With the solid presence of three generations in the workforce today, it is more important now than ever to step up your game in developing your workforce. The Workforce Development track is a combination track that speaks to all audiences, both gas and electric. This track will dive into an array of topics such as Growing and Leading Through Change, looking Beyond COVID – Transitioning to the New Normal, exploring how New Technology is Changing the Way We Train, as well as a session that offers some insights into Knowledge Delivery, and Transfer and Management.
Meet the Program Development Team for this track. Learn more about the Operations Conference.
10:00 AM – 11:15 AM
Creating Effective and Scalable Change Management Strategies to Support Organizational Success
Speakers: Ben Eisenberg, Director, KPMG LLP
David Callen, Delivery Director, Slalom Consulting
Change is a constant in today’s dynamic business environment, and one size doesn’t fit all when determining how to implement change effectively. In this session, we will explore essential change management strategies based on industry examples and share tools and best practices that can help individuals and organizations navigate change successfully.
3:00 PM – 4:15 PM
Building and Retaining a Resilient Workforce: Strategies for Utilities to Compete in the Future
Speakers: Dorothy Sidhu, Manager, People Development, FortisBC
Lijo Joseph, Director of Human Resources, PAR Western Line Contractors, LLC
Glenda Scarbrough, Director of People Development, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
We are facing unprecedented times of adversity and challenges as we are hit with the realities of the future of work. We know many of us see the tsunami of eligible retirements on the horizon, while all of us stand strong in advocating for climate action and transformational change in support of our organization’s vision and strategic business priorities. We all our asking ourselves what we must do now to build a future-proof and resilient workforce for tomorrow. We feel and see the realities of the macro and micro-economic pressures of workforce challenges from labor shortages, declining birth rates, increased competition, immigration challenges, skilled workforce, and employee agency for work that is desired and purposeful. So, let’s focus and rally around what we can control, our employee experience and our value proposition. An employee life cycle begins from attracting, to pre-onboarding, to onboarding, development, succession, and off-boarding. Our topic of discussion today will focus on one of the many critical parts of our employee experience and value proposition within the first 365 days and yes, these days matter more than ever. The opportunities we can create in orientating, onboarding, acclimating, and developing our new employees within this timeframe is critical and immensely beneficial for us as the employer and for employee engagement, motivation, and sense of belonging. Today we’ll be talking with a panel of experts who will share their stories, insights, perspectives, and tangible takeaways for consideration in what we can be called to action on to do more of and less of within the most important days of our new employee’s experience.
9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
Knowledge Transfer
Speakers: Connie Berkshire, Manager, Workforce Development, ATCO
Debra Baldwin, Specialist/Gas Control and Dispatch, Southwest Gas Corporation
Craig Barker, Specialist/Gas Operations Support Staff, Southwest Gas Corporation
Jacob McCalmont, Managing Director, California, Mosaic
Workforce issues ranks third on CEO’s top 10 strategic business priorities for 2023, according to Gartner research. The need for employees to build, develop and apply emerging skills is critical, so the time to invest in building a culture in knowledge transfer is now. During this session, our panel of experts will discuss current practices, and strategic, actionable solutions to:
• Effectively manage knowledge transfer across a multigenerational workforce.
• Minimize the loss of knowledge and experience from retiring employees and turnover.
• Reduce training timelines by leveraging technology and digital transformation.