Foremen in the Utility Industry Leadership Foundations for Foremen in the Utility Industry Foreman Skills Profile Washington Workforce Conference November, 6, 2018 “A Centralia College Partnership”

Panelists Troy Nutter; Center of Excellence for Clean Energy Advisory Board Chair; Manager, Operational Training, Puget Sound Energy Alan Hardcastle, Senior Researcher, WSU Energy Program Barbara Hins-Turner, Director, Center of Excellence for Clean Energy

Why is industry interested? Digital transformation Advancing technology Competency based Validated by industry I would like to take a moment and share a short story that will set the stage for why our conversation this morning is so important. For the past 12 years, I have been involved with the Center of Excellence for Clean Energy. Over this time, I and my peers have invested our time in growing the clean energy effort through visioning and collaborating with the COE. This has resulted in three federal workforce grants to move forward clean energy jobs and training programs. All three grants exceeded expectations and outcomes in the energy sector. While past performance is great, where does that leave us today? We face continuing challenges in the energy sector. The recent Washington Jobs Project report published May of 2017 highlighted the creation of jobs for the grid modernization effort. We are interested in skills panels as we face digital transformation and advancing technology demanded by our customers to address grid reliability. But we need the jobs of the future to be informed by the competencies required of the roles as we face digitization as well as validated by industry as meeting our perceived needs and expectations.

The Grid In the past, the energy industry was pretty straight forward, there was a one-way flow of power to the end users; industry and consumers. Water spins the turbines, creates electricity at a low cost and our industries and communities flourished. But there were coal fired plants, natural gas fired plants that also spin the turbines. As we get smarter about environmental stewardship, we have begun to make the grid smarter, cleaner and more reliable. Source: The Washington Jobs Project, May 2017

The Smarter Grid The smarter grid has come with far more digitalization, expectations and requirements. The complexity has added competencies to occupational roles that were not envisioned when most apprenticeships and training programs for the energy industry began, let alone all the new roles that have been and continue to be created as this industry sector evolves. Cleaner energy requires more integration and communication to provide for seamless power. The blurring of lines between job roles and functions continues to tax the learning and development functions for industry, the educational and workforce systems. The challenge lies in how we come together to solve these issues and vision for the future. I would posit that we need to strengthen the center of excellence concept that has proven successful in the State of Washington and expand the funding and collaboration to support workforce and economic development. Source: The Washington Jobs Project, May 2017

Industry Sector Involvement Advisory Panels Regional Approach-one stop shops Consistency across the skills providers Cleaner energy is needed for economic growth The energy sector is an example of where industry has stepped up to the challenge. Industry is a full partner on the advisory panels for the COE and many 2 year and 4 year college programs. This needs to be expanded to reach into K-12 and the 4 Year colleges as a continuum and not a stop gap. The regional approach taken by the COE for Clean Energy is a model of leveraging the industry of the region to come together to solve common problems and vision for the future. COE’s live local, but serve the state and the region. The programs of research sponsored by the COE including workforce studies, skills panels and visioning forums provide for the sharing of information and programs that build consistency across the skills providers and have been a national model for success. We are all keenly aware that cleaner energy is a necessary driver for economic success, environmental stewardship and underpins our states’ ability to be competitive in the global markets.

Washington’s Centers of Excellence Aerospace & Advanced Materials Manufacturing Agriculture Allied Health Careers in Education Clean Energy Construction Global Trade & Supply Chain Management Homeland Security & Emergency Mgmt. Information & Computing Technology Marine Manufacturing & Technology Unmanned & Autonomous Systems

Vision Mission Liaison between partners and the state’s education system to: Drive the energy economy Create highly skilled workforce Meet industry needs Provide state-wide coordination “air traffic control” Become national model to develop partnerships between: Business Industry Education Organized labor Workforce system Economic development

Foreman Skill Profile-Industry Partners Avista Corp. Bonneville Power Administration Centralia City Light Chelan Public Utility District Clark Public Utilities Energy Northwest IBEW Tacoma Power Puget Sound Energy Seattle City Light Foremen play an especially critical role in adapting to these industry transitions; their jobs is multi-faceted and challenging, and employers report they are getting even harder to find. Changing expectations, technologies driving the need for higher-level knowledge and skill. Many reasons driving the need for understanding Foremen knowledge and skill requirements—simply, the industry is changing, and with it so are most jobs, and employer expectations about knowledge and skills are changing too—and the workforce has also changed. Retirements, turnover, labor shortages Competition within and between industry sectors—many skills are transferrable outside of utilities

Benefits of Skill Profiles Communicate workplace expectations Verify critical work functions, activities, qualifications and skills Increase responsiveness and relevance of education, workforce programs, service providers, internal training Enhance employability and portability of workforce skills Many benefits to documenting the foundational knowledge and skills needed now and into the future…

Building and Using Profiles 1. Background Research 2. Industry Focus Group 3. Draft Skill Profiles 4. Verify Draft or Revise To build the Profiles we created a common process. This allows us to build skill profiles that are consistent and ‘look’ the same from project to project That way, programs can be more portable across the education system and for use by industry. Research: Identify high-demand industry sectors, and existing standards, so we don’t re-invent the wheel Focus Groups: Partnerships between industry/education. Focus groups of employees who do the job-they know. Draft Profiles: for review by participants and SMEs. Verify/Revise: Survey of industry partners, same jobs and SMEs. Confirm and promote the Profiles New Programs/Revisions: In education and industry—keep pace with industry, technology and labor market change. 5. New Programs/Revisions

Why Foremen? Key leadership role—a high-value catalyst Most foremen ‘lead’ and ‘do’ simultaneously Team-based work requires group cohesion Adapting to new technologies and processes Knowledge and skill expectations changing Common challenge for Utilities Retirements, turnover, skill gaps Relevant to other industries, programs and certifications Foremen play an especially critical role in adapting to these industry transitions; their jobs is multi-faceted and challenging, and employers report they are getting even harder to find. Changing expectations, technologies driving the need for higher-level knowledge and skill. Many reasons driving the need for understanding Foremen knowledge and skill requirements—simply, the industry is changing, and with it so are most jobs, and employer expectations about knowledge and skills are changing too—and the workforce has also changed. Retirements, turnover, labor shortages Competition within and between industry sectors—many skills are transferrable outside of utilities

Background Research Variety of leadership programs available (NWPPA, WEI, Utilities, Colleges, etc.) State, regional and federal resources Utility partners offer some training; both passive and OJT/mentorships May be different at each utility Industry changes- Expectations/Skills Competitiveness/Performance Based on our experience with the industrial sector, and the research we’ve conducted so far, we know that: There are many different programs that are available to help foremen and crew leaders move into leadership roles There are a variety of resource materials available, but some of them are very out of date and don’t reflect changes in the industry. Utilities and their partners conduct their own training too—but that can vary a lot between utilities in how current it is, what it covers and how it’s delivered. As industry changes, utilities are adapting too, and their workforce expectations change, which ultimately effects performance and competitiveness.

Research Gaps What we DON’T know or have: Recent analyses of common functions, activities, skill needs Employer expectations and sense of urgency Foundational competencies, as a basis for training and best practices What we can’t tell from our research and what we don’t know from experience is the reason you all are here today. We can guess, but we really don’t know about the common functions and activities that foremen are engaged in at your companies, and what the skill needs are for those positions. It’s not clear how well various training that’s out there is based on current, foundational knowledge and skill needs—the basis for all training We don’t know what the current expectations are, not in any systematic way, and while individual utilities may have their own criteria, understanding what’s common across companies, related sectors, and foreman job classes would provide a useful foundation for training and career development by utilities, educators, programs and best practices. But you are the experts. And that’s why we’ve invited you to participate in today’s focus group – to help us drill down into these details, and educate us about the critical knowledge and skills that cut across the foreman role, what’s new, what’s needed, and what’s foundational.

Focus Group ‘Focus’ Industry/Occupational Trends Critical Work Functions (CWF) Key Activities (KA) Technical Knowledge and Skills Workplace Competencies

Industry/Occupational Trends - Input Now and in the Future: Impact of technology, policy, markets on Foremen roles and skill requirements Regulation-Related Workload Knowledge and Skills Diversification Age and Generational Issues SEE P. 22 OF THE REPORT FOR DETAILS AND EXAMPLES PROVIDED BY FOCUS GROUP

Critical Work Functions Lead and Direct Employees Communicate Construct/Install, Maintain and Repair Systems and Components Coordinate Work Perform Planning and Scheduling Ensure a Safe Work Environment Perform Administrative Duties Maintain Quality Control and Quality Assurance Customer Service

Critical Work Functions Key Activities A. Lead and Direct Employees A1 Identify skill sets A2 Provide skill gap training and ensure mandatory training A3 Assign and oversee personnel A4 Enforce industry standard compliance A5 Review direct reports’ performance, and conduct and identify recognition and/or corrective actions and note performance issues A6 Develop and support career enhancement of direct reports A7 Lead by example B. Communicate   B1 Communicate with management and direct reports B2 Communicate with internal and external customers B3 Communicate with vendors and contractors C. Construct/Install, Maintain and Repair Systems and Components C1 Perform preventive maintenance programs C2 Construct/Install and maintain systems and components C3 Respond to troubleshooting and system emergencies C4 Perform system and component repairs C5 Document equipment maintenance and repairs C6 Perform inspections D. Coordinate Work D1 Manage materials, tools, Equipment, emergency (EMS) stock levels D2 Ensure availability of materials, tools, equipment, prints and personnel D3 Order special needs equipment as required D4 Inspect tools and equipment D5 Reserve equipment as required D6 Coordinate work activity of crafts and crews

Technical Knowledge and Skills For each Critical Work Function: Identify Technical Knowledge/Skills (5-10) Prioritize each list of skills Confirm

Technical Knowledge and Skills

Workplace Competencies Survey Basic Skills Thinking Skills Personal Qualities Worksite Competencies Reading Creative Thinking Responsibility Utilizing Resources Writing Decision Making Self-worth Interpersonal Skills Arithmetic Problem Solving Sociability Utilizing Information Listening Visualization Self-management Using Systems Speaking Knows/Learns Integrity/Honesty Using Technology Reasoning  

Verify, Distribute, Evaluate Next Steps Verification by Industry Final Report and Dissemination Review Uses and Impact, Potential http://cleanenergyexcellence.org/industry/skill-standards/

Lunch!

Contacts Troy Nutter, Puget Sound Energy, 360- 647-6523, troy.nutter@pse.com Alan Hardcastle, WSU Energy Program, 360-956-2167, hardcast@wsu.edu Barbara Hins-Turner, Center of Excellence for Clean Energy, 360-623-8683, barbara.hins-turner@centralia.edu

Thank You!