Public Power - November 2008 - (Page 21)

a great deal of reusable information was captured in the database: role names, positions, technologies, business rules, reference and learning materials, and so on. The SMUD process designers found that as the model of their key processes became more complex, adding new content and creating new diagrams became easier—not harder. Creating learning material with GEMWorX is similar to the development of process diagrams. According to Miller, working within the eLearning module was very simple once the process maps were built. “It was simply a matter of thinking from the end user’s perspective: ‘what resource would they need to carry out this step?’ and then connecting the piece of training right there.” SMUD’s approach was to make as much use of existing training and processreference material as possible. Even before the process diagrams were fully formed, the design team went to work building links to reference materials distributed inside and outside the organization. Everything from procedure and specification documents in Word and Excel, to PowerPoint slide decks, Camtasia animations, and intranet and internet reference locations were added to the database, making them linkable to individual process steps in the diagrams. “Based on what we learned in that initial project, it became evident that this was the right answer for delivering training in support of business processes. In fact, one of our biggest advocates today is our manager of Asset Management, who is sponsoring a District-wide implementation of a consistent Design Change Notification process, supported by a new technology application. He was adamant that our GEMWorX solution was the way he wanted his initiative rolled out and sustained. That’s amazing support,” said Miller. The fact that the SMUD team was able to branch out on its own to solve a knowledge retention requirement, long before the training project was completed, is no small achievement. ‘I really had no part in that at all,” says Andrews. “They just decided what they wanted to do, and did it.” “Change is never easy, but our CIO, www.APPAnet.org The SDIT pilot program “knowledge maps” are accessible to lineworkers, in substations and meter shops, in network construction design, and elsewhere. 84% of the original users are male, with an average 15.1 years of service. Linda Johnson, and Phil West, our director of distribution services, supported a creative solution to the training issues,” Miller said. “They stayed engaged throughout the project, which certainly helped us to move quickly, and to speed end-user adoption.” Ultimately, the SMUD team built and updated four major processes, to which they attached 17 training courses. After the pilot program was completed, GEMWorX was recognized as the platform for documenting processes throughout the organization, with the goal of creating a true enterprise process knowledge repository for the utility. Miller knew it had become clear to all that “…there is a huge business benefit in having the most current knowledge maps accessible anytime, from any desktop. The right resources are always immediately available.” Michael Blechar, Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst, echoed Miller’s assessment. “Leveraging business process modeling efforts in the creation of employee training materials not only increases productivity and provides standardization, but also ensures accuracy and relevance,” Blechar said in a research case study on the SMUD project. There will be no silver bullet solution for ‘aging work force’ turnover. All of the industry’s current efforts to plan for, attract, develop, and mentor new workers must go on. The immediate challenge is for executive leadership (and others) to see the knowledge retention problem with a fresh set of eyes. In doing so, they may gain a new perception of process understanding as a dynamic business asset, and an essential component of the industry’s human infrastructure. Knowledge retention is not a one-time event. “Business needs and objectives are always changing, so enterprise-wide knowledge capture and knowledge transfer has to be an ongoing process,” said Miller. “We have the tools and skills in place, and now we see that it can be done.” ❚ Mark Talaba (mtalaba@global-enterprisemgrs.com), is vice president of marketing & sales for Global Enterprise Managers, which provides planning, analysis, systems integration, change management, and training services in support of utility industry business process improvement initiatives. During the past decade, he served as CEO of RealTime Technologies, Inc., creators of barcode and radio-frequency data capture solutions for manufacturers. Earlier, he was CEO of Softwrite Computer Systems—a software development group that delivered real-time ecommerce transaction systems. He has been a frequent speaker on e-commerce and real-time manufacturing technologies, and now focuses on the business impact of the aging work force phenomenon. NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2008 21 http://www.APPAnet.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - November 2008

Public Power - November 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Capturing Knowledge Before It Retires Jackson’s GIS Search Keeping a Job Journal Japan Tackles the Kyoto Protocol Getting to 20 by 10 Damless Hydro Power Earthquake: The Hidden Disaster For Engineers Safety For Governing Boards DEED Hometown Connections Parting Shot

Public Power - November 2008

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