Email)">
Utility and local government organizations across the country are experiencing record-high vacancy rates, limited candidate pools for open positions, and frequent turnover. These challenges have led numerous organizations to partner with Raftelis to investigate their workplace culture and the drivers of employee morale and satisfaction.
Employees place a high value on professional development and training. This is a common theme our Organizational Excellence team hears while examining employee morale and organizational culture in utility and local government organizations. Through focus groups, individual interviews, and organization-wide surveys, Raftelis has connected with hundreds of employees from diverse public sector employers. Across organizations, staff say that they want their organizations to do more to support their professional growth, build their job-related skills, and enhance their leadership skills through expanded training and development opportunities.
At the same time, shrinking outside applicant pools makes it more important than ever for utilities and local governments to focus on developing the talent that already exists within their organizations. They must invest in training and developing their workforce, focus on succession planning, and provide opportunities for their staff to grow and explore leadership opportunities.
There are several common arguments for why training and development investments have not been prioritized historically. However, in today’s environment, it is more important than ever to rethink these assumptions and consider the value proposition that training and development bring to an organization. The infographic below highlights several frequent arguments against investment in training and development that we hear and the reality of today’s operating environment for utility and local government organizations.
[1] Society for Human Resources Management. 2022 Workforce Learning and Development Trends Research Report. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/Documents.pdf
