Bright ideas

The energy transition is often seen through a lens of technology—a smarter grid, greater generation, better batteries—but it will take more than innovative solutions to keep the lights on. If the power, utilities, and renewables (PU&R) sector is going to truly adapt to the future, it needs people. Talent will evolve as many people will be working in roles vastly different from those available today.

Deloitte reported in Work toward net-zero: The rise of the green-collar workforce in a just transition that approximately 25% of jobs worldwide will be disrupted in the energy transformation. We expect the shift in PU&R to be in line with this average. To navigate through such turbulence, existing approaches to people and culture need to be challenged and remodelled.

Like many industries, PU&R is dealing with an aging workforce and a growing skills gap. The talent pool remains largely dominated by white men. In 2019, Electricity Human Resources Canada reported that women accounted for only one in four employees, while visible minorities had even lower representation, at just one in 10.¹ Given these statistics, the industry has yet to realize the positive outcomes that can be driven by embracing diversity.

To prepare for this transformation effectively, the sector needs to widen its potential labour pool by attracting a broader range of people. In particular, utilities leaders will need to rethink how to attract, in significant volumes, both digitally savvy and technically capable staff who can take a collaborative, agile, and data-driven approach to analyzing challenges and developing innovative solutions.

The industry must appeal to younger workers, who are in high demand from other parts of the economy. These generations, millennials and Gen Zs, may need more than the stability offered by the power industry. They have different attitudes toward work. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and purpose are more than just words to them—they want to work for organizations that are making an authentic effort to implement this.

The good news is that, if done correctly, the positive impact that the PU&R sector is poised to have on climate action is second to none. Establishing and conveying a clear sense of purpose—such as working to protect the planet—may help attract the diverse range of talent needed to get the decarbonization job done. Any new graduate today should be able to forge a career, at least 30 years long, in what will become a growing and dynamic industry.

Adopting a skills-based model

The PU&R sector must reimagine management by embracing a digital workspace, cultivating a supportive and collaborative culture, and prioritizing a skills-based approach.

Confining work to standardized tasks based on a worker’s role in the organization hinders a company’s ability to be innovative and agile. Taking a skills-based approach, where work is broken up into tasks and assigned to people best suited for each job, will free staff from defined roles. This strategy could also shift promotions away from those with seniority to those who deserve it on merit—an approach favoured by younger generations.

Organizations that have adopted a skills-based approach are almost two-thirds more likely to succeed than their traditional peers². They are also known to be places where employees can grow and develop, which is vital for organizations looking to attract the next generation of leaders.

Moreover, PU&R companies will have to explore ways to make work more flexible. According to a 2022 Gallup study , more than half the employees in the sector will consider transitioning to hybrid work by 2023 to cut down on commutes, balance family responsibilities, and improve their overall well-being.

To deliver a more flexible job environment in an industry where work is often performed on location or in the field, companies may need to adopt other solutions—such as robotics, big data, machine learning, and augmented/virtual reality—in a well-coordinated strategy that seamlessly integrates with suppliers across their ecosystem. These technologies can also help reduce repetitive activity, which should improve the overall attractiveness of many roles.

Facilitating the skills transfer

As much as the industry needs younger employees, it must also find ways to engage older and near-retiring employees. These seasoned workers play an important role in training new staff, and they could also continue to work part-time on projects that require their unique skills and experience. One option is virtual apprenticeships, which would connect younger employees with experienced professionals who can help address issues practically, in the field, rather than in a classroom. The technology to deliver secure support directly to remote locations is already being deployed to help reduce truck roles in industry. Other countries have also completely modernized their apprenticeship schemes in an effort to attract top talent.

Outside the PU&R sector, companies have found ways to use technology to engage their older staff. For example, in 2020, Unilever opened an internal talent marketplace where projects are posted for employees to willingly take on tasks and apply their skills to different kinds of work³. This approach could make it easier to share skills across an organization and retain recently retired staff in the business for longer.

Attracting and keeping a diversified workforce

Bringing on new talent will take time, but companies can implement some simple steps now to improve how they hire. Beyond improving their brand by tapping into the purpose of the energy transition, they can work to reduce gender and racial biases in the hiring process by removing names, pronouns, universities, and other potentially skewing data from resumes in the first-round selection. To further address the skills gap, managers also need to think about their talent differently by focusing more on the skills potential employees can bring rather than considering how they can fill a specific role. Getting buy-in on that approach will be challenging in a unionized environment, but it will be necessary. It may also be time to be more open-minded about accepting international qualifications.

Attracting employees is one thing; keeping them is another. Retaining a more diverse workforce means thinking more broadly about the challenges staff face beyond the job. For instance, will there be daycare available to support people working non-conventional hours, or mental health services available for those who need them? Companies must also offer coaching for managers to help them foster a culture of trust, so that people feel safe and supported. Of course, actually adhering to the organizational purpose will be critical—increasingly, employees need to feel part of an authentic business to consider staying for the long-term.

If the power, utilities, and renewables sector is going to help build a sustainable future for the planet, it needs to put its own people at the centre of the transition. While it may take time to adapt to new ways of working, company leaders need to continue making smart moves or they risk losing the talent war.

Contributors

Kathy Woods
­Partner, National Future-ready Organization Leader
kawoods@deloitte.ca

Line Duranleau
Partner, Human Capital, Energy, Resources and Industrials
Canadian Human Resources Transformation Leader for Power, Utilities and Renewables
lduranleau@deloitte.ca

Andrea Bastin
Partner, SAP Practice, Energy, Resources and Industrials
Canadian Consulting Leader for Power, Utilities and Renewables
anbastin@deloitte.ca

Markus Kalina
Senior Manager, Human Capital, Energy, Resources and Industrialsm
mkalina@deloitte.ca

¹Mia Rabson, “Canada needs 20,000 new electricity workers by 2022 to keep power flowing,” The Canadian Press, April 11, 2019.
²Sue Cantrell, Michael Griffiths, Robin Jones, Julie Hipakka, “The skills-based organization: A new operating model for work and the workplace,” Deloitte (September 2022).
³Ina Gantcheva, Robin Jones, Diana Kearns-Manolatos, “Activating the internal talent marketplace,” Deloitte, September 19, 2020.