Example
Client: Arizona Public Service
Use of Mentoring
to Solve Aging Workforce Challenges
© 2005, Barry Sweeny
This page will help you see the
amazing creativity & comprehensiveness of the work Barry Sweeny
did with APS.
Perhaps YOUR organization needs
to address these same concerns and needs the support of an expert
who can accelerate the planning, implementation, and achievement
of results in YOUR organization?
PAGE INDEX:
About
the Client - Arizona Public Service
Arizona Public Service is one of seven owners
(29.1%) of the largest electrical power generating site in the
United States, Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS),
located about 50 miles west of Phoenix Arizona.
PVNGS supplies the electrical needs of 4 million
customers in communities in large areas of Arizona, Texas, California,
and New Mexico. In 2003 that meant generating over 30.2 million
megawatt-hours of power!
Palo Verde NGS has 2,076 employees (April 2004).
PV has won numerous awards, including a first place ranking for
industrial safety by the Edison Electric Institute in 1996, and
in 1997, the nation's highest engineering honor, the "Outstanding
Engineering Achievement Award" from the National Society
of Professional Engineers.
The specific client with which Barry has worked
at PVNGS is the Engineering Department.
The
Client's Needs - Aging Workforce Issues
Beginning in about 2003, a number of managers,
trainers, and senior engineers at PVNGS formed an ad hoc group
and began to explore the extent to which an "aging workforce"
was an issue for APS. They collected a considerable body of diverse
local and industry-wide data, ran the data through some statistical
models, and discovered that, in a very short time, the retirement
of senior engineering staff at PVNGS would create a massive and
complex set of challenges for APS:
- An enormous loss of intellectual capital, experience,
and skills
- A lack of a systematic & effective way
to promote knowledge capture and sharing to counter this loss
- A threat to the integrity of the company's
hard won culture of safety, team work, and excellence.
As you can imagine, these discoveries were a big
motivation to begin planning and actions that would address these
challenges!
The
Context For the Client
The following contextual factors are some of the
reasons for PVNGS facing the aging workforce challenge:
>
The date when Palo Verde was built and then began operations,
and thus, hired its initial workforce (many of whom are now nearing
retirement age)
> The date of deregulation by the U.S. government
of the nuclear industry which created the need to economize and
downsize industry-wide. (so, numerous lay offs)
> The subsequent lack of hiring of nuclear
engineers which led to lack of demand for the career and then,
a loss of university programs to train nuclear professionals
> A series of years in which attrition, rather
than layoffs, which APS used to cope with need to downsize and
economize.
> An existing APS culture of "on-demand"
sharing of knowledge, rather than the desired proactive knowledge
capture and sharing needed to quickly develop new hires. This
is especially true because they may not know what they need to
learn, and therefore can't ask for information about it..
(NOTE - In fact, Barry Sweeny's experience and
research has found that almost every field related to technology,
R&D, energy, etc. is rapidly approaching or has already reached
this very same challenge. Many are already experiencing a lack
of numbers of sufficiently skilled people to hire for their staff.
This is VERY CRITICAL since highly skilled new employees can "hit
the ground running", and so are needed to maintain high levels
of productivity. An amazing example is NASA which has lost (due
to retirement) the majority of the staff who put the first man
on the moon. In fact, they admit to being incapable today of doing
what they did over 30 years ago!)
At APS, this set of circumstances meant
that there were no where near the number of skilled nuclear
engineers to hire. Nor were there even sufficient numbers of inexperienced
nuclear-trained college graduates available. The only remaining
pool of potential employees are the college graduates in other
engineering disciplines! Of course, once hired, these people would
take a long time to develop to the level of skill needed to function
as independent nuclear engineers!
A Redefinition
of the Job of the APS Engineer
The enormous need of APS to recruit, hire, train
and develop sufficient numbers of highly skilled engineers, and
to do so in a short time frame, led the original planning &
research group to realize the need to begin a multifaceted set
of strategies to address their challenge, and to educate and seek
the support of senior management.
- The collected data and conclusions were developed
into presentations.
- A business case was developed to illustrate
the need for and return on investment of their developing program
concepts.
- Four task groups were formed to study the key
areas identified as in need of strategies.
These efforts began to expand the numbers of persons
at APS who were invested in the effort.
A comparison of the conclusions by each of the
four groups revealed that:
- MENTORING was viewed by ALL task groups as
a crucial strategy for their initiative's success.
- A MENTORING CULTURE was seen as essential to
developing the number of new engineers needed in the short time
desired.
- EVERY one of the 300+ EMPLOYEES in the Engineering
Department had to be a mentor so that every experience by new
hires would be developmental and would help accelerate their
learning.
- In addition to working as an engineer, each
engineer had to see their basic task as DEVELOPMENT & RETENTION
of new hires.
- Every MANAGER in Engineering had to value the
use of employee TIME for mentoring.
The planning group knew the results they needed,
but they did not know HOW to do attain those results. They also
knew they had to "get it right the first time". Both
these realizations led to the decision that they needed a mentoring
expert.
** THIS WAS THE POINT AT WHICH BARRY SWEENY WAS
INVITED TO BEGIN SERVING AS A CONSULTANT TO APS.
The
APS "Legacy Program"
The result of the work of the four task groups
was eventually the development of the "Legacy Program".
The goal of the Legacy Program is to reduce
the time needed to develop an independently functioning nuclear
Engineer II from 5 years to 3 years.
Senior and executive level management have accepted
the business case for Legacy and are visibly and financially supporting
the Legacy Program.
The basic components of the Legacy Program are:
- Aggressive recruitment of engineering
graduates from any discipline within engineering.
- Hiring people for their potential,
not for existing skills for specific job openings.
- Orientation to the company, setting,
key people, nuclear safety culture, and Legacy Program.
- A 3 year job rotation program to expose
all new hires to the full range of work areas at PVNGS so every
new engineer would see what they do as a part of the total system,
and to train these persons to the skill level of Engineer II,
as independent functioning nuclear engineers.
- Assignment of a New Hire Section Manager
to oversee the development processes and supervise the new hires
during the three year rotation before they are assigned a specific
job at PVNGS.
- Two levels of mentoring:
- A Technical Mentor to support and
guide each new hire as a worker during specific job assignments
in each part of the rotation sequence
- A Career Mentor who supports and
guides each new hire, primarily as a person during the entire
three year process
- "Learning Cards", each with
a description of key learnings new hires should gain in each
job area of their rotation. These Learning Cards serve as the
standards which determine when a new hire has learned and grown
enough to move to a new rotation area.
- Required and elective training designed
specifically to address new hire needs and support their growth.
- Development of software support for the company's
knowledge capture and sharing initiative.
- Strategies to increase the retention
of new hires.
- Guidance (by career mentors) for self assessment
by protégés of strengths and preferences for
the work areas during rotations, and development of individual
career goals
- Final oral examination by a "board"
to assess each person's completion of Legacy Program Requirements,
to ascertain readiness to serve in a more independent role,
and to promote the protégés to the Engineer II
level.
- Long-term planning of staffing levels,
specific job needs, transfers, and succession.
- Matching of protégé preferences,
strengths, and career goals with job opportunities within
the company.
Barry
Sweeny's Roles and Services to APS
1. INITIAL MEETING
Barry's work with APS began in June 2004 with
an initial consulting meeting with three of the original Legacy
Program Planning Group members. The meeting had three goals:
- To update Barry on the Legacy Program development
process which had already taken place and the program needs
which had been identified.
- To use Barry's expertise and experience:
- to review prior Legacy decisions and plans
and compare them to best practices
- to affirm or improve Legacy plans to increase
their impact on Legacy program goals
- to hear recommendations and develop new
options and plans for program areas needing further expert
guidance.
- To assess the appropriateness of Barry's expertise
and "fit" with the Legacy Program and PVNGS staff
and leadership needs.
Barry asked a number of questions so he could
assess the level of expertise in mentoring of the program leaders,
diagnose underlying needs of the company and program, and identify
specific deliverables which the persons and company required.
At the conclusion of that meeting, program leaders
expressed great satisfaction with Barry's knowledge and advice
and they asked him to provide them with a detailed contract proposal
for on-going work. Barry's proposal contained all the requested
components plus additional three options which were not originally
requested, but which Barry's thought would be valued.
ALL elements of that proposal, including all three
options, were accepted and funded! Barry went to work immediately.
He began making three day visits to APS in Phoenix Arizona every
other week for several months. Late in the fall and into winter,
the visits were needed about once a month.
2. PHASE 1 - CAREER MENTOR TRAINING
Barry's first task was to develop and provide
two "Career Mentor" Trainings. The trainings were each
three days long and were given to a total of about 35 persons.
The groups included senior engineers who became Career Mentors,
several key leaders of the Legacy Program Group, as well, as a
number of persons from the Departments of Training and of Organizational
Development, several engineering managers, and other key stakeholder
groups.
At the end of each of these Career Mentor Trainings,
Barry facilitated identification of the participants' feelings
regarding the training, their major learnings as mentors, and
their ideas for a "Technical Mentor Training" process
(see below ). Barry also conducted a pre and post event assessment
of mentoring skills, which showed terrific gains in skills for
the mentors.
After both Career Mentor Trainings were completed,
all participants were assembled as one group to discuss and suggest
final and enabling objectives for the Technical Mentor Training
3. PHASE II - TECHNICAL MENTOR TRAININGS
During the course of several meetings and visits,
Barry consulted with the leaders who were designated to create
and then lead the Technical Mentor Trainings. The Technical Mentor
Trainings were to train all of the remaining 300 + engineers to
be task-focused, short-term mentors. These planning meetings were
held to reduce the training content they had experienced to a
one day training and to develop training strategies and an agenda
for that one day training. Also, Barry used questions and offered
advice to help the leaders ensure that the final training would
be engaging, focused on application of best practices, and to
ensure the accomplishment of the objectives for the training.
Barry provided a structured framework for employee
development, assessment of employee needs, and design of mentoring
interventions which was integrated into the trainings. Further,
Barry developed a script and suggested scenes which the Legacy
leaders used to develop a training video on this developmental
model. The success of the video as a training activity was affirmed
by trainers and participants alike.
Once the training was developed, Barry observed
several training rehearsals, modeled specific training strategies,
helped refine content and activities, and consulted with the leaders
after each event to further perfect the training.
APS also asked Barry to observe two of the earliest
Technical Mentor Trainings and to consult afterwards with training
facilitators.
To ensure maximum involvement and commitment by
all engineers, these trainings were limited to groups of 15. Therefore,
over 20 Technical Mentor Trainings were held from December 2004
through February 2005.
The RESULTS of the Technical Mentor Training were
excellent! Assessments showed on a 1-5 scale (5 as best) that
the average scores were:
- Value of the training = 4.2 out of 5
- Effectiveness of the facilitators = 4.7 out
of 5
- Usefulness and interest of the content = 4.2
out of 5
4. PHASE III - MENTOR OF MENTORS
During the first six months of the Legacy Program
implementation, Barry was also contracted to be on "retainer"
and serve on-call as a Mentor of Mentors (MoM). This service provided
advice, guidance, and mentoring to trained mentors and project
leaders on an individual, private basis to ensure their full implementation
of their skills from the trainings into their work with their
new hire "Protégés" and with each other.
The MoM support was provided through email, fax, and phone contacts.
5. PHASE IV - PEER SUPPORT MEETINGS
Also a part of Barry's contract was serving as
a model by demonstrating techniques for facilitating peer support
groups for protégés and for mentors (separately).
This role includes needs assessment, meeting design based on needs,
facilitation, demonstration of specific strategies that use the
power of peer relationships to promote best practice and modeling
activities for knowledge capture and sharing.
After the demonstrations, Barry serves as MoM
to those who will lead future peer support meetings to ensure
that they have the capacity and confidence to implement the demonstrated
best practices themselves.
6. PHASE V - KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE & SHARING
AND NEW HIRE RETENTION
As of the writing of this page Barry and Legacy
Program leaders are discussing a new contract to utilize Barry's
expertise and ideas for at least two other Legacy Program initiatives,
Knowledge Capture & Sharing, and New Hire Retention.
Client
Testimonies Regarding Barry's Services
"We hired Barry as our mentoring consultant
and trainer because of the experience he already had in those
roles while working for a wide range of technical companies, businesses,
government, and state-level agencies. After the first day of consultation
with him, we were very impressed with his insights into our challenges,
and we knew he was exactly the person we needed to ensure the
success of our mentoring initiatives and attainment of our Legacy
Program goals.
In fact, in a very short time, Barry learned all
he needed to be a terrific guide for us. His expertise allowed
us to achieve several goals very quickly, and his skills as a
mentor trainer made us glad we hired him and proud that he is
on our team." - Tom Bradish, Engineering Section
Leader & a Legacy Project Leader
"We were fortunate in that we located a true
Mentor in Barry. His terrific responsiveness to our needs, his
ability to quickly learn, his flexibility, and mentoring expertise
allowed him to provide us with a fantastic mentor training. Although
I had not expected to, I was so engaged that I participated in
both of the entire three day trainings! I gained a great deal
myself, especially insights that have helped me as a mentor, as
a supervisor, and as a Legacy Program Leader. As the Mentor Program
Leader, I understood exactly what I needed to do and how to do
it, to sustain the excitement and momentum Barry gave us at the
start. I also saw immediate applications for my role as a facilitator
of the Technical Mentor Trainings.
Barry worked with our staff to develop a mentoring
culture that could be efficiently integrated with our daily activities.
I know from mentor comments that his impact on them was just as
significant as it was on me. They have taken ownership of the
mentoring process, actually in a much shorter time than we originally
expected it would take.
Barry's on-going support of many of us, and specifically
of me, during the first months of the implementation have been
critical to our success. I am so glad we have access to his expertise
every time we work with him." - Neil Thibadaux,
Senior Systems Engineer, Mentor Program Leader, and a Legacy Program
Leader
"I was hired as Legacy Program Manager about
one week before Barry's first Career Mentor Training. That training
was the first time I meet Barry, but I heard so much positive
news about him from the others who had already met him, that I
really was looking forward to the experience! In fact, after that
first training, I decided to attend the second three day Career
Mentor Training as well, even though I had tons of work awaiting
me at my new desk. I was equally impressed both times with his
GREAT mentor trainings.
Amazingly, I learned so much at that training
that I have been able to use in my own work beyond the mentoring
component. Now I clearly see how to frame what I do to build on
what the mentors provide and to capitalize on their support of
new hires. All the work I didn't do so I could attend the trainings,
has been improved because I DID attend it.
Since that first encounter, I have worked with
Neil and Barry every step of the way. Every thing our team created
was well received by both the Palo Verde Engineering team, and
Engineering Management. Now we are referring other APS organizations
with mentoring-related needs to Barry." - Brad
Ecklund, Senior Engineer and Legacy Program Manager
In recognition of this project's comprehensive
use of best practices to address emerging national issues, the
International Mentoring Association selected Barry, Neil and Brad
for a presentation at it's 18th annual Best Practices Mentoring
Conference in Oakland California, April 6-9, 2005.
