People + Culture

Like most industries, utilities face core challenges to recruit, develop, and retain our people. This track focuses on how company culture has a direct impact on employee engagement and will explore evolving workforce expectations, attracting new talent, upskilling for the future, and what it means to be an employer of choice.

Target Audience: Professionals responsible for Talent Acquisition + Management; Human Resources; Onboarding; Training + Apprenticeships; Organizational + Workforce Development; Benefits + Compensation; or Succession Planning.

Meet the Program Development Team for this track. Learn more about the Customer + Corporate Symposium.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

11:15 AM – 12:30 PM
Employee Engagement “Must Haves”: Engaging Your Workforce to Get Culture Right
Panelists: Eric Knott, CEO, FinePoint HR
Maral Lotfian, Director, Employee Experience, FortisBC
Tait Willis, Director, Power Delivery Technology Services, Salt River Project
Who can’t relate to the fundamental shift in the way we work that has occurred in the past few years. The post-pandemic world has precipitated a massive shift in expectations from the workforce where culture is much more at play in engagement, turnover, work-life balance, leadership, etc. This panel discussion will explore ways to engage your workforce from various perspectives to better understand what it means to get culture right.

3:15 PM – 4:30 PM
Build Your Future Workforce: The Modern Talent Pipeline
Panelists: Emma Quigley, Recruitment Coordination Manager, BC Hydro
Heather Nelson, Director, Talent Management, Portland General Electric
Sarah Letsch, HR Recruiter, Avista Corp.
Tiffany Sek, Workforce Development Business Partner, FortisBC
It’s a tough labor market out there and we know that we need to start doing things creatively and tapping into underrepresented pipelines. Join us in this panel discussion to hear about youth and student hiring, Indigenous recruitment strategies, and Women in Leadership programs. Learn what other energy companies are doing to ensure that we have a strong talent pipeline now and into the future, and how we plan on keeping the great talent we already have.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
Knowledge Transfer and Succession Planning: Building a Strong Foundation for the Future
Speakers: Erin Henlin, Talent Development Manager, Southwest Gas
Lovelle Suarez, Workforce Development Manager, Seattle City Light
Ina Heffner, Rotational Managed Development Program Manager, Salt River Project
In an age of unprecedented disruption and change, it has never been as critical for organizations to be agile with the ability to adapt and change. There are a number of internal and external pressures contributing to the need for transformation, including changes in customer demand and expectations, regulatory changes, an aging workforce, dated infrastructure, and a push to diversify energy sources. Hence, there is a constant need for a readily skilled and knowledgeable workforce to keep the industry moving and flourishing. How this is achieved is a challenge that many organizations face. In this track, explore some of the potential methods to future-proof our workforce.