A five-step plan to assist {smooth} transitions within the hydropower workforce – TechnoNews

A brand new useful resource is equipping hydropower organizations with instruments that may facilitate seamless succession planning and promote sturdy data sharing practices.

The excellent news: Hydropower’s reliability means it performs—and can proceed to play—an necessary function within the electrical grid, supporting variable renewable vitality sources like photo voltaic and wind. And present and new hydropower initiatives are anticipated to play a pivotal function as we transition to 100% clear vitality within the electrical energy sector. That might imply substantial progress within the hydropower workforce.

The unhealthy information: The hydropower business’s workforce is experiencing main transitions, because it’s seeing an rising variety of employees retire. The business now faces the troublesome challenges of not solely guaranteeing that it may recruit sufficient employees to fill all the mandatory roles, but in addition minimizing organizational data loss from employee departure.

This organizational data loss can have main implications, corresponding to misplaced productiveness as new employees come in control on organizational practices or elevated strain on present staff, which may trigger dissatisfaction and probably result in further employee turnover.

A brand new useful resource developed by the Nationwide Renewable Power Laboratory (NREL) may also help hydropower organizations put together for employee turnover and cut back data loss to make sure hydropower continues to play a serious function in a clear vitality future.

The Data Sharing and Succession Planning Toolkit outlines a five-step course of that can be utilized by any hydropower group, irrespective of the place they’re of their workforce transition, to determine a system and tradition for data sharing.

“When we began this project, we realized that there are very minimal resources specific to hydropower regarding succession planning and knowledge sharing,” mentioned Adam Kanter, workforce improvement researcher at NREL and the lead writer on the toolkit. “But we can see that hydropower is one of the industries that needs this kind of help the most.”

To construct the toolkit, Kanter spent months gathering experience from different workforce improvement sources, then solicited suggestions from members of hydropower associations and organizations.

“We had a good mix of perspectives—some technical hydropower people, but also human resources workers who already had some experience with knowledge sharing and succession planning,” Kanter mentioned. “Their input really strengthened the toolkit.”

The best way to use the toolkit

The toolkit encompasses two necessary ideas crucial for profitable workforce transitions: data sharing, or the method of capturing expertise and data and making that data out there to all staff; and succession planning, which helps leaders determine essential positions inside organizations and put together staff to fill these vacancies as incumbents retire or transfer on.

These ideas are embedded within the toolkit’s step-by-step method, which first shepherds organizations via assessing, documenting, capturing, and sharing present data. The device then guides them in making crucial modifications and drafting a plan to revisit every subject recurrently.

Every of the 5 steps embody downloadable instruments, templates, and checklists that simplify the method of evaluating organizational data sharing practices. Examples of accomplished worksheets are additionally included in every step, so the group can see the varieties of data they need to be gathering.

However the great thing about the toolkit is its flexibility, mentioned Kanter.

“People can use it chronologically, from Step 1 to Step 5, or they can skip directly to building a job profile,” Kanter mentioned. “One of the major considerations when we were creating this was making sure it’s useful to people regardless of where they might be in this process. If they’ve already assessed their organization, and just want to make sure they’re doing it right, they can use this to validate their ideas.”

The toolkit was made publicly out there in April 2024, and it has already been shared with many hydropower business companions, from which Kanter is continuous to hunt suggestions. “One of the big benefits of having the toolkit online is that we can continue to update it to fill gaps and respond to industry input,” Kanter mentioned.

Hydropower business companions can even be capable of arrange one-on-one periods with Kanter to request help, get questions answered, or present suggestions.

“This toolkit comes at a time when hydropower organizations need help to ensure they have a qualified, knowledgeable workforce ready to help hydropower take its place in the clean energy transition,” Kanter mentioned.