was retained to assist with a Best Practices Program (BPP), intended to close the gap in an expedited manner. While some changes did occur, many were not long lasting. Revenue shortfalls in 2006 threatened to reopen the budget mid-year to further increase user charges. Averting this required a workforce reduction, impacting most divisions in the utility. This had a predictable impact on the effectiveness and enthusiasm for the BPP. During this same period the CBAs were renegotiated, creating two tiers of employees. Newly hired employees would receive lower starting pay, fewer holidays, and a lower level of medical coverage. The cost-saving impacts of these changes upon attracting new employees would become evident later. The retirement of the long-standing WRRF Chief Operator in 2004 presented its own problems such as disinterest among subordinates and a culture clash with hiring from the outside. The problem has been addressed by returning retirees, part-time licensed operators, and process control assistance by a consultant. Other retirees are also assisting in the areas of plant maintenance, sewer maintenance, engineering, water treatment operations, and the distribution/collection systems. These positions are termed 'temporary part-time appointment.' More formal means have been used to capture and preserve collective staff knowledge while they're still available. One is a PowerPoint orientation specifically structured for new employees. An electronic O&M manual was developed to simplify and expand staff access to many varies resources, including construction plans, procedures, 3D imaging, and manufacturer literature. Team building efforts have taken several forms. Myers-Briggs personality assessments and leadership training facilitators are examples. 50 years have provided a string of lessons in maintaining a viable and effective workforce. Many have revealed their clarity only in hindsight. Following is a distillation of the more important ones: oYour workforce is like a living creature: growing, learning, backsliding, and changing in ways not obvious. oAn employer has rights, just as the employees do. The vehicle to memorialize these rights is the CBA, which is intended to serve all. oAttrition and consolidation have their limits. As Albert Einstein observed, 'Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.' oBe proactive in capturing and documenting the valuable knowledge the staff has amassed, individually and collectively. Encourage mentoring and shadowing. oIf your collective institutional knowledge has already waned, don't neglect the huge resource your recent retirees represent. o'Consultant' is not a dirty word. They are plentiful, with varied experience and talents to help you when you don't have the in-house abilities to help yourself. oBeware the temptation to diminish the compensation package for new hires. oSenior staff should frequently remind themselves that the day will come when the utility continues operating with none of the current employees remaining.