An enhanced hiring and training program is helping stabilize the Gas Operations, Shared Field Services, and Water Operations bargaining unit workforce.
In the past, the promotional structure created one point of entry into field operations union positions – through Water Operations. Employees moved quickly between business units and did not always possess the necessary skills for positions they were filling, with a contractual training period of only six months.
To overcome these challenges, Gas Operations, Shared Field Services, and Water Operations worked together to develop a new process for hiring, cross-training, and promoting bargaining employees.
As of September 14, employees are now hired into the bargaining unit as Utility Helpers, with their main job function being gas and water off orders.
These employees will be trained to the highest qualification requirements of future possible positions in Gas, Shared Field Services, and Water through classroom learning and in-the-field experiences. After completing training, Utility Helpers will be able to bid into vacant positions within the business units. In an effort to retain and build the knowledge of our workforce, any employee with five or fewer years of service is not allowed to bid into another position until they have been in their current position for at least one year after completing any required training for that position.
Two Flex crews also will be established to combine the distribution maintenance work of Gas and Water business units. The first Flex crew will be filled by January 1, 2021, and the second by January 1, 2022.
“The enhanced field operations hiring and training program will allow us to develop employees’ skillsets, so they are prepared to move into positions within any of the three business units. The new Flex crews will enable Gas and Water maintenance to capitalize on operational efficiencies and cross-training as we continue to strive toward achieving One Company, One Culture,” said Melissa Lawson, Director, Shared Field Services. “We are excited about the opportunity this program provides for employees as positions become available in the different business units.”
The first class of Utility Helpers
