Transcript The GRU “Utility Academy” - American Public Power Association

Gainesville Regional Utilities
Utility Academy
Seven Years - Eight Classes
&
Still Evolving!
Who is ‘GRU’?
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1860 – Gainesville is incorporated
1891 – offer of ‘Free Water’ to lure business
1912 – Didn’t pay the Electric Bill
Over 115 years later
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92,000 Electric Customers @600MW 130 Sq. Mi.
65,000 Water Customers @54MGD
Wastewater Collection & Reclamation
45,000 Gas Customers
Business & Residential Internet Services
Alachua County Trunking Radio System
Problems We Face
Aging Workforce
Retirements Looming
Recruitment Issues
Diversity Issues
Expanding Services
Aging Infrastructure
X-Box Generation
Solution Development Cycle
Identify Problem
Develop Solutions
Evaluate Results
Implement
Solutions
SYMPTOMS
• Pre-employment assessment failures
• Deficiencies:
– New, inexperienced employees
– Hiring diverse individuals from our community
– Experienced employees
• Higher overall costs associated with advertising,
hiring and training due to:
– Turnover of probationary employees
– Experienced employees (advertising and recruiting)
Find ‘em & Train ‘em
(Develop Solution)
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Local Recruitment
Aptitude Testing
Background Checks
Interviews
Focused Development:
– Applied Mathematics
– Practical Utility Skills & Abilities
Utility “Academy”
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Field-instructor led classes
Knowledge evaluations
Performance evaluations
Constant feedback
Familiarization with GRU
Voluntary “Up or Out” environment similar to
secondary education institutions
Utility Academy Points
• We are seeking “Professionals” desiring a
career not people who “Want a Job”
• Establish and Work to STANDARDS
– Performance
– Conduct
– Personal
• We don’t work for GRU, we ARE GRU
The PROCESS – Local Recruitment
(Implement Solutions)
• Advertisement
– Flyers
– Newspaper Ads
– Word of Mouth
• Information Sessions
– GRU Administration Building
– Local Churches
(GATHER AND ANALYZE THE RESULTS)
The PROCESS
Aptitude Testing
• Designed by a contracted Industrial
Psychologist
• Not a “knowledge” examination
– Reading and comprehending instructions
– Map Reading
– Match materials to a materials requirement list
– Mathematics
(GATHER AND ANALYZE THE RESULTS)
The PROCESS
Interviews
• Specific questions designed by our contracted
Industrial Psychologist
• Objective / identical questions asked of ALL
applicants
• Answers are graded against a ‘suggested’
answer sheet with scoring above / below the
normal responses
(GATHER AND ANALYZE THE RESULTS)
The PROCESS
Background Checks
• Local and state police checks
• Compare results against the Information &
Willingness forms collected at the I&W
sessions
(GATHER AND ANALYZE THE RESULTS)
How Did We Do in 2007?
(Evaluate)
170
Information Session Attendance
135
Interest & Willingness Forms
Submitted
Aptitude Tests Administered
70
13
Passed with “Cut-Score” of 80
90.3% Attrition of those interested
33
Passed with “Cut-Score” 70
75.5% Attrition of those interested
How Did We Do in 2007?
• Interviews
– 32 of the 33 eligible candidates were interviewed
and passed
– 30 passed background checks
• 30 applicants eligible to begin the Utility
Academy
• 78% attrition rate before Academy begins
Safeguards
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Interest & Willingness Forms
City Policy #18 – Nepotism rule
Residential Boundary policy
Medical Release
“Hold-Harmless” agreement
Figgurin’
(Southern Mathematics)
• 10-week mathematics course
– Independent of the “Practical” phase of the
Academy
• Twice weekly / 2 hours = 40 hours of
mathematics (does not include 3 tutoring
sessions)
• BASIC math to establish a foundation and
build toward introduction to Algebra (to be
able to solve a2 + b2 = c2
Who Showed Up?
• 29 Candidates showed up the first night of class
of the 30 eligible
• 3 stopped attending class
• 1 failed the course to the point of failing overall
(70%)
• 3 failed the final examination to the point of
failing overall (70%)
• 22 Candidates eligible for the practical phase
• 27% Attrition Rate from the mathematics course
– 84% Attrition from those interested
Let’s get to WORK
Practical Phase of the class – 7 weeks of
mandatory class with 1 ‘Bonus’ Week
Safety
Lower Back Injury Prevention
Hand Tools & Their Uses
Power Tools & Their Uses
Job Site Protection
Instrumentation &
Measurement
Personal Protective
Equipment
Valve Construction
Trenching / Excavating
Wire Use & Handling
Pipe & Material Handling
Confined Space
The “Rubber Meets the Road”
• Trainee’s were exposed to physically demanding
tasks
– Digging evaluations
– Use of tools in simulated field construction scenarios
– Exposure to working at elevation and in simulated
confined space environments
• Seven weeks of exposure to Safety / Training and
Crew personnel including past academy
graduates
Job Requirements Matrix
Division
Electric T&D
Performance
Evaluations
Mathematics
Confined
Space
Working at
Elevations
Digging Exercise
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70%
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70%
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70%
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70%
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70%
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80%
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80%
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Grade
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70%
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Water Distribution
Wastewater Collection
Gas Operations
Power Plant
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Grade
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Grade
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Grade
Water Treatment Plant
Wastewater Reclamation
Facility
Line Technicians
Statistics
• Two individuals could not get medical
authorization to participate in the practical
phase
• One person demonstrated a bad attitude
toward safety and supervision and was
excused
• One person excused himself from the program
because GRU didn’t seem like ‘a good fit’
Statistics
• Attrition from those that completed the
Interest & Willingness forms – 87%
• Attrition from those that were eligible to
begin the Academy – 77%
One MORE “Opportunity”
• Academy Graduates were not getting to the
interviews
• Academy Graduates were not getting the
entry level craft skill positions!!
• Investigation revealed:
– They weren’t making it past the HR Screeners
because the applications were not filled out
completely / correctly
– They were performing miserably during the
interviews
Corrective Action
• 1 evening session of “How to fill out an
application”
• 1 evening session of “How to Interview”
– How to ‘sell yourself’ during the interview
– 30 Second “Tell me about yourself”
• 1 evening session of actual interviewing
– Interviewers conduct an interview and then
critique it with the trainee
Is Our Academy Working?
(Identify the Problem – Again)
• Pre-employment Assessment Failures
– Addressed for entry-level craft skill positions
• Deficit in new, inexperienced employees
– We run a surplus of academy graduates each year
placing 80% of our graduates
Is Our Academy Working?
• Deficit in hiring diversity from local area
– The Academy has not solved the diversity problem but we
are working with local school boards, educational facilities,
youth groups and church groups to better define what we
are dealing with
• Deficit in experienced employees
– An opportunity to supply personnel for new hires
to replace our rapidly aging workforce
Is Our Academy Working?
• Higher overall costs to advertise / hire / train due
to probationary employee turnover
– Academy trainees not only stay with GRU but most of
them surpass expectations
• Higher overall costs to advertise / recruit / train
experienced employees
– As our reliance on finding ‘experienced’ employees
decreases, so does our costs associated with
recruiting / employing them
Additional Benefits
• Intangibles such as ‘Buy-In’ from the managers and
crews because they have a vested interest in the
Academy
• Getting a much better entry-level craft skill employee
– a PROFFESSIONAL
• Retention – in the seven years of the academy, we
have terminated one employee and another
employee returned to his prior position.
• We’ve lost others to area competitors (Telephone /
CATV / Competing utilities)
Where to now?
• Refine the Academy process
• Address Progression Through Training Program
Opportunities
• GRUSelect
– A series of aptitude examinations to better determine
a new employee’s suitability for specific types of work
for our “Progression- Through-Training Program’s”
– Win-win situation -This premise is based on “The Best
Employee for the Job” concept that should make a
better fit for the employee and the utility
Geoff Warnock
Gainesville Regional Utilities
[email protected]
(352) 538-5706