preparing talent for tomorrow: an industry imperative
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Preparing Talent for Tomorrow: An Industry Imperative. Gulf Power Company: Who Are We?. 1,365 employees 427,000 customers 6 power plant sites - 3 sites are jointly owned - 2,659 MW capacity 137 substations/ 1,595 miles of transmission lines - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Preparing Talent for Tomorrow: An Industry Imperative
Gulf Power Company: Who Are We?
1,365 employees 427,000 customers 6 power plant sites - 3 sites are
jointly owned - 2,659 MW capacity
137 substations/ 1,595 miles of transmission lines
7,644 miles of distribution lines (1,754 underground)
Southern Company
Employees: 26,421
Average Service: 18 years
Average Age: 45 years
Turnover: 5.1%
Highlights
Transmission lines: 27,000 miles
Substations: 3,700
Generation: 42,000 MW
Infrastructure
The Challenge
1 in 3 U.S. workers is age
50 or older.
By 2015 a 15% decline is
projected in ages 35 – 44.
The need for skilled, well-educated workers is growing
Demandisup
Supplyis
down
“More than 70% of HR executives say that
incoming workers with inadequate skills are
their most serious problem over the next
three years.” – Deloitte Consulting
The New Economic Development Reality
A skilled workforce has become more important than land and buildings
As layers of middle management have been eliminated, these workplace skills are increasingly required of all employees:
•Critical thinking/ Problem-solving•Communication skills•Teamwork•Self-direction•Global, civic, financial, economic &
entrepreneurial literacy• INNOVATIVE and CREATIVE
thinking!
• Utility workforce is four years older than national average – US Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Demand for technical and craft workers increasing
• Failure rates on pre-employment tests are increasing
• Potential threat to both productivity and reliability
Energy Industry Workforce Challenges
Gulf Power’s Multi-Prong Approach
• Gulf Power Company Programs
• Southern Company Efforts
• State Efforts
• National Efforts
Collaboration is Key!
Gulf Power Company Programs
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Promotion
• Energy Career Awareness
• Energy Career Pipeline Development Programs
• Community Workforce Development
STEM Promotion Programs
• I LOVE Science
• BEST and FIRST Robotics
• Math in Energy Careers Day
• Electrathon Racing
• STEMflorida
Career Awareness Programs
•Energy Summer Camps
•Engineering Explorers Post
•Gulf Power Speakers’ Bureau for Career Fairs
Talent Development Pipeline Programs
Gulf Power
Academy Class of
2009
First major partnership to develop qualified, applicant pool opened August, 2001
Gulf Power Academy, WFHS
Gulf Power Partnership Includes:
• $25,000 per year donation to WFHS
• Guidance, support & instructional assistance in the Gulf Power Academy (Program Advisory Council)
• Serve on School Advisory Council
• Support of entire school through participation in Career Days, Open House, publicity events
• No commitment to hire students at end of program - no commitment for students to work for us
Gulf Power AcademyKey Components
• Academic rigor plus “hands-on” experience, based on NCCER Electrical Curriculum
• Mentoring Program Junior Year
• Advanced Career Experience (ACE) program Senior Year
• Over 50 % go on to college, utilizing 15 hours of articulated credit from the program
• We provide guest instructors, employee mentors, and work experiences – full engagement!
Students are prepared for work AND college
Gulf Power Academy Mentoring Program
• 12th Grade students matched with Gulf Power Employee (consideration given to job responsibilities/ experience, & individual characteristics)
• Provides students direction, guidance, and a direct link to one Gulf Power employee
• Provides Gulf Power an opportunity to make a determination about each student’s employability
Advanced Career Experience (ACE)
•Host 17 – 25 senior students each year, from GPA, Pre-engineering, Cox, and AOIT (this year: 20 ACE students)
•Students come to Gulf Power to learn & work instead of going to school every other day
•If successful on our industry pre-employment tests 1st semester, students are paid while learning/working 2nd semester
Advanced Career Experience (ACE)
•Second semester - OJT in jobs of student’s choice – Plant – Meter Shop – Line Crews – Customer Service – Engineering – Substation– Accounting– Information Technology
•Carried out under Partial Waiver to Hazardous Occupations Section of Child Labor Laws with tremendous focus on Safety!
Each student receives individualized
schedule rotating them through positions of interest to them…
Gulf Power Academy Results
• Gulf Power Academy seniors have significantly higher success rates on industry pre-employment tests than non-program job candidates
• Prepares students for work AND college – 50% go on to pursue 4 year degrees, primarily in engineering
• Have hired 6 – 11 each year into entry-level careers at Gulf Power Company (since first graduating class in May of 2005)
Community Workforce Development
• Every Child a Reader in Escambia (ECARE)– Founding member of community collaborative
focused on emergent literacy– Goal is to have every student who enters
kindergarten test “ready” when they begin
• Ford Next Generation Learning Community Program for ECSD & SRCSD– Founding member of community collaborative
to increase numbers and quality of career academies in our area
Southern Company Efforts
• Southern Company Workforce Development Council– Includes representative from each
operating company – Allows us to leverage our work
• Three key focus areas:1.Programs (Career Awareness)2.Pipelines (Talent Development)3.Partnerships (Collaborations)
PIPELINES (Talent):
11 Talent Pipeline programs Hired 18 students (138 from ’05-present) from Intern Programs Hired 25 students (156 from ‘05-present) from Talent Pipeline programs
Created partnerships with four additional technical colleges for future Talent Pipelines Created a comprehensive workforce development plan for Southern Nuclear
Partnerships (External Strategic):
CEWD ongoing support and participation on Executive and Education Councils Leadership for state Energy and Industrial Construction Consortia Partnered with Federal, State and Local Workforce Development entities on funding and pipeline development opportunities resulting in over $10 million dollars in secured federal grant funding for energy and/or construction job training Leadership on industry specific organizations (i.e., SEMTA, NEI, CGIA, ACRI)
PROGRAMS (Career Awareness): New “Power Up” career awareness/branding campaign Employee “Career Awareness Teams” Seven summer energy camps Two “On the Job” Television shows – “Women in Non-Traditional Roles” and “Careers at Southern Nuclear” Outreach to over 12,000 students and educators through Southern Company’s various career awareness activities and events
Southern Company 2009 Summary
Allows us to brand our careers throughout the Southeast
Southern Company High School Materials
Southern Company Military Branding
Campaign
12
Florida Energy Workforce Consortium (FEWC)
Industry Chair, Jennifer Grove, Gulf Power Company
www.fewc.org
• First state consortium to form in April 2006 to identify and develop solutions to meet the current and future workforce needs of utilities in Florida – now over 60 members
• Comprised of utility representatives, contractors, contractor associations, state and local secondary and post-secondary education representatives, state and local workforce system representatives, IBEW, and building trades
• Focus is to leverage our activities across the state – together we can accomplish so much more for our industry than we could individually
FEWC
Compete for a talent PUDDLE OR work to create a talent POOL
• Wrote new Florida Department of Education Energy Curriculum Frameworks to match industry needs
• Had “Energy” added as 17th career cluster in Florida
• Secured $13M+ from ARRA funds and $1.5M of state workforce funding for Florida energy workforce development programs
FEWC website: www.fewc.org
FEWC Recent Accomplishments:
• First partnership between utilities and their associations – EEI, AGA, NEI and NRECA to focus solely on these issues
• Utilities, associations and supplemental labor contractors join as members
• Partnering with educational institutions, workforce system, and unions to create workable solutions
Industry Solutions – Regional Implementation
National Solution
State Energy Workforce Consortia
Existing Consortium
Planned Consortium
WA
CA
MN
TX
TN
MS
LA
IN
MO
OH
MI
NJ
CT
MD
AL
VA
GA
FL
NC
SC
PA
KY
OR
CO
IA
AZ
Key Takeaways…
• STEM is our future!
• Students must have opportunities to learn about/ experience potential careers BEFORE deciding what to do following high school
• Rigor and relevance are an option and requirement for ALL students to be successful
Questions