Bridging the Knowledge Gap: An Approach to Managing an Inexperienced Workforce in Public Utilities

The water and wastewater industry faces a significant and growing challenge: the rapid loss of institutional knowledge due to the retirement of long-tenured employees, increasing turnover, and a shortage of structured succession and training programs. For many public utilities, this presents a threat to both operational continuity and regulatory compliance. The complexity of water and wastewater treatment processes, combined with the sector's increasing reliance on aging infrastructure, technology, and stringent environmental regulations, demands a workforce that can make informed, experience-based decisions. Many organizations lack the systems necessary to capture and transfer critical institutional knowledge, and this problem is compounded by the accelerating rate of retirements (as of 2025, over 11,000 people are turning 65 years old every day). Nowhere is this more apparent than in operational departments, where the knowledge required to make effective process control decisions has traditionally been passed down informally-through side-by-side training, mentorship, or on-the-job exposure. As key staff leave or retire, this informal model begins to break down. Without a systematic approach to retaining and sharing expertise, organizations risk making decisions in an information vacuum, increasing operational risk, reducing efficiency, and impacting public health or the environment. This presentation explores how South Platte Renew (SPR), Colorado's third largest WWTP, responded to such a challenge. Following the turnover of several key members of its operations department, SPR was left with a largely inexperienced team tasked with running complex treatment processes with minimal historical or procedural guidance. Rather than attempting to recreate a traditional model of knowledge sharing SPR embraced a new, system-based approach focused on resilience, risk mitigation, and long-term sustainability. Understanding the Challenge Plant operations at SPR experienced significant turnover over a short period, with several senior operators retiring or moving on. These individuals had carried much of the facility's operational memory, including knowledge of specific process quirks, regulatory requirements, history, and situational problem-solving. Their departure exposed a critical vulnerability: much of the decision-making capacity was embedded in people, not systems. As a result, remaining staff found themselves without the knowledge needed to maintain process stability or respond effectively to unplanned events. While this scenario is not unique to SPR, its response provides a model for other utilities facing similar transitions. The organization recognized that institutional knowledge, if left unstructured, can easily be lost. Instead of trying to replicate the old system by hiring experienced staff, SPR focused on building a framework that would enable any operator-regardless of tenure-to access critical information, make informed decisions, and contribute meaningfully to the facility's performance. Strategy 1: Building Systems, Not Just Teams The first step in bridging the knowledge gap was to shift the organizational mindset from person-dependent operations to system-dependent operations. This meant utilizing standardized operating procedures (SOPs), process guides, and documentation for routine tasks, troubleshooting, and emergency scenarios. To ensure these documents remained relevant, SPR incorporated feedback from operators at all levels. Inexperienced staff were encouraged to identify gaps or ambiguities in the procedures, and improvements were made iteratively. The goal was not to produce perfect documents but to create a living system of institutional memory that grows and evolves with the team. Management staff also facilitated collaborative process evaluations on a regular basis. These evaluations were discussions involving multiple plant divisions (Engineering, Lab, Operations, Maintenance) and were centered around identifying critical failure points or process upsets before they occurred. Several of these discussions identified complex procedures or high risk activities that could be planned for, and built additional touchpoints such as daily readings or visual observations to help train operators about the criticality of these processes. This approach also extended to digital systems. SPR implemented centralized knowledge management tools where documentation, process trends, and historical data could be accessed easily. This provided newer staff with context for decision-making, empowering them to act with greater confidence and accuracy. Strategy 2: Using a Risk-Based Framework Another key component of SPR's strategy was adopting a risk-based approach to operations. Recognizing that inexperienced teams may struggle with prioritization or understanding the downstream effects of decisions, SPR developed a framework to help operators assess the likelihood and consequence of various process conditions and potential failures. This framework was designed to guide decision-making during both routine and non-routine events. For example, rather than relying on intuition to determine whether a process deviation warranted immediate intervention, operators were trained to assess the potential impact of inaction against available mitigation strategies. This structured thinking helped reduce decision paralysis and ensured that limited experience did not equate to inaction or misjudgment. Additionally, the risk-based approach encouraged collaborative learning. Multi-functional teams were brought together regularly to debrief recent issues, walk through what was known, what was assumed, and what could have been done differently. These sessions helped reinforce systems thinking while creating a culture of continuous improvement. Strategy 3: Intentional Knowledge Capture SPR also committed to proactive knowledge capture. Rather than waiting for staff to leave before trying to collect their knowledge, the organization began identifying roles, tasks, and pieces of information that were vulnerable to loss. These were prioritized for documentation, cross-training, and procedural development. Mentorship was reimagined not as a one-on-one pairing but as a team-based process. Senior staff regularly hosted live process walkthroughs during shift changes, which allowed for conversation and a deeper understanding of current process trends as well as exploration of what-if scenarios. This approach helped with engagement across a group of less experienced operators, and encouraged participation regardless of tenure. Strategy 4: Competency Based Training To support the growth of operations staff and enable fast and repeatable training program, SPR developed a competency-based training schedule. This approach focused on creating transferable skills and an evaluation system that allowed operations staff to demonstrate their capabilities. This system was tied to performance evaluations and career advancement, and enabled management to train operators to be competent in systems, rather than just simply performing rote tasks. Conclusion The experience at South Platte Renew illustrates both the vulnerability and the opportunity that comes with workforce transition in public utilities. While the loss of institutional knowledge presents a real threat to operations, it also provides a catalyst for rethinking how knowledge is captured, shared, and used. By building systems rather than relying on individuals, and by taking a risk-based, structured approach to training and operations, public utilities can create resilient teams capable of adapting to change, sustaining performance, and delivering on their public service mission in the face of significant turnover. SPR's experience is a call to action for utilities across the sector: institutional knowledge cannot be assumed, and it cannot be replaced overnight. With the right strategies in place, it can be preserved, shared, and even strengthened. This ultimately paves the way for a more stable and sustainable workforce as our industry becomes more complex. One final note -- I selected 'Healthy Leadership System Management' as a topic but believe this could also work for Leadership Stories or even potentially Strategic Planning categories.