Bench depth is just as valuable to business organizations as it is to sports teams. Just ask the senior management at the Charleston (S.C.) Water System.

 

The management team saw several years ago that they had a silent problem: a lack of qualified people to replace older workers headed toward retirement. “We faced the loss of about one-third of our employees to retirement within five years,” says Jim Meeks, assistant director of human resources. “So we started benchmarking ourselves against other utilities. We found that many organizations develop succession plans, and that’s as far as they get — there’s no execution.”

 

Determined to do better, the utility developed a comprehensive talent management program to improve employees’ leadership skills and better qualify them for higher positions. The program also aimed to make employees more accountable by tying performance reviews and salary increases to verifiable goals that mesh with the organization’s strategic plan.

 

But first, management had to identify critical positions and the core competencies that went with them. “Basically, if you touch water, you’re in a critical position,” Meeks says. About one-third of employees qualified as critical. Next, a workforce development team identified employees who might be leaving for retirement, promotion or other reasons. “We found out that we’d better get busy,” Meeks says.

 

Leadership 101

The utility then set up a three-year leadership-training program, starting with 30 employees. To save time and money, professors from local colleges taught the classes on site. Each student spends 68 to 80 hours a year in classes.

 

The first year focuses on leadership fundamentals such as diversity, ethics and decision-making. To rein-force the training, each participant receives a competency check-off sheet that later counts toward 10 percent of the performance evaluation.

 

“The check-off sheet follows you after you complete the classes,” Meeks says. “It emphasizes to employees that they need to exhibit the competencies they were taught. It makes sure they meet those expectations for all three years of the program.” The check-off sheets also helps senior management buy into the program, since they provide a mechanism for accountability.

 

In the second year, employees focus on continuous improvement concepts such as problem-solving, root-cause analysis, asset management and operating enhancements. The class splits into groups that pick a particular problem facing the utility (equipment downtime, for example), then solve it by applying concepts learned in the class.

 

“It’s sort of a final exam where they can execute what they’re taught, then make a presentation about it,” Meeks says.

 

The third year exposes employees to criteria used in the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award program. They learn about budgeting and finance, safety, em-powerment, change management, transformational leadership and presentation skills.

 

Seeking accountability

As part of the program, employees are asked at performance reviews to name two jobs they would like to hold within three to five years. Supervisors then use the list of core competencies developed for critical positions to determine what training people need to prepare for their career path.

 

“Now supervisors can target training toward the skill sets that those critical jobs require,” Meeks says. “This systematically ties everything together.”

 

No employee is guaranteed the job he or she wants, but the training ensures that if they do get it, they will be well prepared. Meeks emphasizes that the training is broad enough to apply to more than one specific job.

Along with developing a career track, employees are required to set SMART goals — specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely — that supervisors use to measure performance. “Accountability is key,” Meeks notes. “The SMART goals comprise up to 40 percent of an employee’s job appraisal. Each goal must be tied to the organization’s mission, vision, strategic plan or company incentive.

 

“As a result, when employees are out there working on pipes, they realize how that fits into the big picture. They need to live and breathe it. The better job they do on the front end of setting goals and determining how they’re measured, the easier it is to talk later about their performance during job reviews.”

 

Employee buy-in

At first, the program had its skeptics. Meeks thought it might begin and end with just the initial 30 participants. But in its fourth year, the program attracted another 30 employees, and now even non-supervisory employees express interest in attending.

 

A key to the program’s success is measurable results from employee goal-setting. For instance, since 2006, the utility recorded a 3 percent drop in water lost during delivery from the treatment plant to homes, businesses and hydrants.

 

“But the biggest thing is inflow and infiltration on the wastewater side,” Meeks says. “From 2006 to 2008, we saw an 8.8 mgd decrease in I&I. That means less strain on our equipment, a better and more consistent process, and less need for capital investments in more infrastructure.”

 

Another key is flexibility. The curriculum changes with the results of annual needs assessments that include input from senior management and line managers. This ensures that training is applicable to new emerging issues. “For example, our continuous improvement classes now include statistical process control because our plant managers determined there’s a need,” Meeks says.

 

Make it happen

A little determination never hurts, either. “A lot of good plans sit on a shelf,” Meeks notes. “We decided we weren’t going to fail. We were going to live it. It’s a struggle at times to keep it a priority. But senior leadership sees how attendees’ behavior has changed, and they love the accountability aspect.” Not to mention the luxury of a deeper bench.