Transforming The Organization: Building an Effective Employee Development Program

The statistics abound as to the impact that aging baby-boomers are starting to have on the workforce. To compound matters the next generation is made up of a significantly smaller workforce. The majority of utilities are only now beginning to realize the challenge ahead of them. The workforce crisis is no longer looming; it is here. This “perfect storm” emphasizes the importance of Strategic Workforce Planning.The impact will be exacerbated by recent “rightsizing” efforts and overall workforce reductions that have limited the restocking of the employee development pipeline. Further, a vast array of critical knowledge about a utility's operation and assets will soon be lost if the issue of knowledge retention is not adequately addressed in the near future. The impact of retirements and utility reorganizations will accelerate, cascading throughout the industry.Utilities that successfully deal with the impact of workforce issues, including employee and leadership development, succession planning, and knowledge retention, will be much better equipped to deal with the challenges ahead.