Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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UTILITY WEEK | 25TH NOVEMBER - 1 DECEMBER 2016 | 21 Operations & Assets Caroline Metcalfe, talent manager, Yorkshire Water "There is a strength and pride in helping the local community, which is common across utilities. We just need to get that message out there." In association with: Chris Degg, director of human resources, UK Power Networks: "The need to ensure that we have the right skills in place for the, as yet, undetermined shape of our business is equally challenging. This will include technical and digital capabilities which have not previously been part of our focus." Nick Ellins, chief executive, EUSkills "It's quite clear that the language used around the sector is not helpful to us and just talking about 'skills' has left us on the bottom shelf in terms of the government's consideration of what we do. What we're talking about is strategic workforce renewal and how skills sits within it." Chris Maloney, director of human resources, Southern Water "We've got competition coming and, on top of that, the digital agenda which is changing things dramatically in utilities and there is a risk we will leave 1. Attracting talent. A major problem is attracting talent to a sector that is not seen as glamorous or 'sexy'. Other career options are seen as more appealing. 2. Retaining talent. Retaining the skill set and knowledge base the sector has built up over the decades is also a challenge, especially with an ageing workforce that is nearing retirement. 3. Relevant skills. Getting school students interested in STEM subjects and developing relevant skills remains a challenge, with the numbers taking STEM subjects falling. 4. Cross-sector co-operation. The entire sector is struggling with the skills crisis, and so is engineering as a whole. Cross-sector working is required to ensure the skills base stays strong and grows to meet future needs. 5. Cross-generational co-operation. One way in which to share the decades worth of knowledge the senior engineers have accrued is to partner them with apprentice engineers. Five key themes some of our workforce behind. "We have some really strange job titles, including one which was intermittent discharge manager. Does that really sound appealing to potential new employees?"