The greatest workforce development tool

In my editorial letter last month, I pointed to the broad trends impacting the industry from the utility perspective and placed a great emphasis on workforce.

And this issue continues to crop up in my conversations with utilities, with engineering firms, with OEMs and other businesses. It is even born out in the results of our annual State of the Industry survey, which showed more than half of all respondents were 60 years old or older.

Perhaps the data has a selection or audience bias because those who responded were primarily executives or facility owners, who are more likely to have 20 to 30 years of experience. What I did find interesting was a bump in the age demographic for those 35 and younger. I can’t help but wonder if we are entering a period of transition from one generation to the next.

To add to this discussion, I also interviewed Jeff Sober from Garver while at WEFTEC. He is the chair of the Operations Challenge and spoke with me about how powerful and critical the event is as a workforce development tool. In fact, he called it the greatest workforce development tool in the industry. Watch the interview here: www.wwdmag.com/33013546.

His passion was overflowing and Wastewater Digest even had the honor of publishing a documentary that Garver directed, edited and produced about the Rocky Mountain Water Environment Association Operations Challenge teams vying for Division 1 status at WEFTEC.

It was an incredible and insightful look into how the five events that comprise the challenge raise the knowledge floor and build the skills of those who take part. If you recognize a generational transition in your workforce, take a look at creating a team. You may be surprised at how it engages your workers, builds teamwork and shares legacy knowledge with new employees.

And of course, watch the full documentary on our website at www.wwdmag.com/33014866.