Career Lattice: Year One Report Meeting at the: Puget Sound Energy Olympia, WA June 22, 2011 Alan Bigelow Canyon sunrise Photo courtesy of Portland General Electric

Career Lattice Framework for depicting relationships between and among jobs. More complex than career ladder; information based on industry input. Includes information about training, certificates and job requirements. Sally

Career Lattice in Action Educators use lattice to identify training gaps and develop or improve programs. Industry uses lattice to clarify career path with new and incumbent workers and design internal training. Workers/students use lattice to navigate career options and develop new skills. sally

Career Lattice Deliverables Summary and analysis of Skill Standards Sample job descriptions Identify and illustrate connections and gaps between and among specific jobs Narrative overview of Career Lattice Draft of lattice web images Post findings on project website Alan

Lattice Components Alternate titles for occupations Narrative description of career path Sample job descriptions for each occupation Skill Standards information/links Relevant education and training program links Connections between occupations Sally For each of the ten occupations there are these components. Wage and data information is included in some cases.

Career Lattice Process Background research conducted Skill Standards and sample job descriptions collected 30 industry interviews conducted; 13 employers across five state region Connections between and among jobs identified; summary prepared Connected to training and education info Sally Company sponsored training, college programs and certificates and apprenticeships

Interview Participants WASHINGTON Centralia City Light Seattle City Light Avista Utilities Puget Sound Energy Evergreen School District Evergreen Power McKinstry   OREGON Portland General Electric Energy Trust of Oregon MONTANA NorthWestern Energy IDAHO Idaho Power REGIONAL Bonneville Power Administration PacifiCorp sally

A Career Lattice Does: Focus on pathways, not skills Include more information than originally sought Include corporate and education training info Need additional focus in Year Two Does Not: Provide company specific information Develop Skill Standards or Skills Panels Include all energy occupations Provide complete gap analysis information Alan

Career Lattice Findings Jobs are Distinct Jobs are Changing Occupations vary among employers Smart Grid will require more IT, Data Management & Analysis, and Communication skills Sally Distinct Jobs: there is not a clear linear career growth trajectory that connects these specific jobs. On the supply side, it seemed fairly common for the occupations to be quite distinct with little opportunity to move between the crafts. moving among supply-side occupations is difficult unless an existing worker is willing to undergo significant re-training ‘silos’ are sometimes dictated by the highly-specialized, technology-specific skills required by the job and is sometimes a function of company-union agreements and apprenticeship requirements that are in place. While each occupation has its own path, there are not many connecting points between or among the ten occupations. Jobs are Changing: Jobs in the energy field are changing as technology evolves and regulations change. Meter Techs were erroneously understood to be synonymous with Meter Readers. In fact, Meter Reader is an occupation that is becoming obsolete for most utilities and is likely to be completely phased out As new reporting regulations are put in place, more organizations are likely to need Resource Conservation Managers (RCMs). RCMs are more likely to be employed by an organization that is a large energy user (i.e. city, school district) rather than directly by a utility. In some cases, the RCM role encompasses sustainability skills, which reflects the changing nature of the work. Variation Among Employers: Occupation titles, duties, and levels vary some from employer to employer. Training offered to incumbent workers also varies widely. Smart Grid Impact: Smart Grid will surely impact programs and training but details of the impacts have not yet been identified. Utilities are predicting an increased demand for IT skills, data management and analysis professionals and Communication Technicians. Utilities consistently noted that they do not currently have systems or personnel in place to deal with the influx of data. One specific use of the data will be to help consumers understand and manage their energy use. This means that a translation of the data from the utility to the consumer will be needed so people in the Energy Conversation Program and Customer Service roles will need additional training in this area.

Sally Five supply side occupations share a foundation of ground crew-type position as the entry point, requirements for apprenticeship. Movement between occupation is rare All four crafts can bid into Relay Tech positions which also require add’l training. Relay Tech can move back to any craft regardless of starting craft, except line worker.

Supply Side Options alan

Demand Side Connections Sally Connection between demand side occupations is more fluid that supply side. CSR is entry point into utilities. There is a line between occupations employed by utilities and those that aren’t. Thinner bars indicate less demand – meter reader and energy auditor Thin line connects meter reader to Meter Tech on Supply Side.

New Skills/Functions Connect Occupations alan

Next Steps Create on-line tool to make data accessible (proposed) Plot occupations into Smart Grid image (see samples) Follow up industry interviews, refine data Connect Career Lattice to supply and demand information (proposed) alan

Request for Ed Taskforce Input Provide input on draft Smart Grid images Review Career Lattice content posted on http://cleanenergyexcellence.org/ Sally The ten occupations are not connected in traditionally recognizable career path model. They are linked by role in the smart grid. Therefore our recommendation is to illustrate the career lattice using a smart grid image. We’ll show two options and gather initial feedback to move the illustration part forward.

Career Lattice Option #1 sally

Career Lattice Option #2 sally

alan

WSU Extension Energy Program – Workforce 3/31/2017 Thank you! Alan Hardcastle, Senior Research Associate hardcast@wsu.edu (360) 956-2167 Sally Zeiger Hanson, Workforce Research Associate hansonsz@energy.wsu.edu (360) 956-2094 alan WSU Extension Energy Program – Workforce http://www.energy.wsu.edu/apps/Workforce.aspx WSU Ext Energy Program SWH