The Water Workforce: Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining High-Performance Employees

The most important resources at any utility are human resources. People make all the difference in the success or failure of your utility's operation. Managing utility workforce issues is the focus of this practical handbook for water utility human resources managers.The Water Workforce: Recruiting & Retaining High-Performance Employees examines the special human resource challenges facing utilities and offers tested strategies to address them. It will help you recruit, train, motivate, and retain high-quality employees--and build a stable and productive workforce that will meet the short- and long-term needs of your utility. The book focuses on the specific technical work needs of utilities and how to successfully apply workforce management principles in a water utility environment.The book discusses workforce planning methodology, recruiting, and retention, and presents a comprehensive approach to workforce improvement and organizational capacity building.It outlines four workforce development processes:•Defining the organization's work processes•Recruiting•Capacity building•Retention and succession planningUtilities can implement effective solutions to workforce problems with a planned approach to organization and work design, followed by action to improve the capacity of individual employees and their units, and ultimately, the whole organization. Although all utilities face workforce management issues, there are considerable differences between large and small utilities. This book addresses the needs of both with strategies to apply workforce management principles in even the smallest utility.Contents1. Workforce Challenges and Strategies for Success2. Jobs in Water and Wastewater Utilities3. A Strategic Approach to Workforce Planning4. Utilities as Employers of Choice5. Organization Change and Workforce Development6. Job Analysis and Position Descriptions7. Recruiting and Selecting Your Workforce8. Work Planning and Performance Evaluation9. Learning Organizations and Knowledge Management10. Training and Development Programs11. Employee Retention12. Succession Management13. Solutions for Smaller Utilities_x000d_
The book includes several appendices, including general competencies for water and wastewater jobs, utility positions in AWWA's compensation study, occupational data on technical positions, a model training program for utilities, and a comprehensive listing of major water associations in the US that can be used as a resource for recruiting and training.