Succession Planning-PlanningFor The Coming Workforce Turnover

摘要

About 18 months ago, the Awwa Research Foundation funded a study of the comingrngenerational change in the water utility workforce titled “Succession Planning for a VitalrnWorkforce in the Information Age“. Recognizing that this problem was not unique tornwater utilities, the Water Environment Research Foundation elected to co-fund the study.rnThe study is in the process of being prepared for publication. Major elements of the studyrnincluded:rn?rnAn analysis of workforce demographic trends and forecastsrnA survey of water and wastewater utilities involving a number of issues related tornsuccession planning, training, and a variety of issues that affect utility’s abilitiesrnto proactively manage through generational changernA workforce planning model designed specifically for water and wastewaterrnutilities was developed and pilot tested at two utilitiesrnAn approach to developing training programs was demonstrated at two utilities –rnone for water operators and one for wastewater operators. This was done inrnconjunction with the National Center for Construction Education and Researchrn(NCCER).rn?rnBecause the loss of tacit (undocumented) knowledge emerged as a major concern,rna method for capturing such knowledge during a short period of time wasrndeveloped and pilot tested at a water and wastewater utility.rnOne way to minimize the likelihood of losing large amounts of tacit knowledge isrnto weave knowledge management techniques into the management of the utility.rnA knowledge management toolkit based on the “Circle of Knowledge” approachrnwas developed..rnIn addition there are modules presenting operations and maintenance skill sets, merit pay,rnbecoming an “Employer of choice” and other topics of interest. This paper will present arnsummary of project findings.rnNational Workforce Demographic Trends and ForecastsrnAn analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)data pertinent to water and wastewaterrnutilities is presented below: (Note: Data presented in this section as being utility normsrnrepresents data for SIC codes closest to water and wastewater utilities which includernsome non-utility activities such as irrigation systems).