Picture a suit-clad executive carrying a set of Legos, which builds into a wind-turbine park as part of a new relationship with a client. This is one story that happened in Washington D.C. this year for EnergyWorks who now has offices in the Pacific Northwest. It’s not the action of carrying a set of Legos that’s key here; it’s the story of what happens.
The game plan in a lopsided playing field for any industry is to play defense. One of the greatest challenges of running a business in the current environment is to keep your great employees. It is as important for the business as getting and keeping clients. How the game is played is being mapped out play by play by EnergyWorks executives during the AWEA (American Wind Energy Association) WINDPOWER International conference. AWEA selected the presentation award based on comparison to previous years’ concerns. Today workforce development, because of a large number of global and economic issues, made it to the top of list of trends requiring strategic retention issues. EnergyWorks is applying a unique strategy that was known in the marketing world, but is now being applied to people.
Several large wind industry companies have remained focused on the overall scoring for business developments in the wind industry this past year and now. The plays have included everything from strategic hiring to strategic retention. AWEA is recognizing EnergyWorks for their outstanding success in creating a retention strategy that has helped the company to continue to hire and grow amid a recessive economy. EnergyWorks will present their retention strategy on Wednesday, May 25 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at AWEA. EnergyWorks Field Services’ success includes opening their Pacific Northwest office this last year. The company is headquartered in Corinth, Mississippi and has field offices across the U.S.
AWEA’s WINDPOWER Conference in Anaheim, California from May 22 to May 25, 2011 is recognized as one of the fastest-growing trade shows in the World. Bringing together leaders, industry experts, and investors, this event is like no other wind industry trade show. AWEA supports the interests of the wind industry by using revenue generated from WINDPOWER to advance wind industry policy and promotion, advocate for the wind industry in renewable energy legislation, and communicate the benefits of wind energy to all.
“Speaking at WINDPOWER is a wonderful opportunity for EnergyWorks Field Services and our new Pacific Northwest offices as we continue to build on our partnerships, to forge new relationships, to meet with vendors, suppliers, manufacturers, and financers. This is the one time each year where all industry players come together and collectively and collaboratively engage in discussion to determine how we can work together to move the wind industry forward,” said Patrick Thompson, president and CEO of EnergyWorks Group of Companies.
Legislatively, it’s a wonder that any U.S. wind company exists at all, when you consider the lack of certainty companies in wind have had to confront. First, consider nearly 100 years of policy stability that has provided old technologies with a consistent environment in which to operate, plan and grow.
When you consider wind power’s policy offerings, you note that the federal Production Tax Credit – the primary financial policy for the industry – has been extended mostly in one- and two-year intervals, and even allowed to expire on occasion. The up-and-down nature of the industry is mainly the result of this short-term and short-sighted – policy environment.
How does any wind company that provides wind project management, project site management and site execution for clean energy maintain a consistent work force in a constantly changing economic environment? Chris Sellers, vice president with EnergyWorks Field Services credits a temporary period of stability for the industry that allowed some manufacturing to provide support to continuing developments for wind operations through a bad economy. The production tax credit was extended for several years in a row without being allowed to expire. The industry continues to bank on Congress acting on a long-term policy. The wait continues.
One such policy is a national Renewable Electricity Standard, which would set targets for a certain portion of each utility’s electricity mix to come from clean, renewable sources. Long-term tax policies, lasting more than just a few years, would also provide consistency and market certainty. The Pacific Northwest’s EnergyWorks office grew by continuing to seek wind technicians and training them in preparation. The company prepared plans for retention before technicians were to be hired. One idea was to get them out into the communities that EnergyWorks is involved even if they weren’t producing revenue with a project yet. This relates back to the delivering Legos story which is included in the AWEA presentation on May 25.
When it comes to drumming up business, EnergyWorks has emphasized a need for its management employees to get out in the community and serve on boards and be involved in networking. Sellers said he expects growth and retention strategies to light up the scoreboard in the future by positioning EnergyWorks to better serve its customers going forward.
One of the rewards of sticking to the playbook is the ability to make a bigger splash at events where potential clients gather. EnergyWorks has become a major sponsor for many community events. Given EnergyWorks’ history of providing project management and site development for new wind farms at any location across the US, EnergyWorks has put a lot of thought about how best to bring new employees into the fold and keep them. The process starts with making sure a member of the EnergyWorks team is there when an employee begins on a project. “I never say, ‘you’re going to love it here,’” said Sellers. “You have to work to earn that respect from people.”
Retention begins with town-hall style meetings for new employees - EnergyWorks’ culture training sessions and personal interviews with all employees - and is aimed at getting them settled into the bestfitting team in a timely manner.
AWEA’s goal in selecting EnergyWorks to present their award winning retention strategies is to help tell the story of workforce development. “There are two distinct parts: Anne Seifert is presenting skillsbased training programs and Ian Baring-Gould, a senior engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will support Anne’s education focus,” said Annie Sznajder of the American Wind Energy Association. Paul Idziak, a manager for renewable energy at Shermco Industries will present a focus on finding good employees for the industry and finally, Chris Sellers and Lisa Schmidt will present on the retention strategies that have become a staple for EnergyWorks success’ in the field.
Beyond the wind industry, the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2011 findings noted that for the first time ever the growing need to develop retention strategies for current and future workforces no matter what industry was listed in the top five concerns. Another study, which involved 807 employees from six organizations, found that stressed-out workers dealing with a bad economy, as well as a fear of job loss, could increase job satisfaction. The study, completed by Professor Tahira Probst at Washington State University, showed that employers that do not take steps to support or better retain their workers translate into reduced job performance and increased levels of costly employee turnover.
So what is the rest of the story at EnergyWorks?
EnergyWorks is having success with a new tool for retention. The tool is rather simple. It is a story – or, actually, a series of stories.
Companies are accustomed to differentiating themselves to clients from a marketing perspective, but the concept of differentiating oneself from a workforce development standpoint is a little different in the way storytelling is applied with this strategy. Companies utilize a bastion of buzzwords like: innovative, sustainable, creative, quality, value and client-oriented when it comes to marketing themselves. For workforce development, companies choose words like vision, mission and values. But there is one thing that can’t be duplicated: each firm’s story of how it started and what that means to its brand of people. Every company has a unique story much like DNA if that could be applied to companies.
EnergyWorks is compiling a “storybook” of its best stories by employees to help it teach the culture of the company to new employees. The stories connect employees with each other and the company. Why are stories being received so well? Generation Y, which represents employees born from 1981 to 2000, now represent fourteen (14) percent of the workforce and is growing phenomenally as a percentage of the workforce. This generation is optimistic, able to multi-task, tenacious, technologically savvy, driven to learn and grow, but is especially team-oriented and socially responsible. Generation X, which represents those born between 1965 and 1980, represent thirty-four (34) percent of the working population. The two generations together represent close to fifty percent of the working population.
Generation X will have two (2) to four (4) different careers in their lifetime and average seven (7) to twelve (12) jobs per career. Generation Y will have 21 to 34 jobs per career and are noted to change jobs on a moment’s notice.
How does a company prepare a strategy for that compulsion? It’s why stories work. First, as opposed to any internal marketing effort to retain employees, it’s only marketing. It sounds like marketing. People don’t want to be sold. Our antenna is finely tuned to pick up on a “spin.” People work with people they like and trust. And our stories about the people behind the business hold the key to authentic, believable marketing. Let’s face it, we love stories. Based on the research of EnergyWorks, stories teach through brilliant and inspiring examples as well as connect us with each other; stories reveal meaning to a group without defining what is different about
each individual; and stories are the only way to connect rationally and emotionally. Stories are told about each of our companies almost everywhere. Stories connect people and stories connect through time and trends.
Stories engage us, entertain us and relate to us in a way that sticks. And unlike most marketing efforts, stories make us feel something. They serve a way to market without clobbering someone over the head with trite, meaningless slogans.
I’ll never forget the story of how EnergyWorks began. I can picture George Emsurak and Pat Thompson and the others there at the beginning working with Ford on a co-generation project in Venezuela to solve the problem of unreliable energy supplies. They built a power plant and took them off the grid.
When EnergyWorks started in wind they tell the story that the company probably pioneered wind a little too early. When Chris Sellers joined the company, there was a new story of success. Stories don’t take the place of having a great ‘YESabiity” strategy which relates to how readily employees can meet customer’s expectations.
And people do need to work at a story to get the most out of it. Founders are often not the most verbose. Not everyone is a good storyteller. Once the basics of a story are recorded, EnergyWorks fills them with details that will make them come alive. The words come from what the people in the company say. People help fill in the details.
To make the story work for retention requires that the company answer: “Why would I want to continue to work for this company?” The thread of caring for people and the company caring for employees is the theme that ties the beginning, middle, and the end. Without that thread it’s still an interesting story, but it falls short of tying into an employee benefit. Once the story is nailed down, tell it and tell it again, so it becomes part of the company. Stories are meant to be told face-to-face. EnergyWorks knows that this presentation is one that people believe and one that EnergyWorks employees know by heart
by Lisa Schmidt, Public Affairs/ Government Relations, EnergyWorks America
Issue #466 / May 2011
For Additional Information:
Lisa Schmidt, EnergyWorks Field Services, LLC, 662/ 2865779, or email: lschmidt@energyworks.comLisa Schmidt is the Public Affairs and Governmental Relations expert for EnergyWorks Americas. She is also the founder of Marketing Matters, Inc. Marketing Matters is a strategic marketing solutions agency. The firm has perfected the art of entertaining while training others. Learning, creativity, problem solving and laughter go together for the firm. Lisa, as a presenter at WINDPOWER 2011, will bring just the right blend of ideas, practical experience and infectious enthusiasm to empower others through her EnergyWorks’ stories. Energy Works National Renewable Energy Laboratory (AWEA) American Wind Energy Association
