American Gas - August 2012 - (Page 30)

Securing the right workforce is one thing. Engaging that workforce in a way that makes it productive, innovative, and able to quickly adapt to changing market conditions is another matter entirely and is certainly no less important to business success. successful in our enterprise and bring with them the capabilities, experience, and aptitudes required for us to be successful? Who are we retaining and why? Are we keeping the employees we most need? Are there changes we can make in our reward package or employment proposition that can enhance our ability to minimize unwanted turnover? How vulnerable are we to changes in labor market conditions? Would turnover rise substantially if labor markets in the areas in which we operate or from which we source our talent get tighter? What do we actually reward? What is the profile of people who do well in our organization, as measured by advancement and/or pay? Is this the right profile given our business needs? How do careers actually unfold in our organization, and are there ways to effectively accelerate employee development? What are the common job transitions, and how long do they typically take? Is there evidence of alternative transitions or learning opportunities that make for faster, more productive development? These are fundamental questions. It is not sufficient to simply quantify the gaps. Workforce planning must prioritize the specific solutions that will be most effective in filling critical gaps. enced segment of the workforce. “The type of work I do” is the third-most important element, with employees age 55 and older most likely to cite it as important. In Asia-Pacific, the value proposition offered to employees beyond pay should be emphasized in order to achieve a high level of employee engagement. While base pay was the first or second most important element of the value proposition in each country, other elements varied widely in importance by country. As natural gas employers increasingly move toward a globally mobile workforce, the organization that understands both the values and mind-set of its current and prospective employees, including variations by age group, should enable modification or development of compensation and career development programs that will maximize the return on investment in human capital. Lip Service Is Not Enough Businesses need to embed workforce-planning processes into their organization in order to provide an evidence-based guide for budgeting, sourcing, training, and changes to rewards and career structure. While certain aspects of the work can be contracted out, such as labor market intelligence and statistical expertise, it is important to build a basic process capability and workforce analytics function within the organization, most typically within the human resource function. In today’s economy—and especially because of such factors as price volatility and fierce global competition in the energy sector—organizations in the natural gas industry can no longer just give lip service to the idea that “people are our greatest asset.” They need to start managing their workforce as if it is truly an asset, applying the same discipline and quantitative mind-set that they bring to other asset management decisions. Fortunately, the tools to accomplish this now exist, and most organizations actually have all the data they need—from internal and, to a lesser extent, external sources such as demographic trends regarding age and availability of talent in specific geographies—to deploy an evidence-based approach and turn their workforce management into a lasting source of competitive advantage. Engagement Strategy Securing the right workforce is one thing. Engaging that workforce in a way that makes it productive, innovative, and able to quickly adapt to changing market conditions is another matter entirely, and it is certainly no less important to business success. Research shows that employee engagement took a hard hit during the financial crisis, with feelings of loyalty, commitment, and trust in leadership dipping dramatically in many organizations. To assess this challenge, we reviewed data from a recently completed study of employee engagement around the globe to show how such information can be tapped to strengthen decision making around talent. Not surprisingly, what is important to employees varies by geography and across generations. Mercer used conjoint analysis to determine a prioritized ranking for each of 13 key value propositions in each of 17 markets around the globe. When natural gas employers in North America consider the labor market with these results in mind, it is apparent that providing top-tier total remuneration is key to the attraction and retention of talent, particularly for the experi- Haig NalbaNtiaN is a senior partner at Mercer and co-founder/ co-leader of its Workforce Sciences Institute. PHiliP teNeNbaum is Mercer’s global energy leader. Jay DoHerty is a partner at Mercer and co-leader/co-founder of Mercer’s Workforce Sciences Institute. 30 AmericAn GAs august/september 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Gas - August 2012

American Gas - August 2012
Contents
President’s Message
Industry News
In the Know
Safety First
Tech Talk
Taming the Talent Pipeline
Decision Time
Places to Be
Vendor News
Noteworthies
Advertisers’ Index
Jobline
Marketplace
Facts on Gas

American Gas - August 2012