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COMMENTARY
Creating a Successful
Utility Workforce
Succession Plan
Caitlin Humrickhouse
S
uccession planning is a priority in the utility industry as an
aging workforce, changing technologies, and turnover reshape
the sector. The utility sector faces unique challenges,
striving for seamless transfers of institutional knowledge
while recruiting young talent and preparing the next generation
of leaders to navigate complexities and emerging trends.
Identifying High-Priority Positions
When it comes to developing a strong succession plan, it is
a priority to focus on the roles that are vital to operations and
continuity. Conduct an organizational scan by gathering and
analyzing data by department or division to pinpoint critical
roles. This scan should also identify which roles will be open
due to projected retirements and which positions have high
turnover rates.
After conducting the organizational scan, the team should
analyze any additional factors that may impact succession planning.
Think of roles that may have impacts on regulatory compliance
and safety, or may require specialized skills.
The last step combines everything that has been learned
throughout the process by creating a list of critical positions.
When creating this list, start off slow by only including about
10% of the company's total positions. From here, the organization
can slowly build up its succession plan.
Developing Core Competencies
A competency is a pattern of behavior associated with effective
performance that helps an organization achieve desired results.
Competency modeling acts as a framework to define what good
performance looks like across different roles. Competency modeling
is critical as it ensures that employees are evaluated and
developed against the right standards for their roles.
Competencies are separate from but equally important to
education, certifications, or specialized technical knowledge
required to perform a job task. For example, financial acumen
may be a competency for any senior leader in the organization.
Depending on the organization, you will identify your
role levels. For example, the levels we often use in the utility
industry are individual contributor, first line supervisor, middle
manager, and strategic leader. From here, competencies
should be incorporated into hiring, performance evaluations,
and development plans.
Talent Identification
The basis of workforce succession planning is developing a
pool of talent within the organization to draw from when leadership
change takes place. To begin identifying internal talent,
conduct a scan to create a pool of potential succession candidates.
In the internal candidate assessment, start with a larger
pool of candidates and narrow it down to only a few after reFebruary
2025 | POWER
viewing their skills and competencies.
Once you begin narrowing the field, it is time for the " 9box
assessment. " This visual chart combines past performance
reviews, certifications, and special skills for each employee.
The 9-box assessment looks at two key factors: performance
and potential. At each end of the assessment, employees are
scored on a scale of low, medium, and high performance, as
well as low, medium, and high potential.
It is possible that a utility company works through the 9-box
assessment and finds that the existing workforce does not
possess the required competencies or certifications to fill the
needed roles, which is common in the utility industry as many
positions require multiple certifications. In this case, external
recruitment becomes part of the workforce succession plan.
Coaching, Development, and Knowledge Transfer
Training and development programs are also a key part of a
succession plan so current employees are provided with the
resources and opportunities to grow into future roles. By the
end of the talent identification process, core competency gaps
will be identified, which can guide where training and development
dollars should be used.
Succession planning is not about " cherry-picking " the next
in line to fill a position. Rather, it is an opportunity to strategically
assess the current skills, knowledge, and competencies
in your organization, and determine how you can better prepare
the workforce-both internal and external to your organization-to
fill critical vacancies when they arise.
Institutionalizing knowledge so that it can be transferred to
the next generation is a core feature of succession planning
and makes a world of difference during transition periods. Documenting
policies and procedures is an important component
of knowledge transfer, but it can also be hard to juggle during
busy workdays. Organizational leadership must prioritize the
investment of time and resources, but there are several paths
to ensure documentation is created including dedicating employee
time to the effort using special project teams or positions,
using consultants to do the heavy lifting, and leveraging
artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software tools.
Implementing Your Succession Plan
The final step is implementing your succession plan. This can
vary by organization, but building a succession planning task
force, setting timelines and goals, developing action plans, and
engaging employees throughout the process will ensure successful
implementation. The time is now to begin succession
plan development for your organization to guarantee operational
excellence, organizational continuity, and a culture where
employees can grow their careers. ■
-Caitlin Humrickhouse is a principal with
Baker Tilly's Public Sector Advisory Practice.
www.powermag.com
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