How and Why to Engage Employees: It's Key to Continuous Improvement and Effective Utility Management

Employee engagement is not a new topic. However, the significance of the issue cannot be stressed enough, as many organizations overlook its importance within their organizations. The engaged worker, and for that matter, the disengaged worker, have a tremendous impact on the success of an organization, directly affecting critical segments of business that include: productivity, costs, customer service, and employee well-being. Employee engagement is a critical component of utilities' operations and correlates directly to many of the Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities (Ten Attributes).This session will demonstrate how employee engagement is directly linked to the Ten Attributes of Effectively Managed Water Sector Utilities and will explore the theories behind engaged employees. This presentation also will examine how the Charleston Water System (CWS) put those principles to work and will outline the benefits of employee engagement, referencing the steps taken at CWS. At the conclusion of this session, utility managers will have a better understanding of the critical elements necessary to create a culture of engagement within their organizations to more effectively manage their utilities.