Connecting the Dots…Capturing Workforce Knowledge Using an Organizational Change Program

Dramatic changes were taking place at the Alexandria Sanitation Authority (ASA). Increasingly stringent effluent limits, proposed by the VPDES permit, were driving changes to equipment and increasing the complexity of the entire treatment process of both liquid train and solids train. The leadership team had to step up to the plate and lead staff to be prepared to meet the needs of managing such a complex and diverse process. In addition, there were opportunities to be gained as staff was developed to take on this new challenge. This paper discusses some of the challenges facing ASA, the process developed to overcome the obstacles of staff skill transfer in a changing workforce, as well as offering suggestions for other utility's facing similar challenges of retirement of experienced workers, training of younger workers and knowledge collection, documentation and transfer.