In search of smart grid skills

Utilities have a stark choice – pay through the nose for skilled staff to work on smart grids, or train existing staff and face the prospect of losing them to their competitors on the jobs market.

Utilities are in dire need of talent – specifically individuals with the right mix of ingenuity and expertise to create world-class smart grids. According to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, 36 per cent of employers in the energy sector struggle to fill vacancies and 40 per cent have had to increase spending on recruitment to comb the industry for sought-after skills.

There are a number of reasons for this. First, smart grids are cutting-edge infrastructure. Morrison Utility Services recently noted that we no longer rely on toolboxes of spanners, shovels and picks. We need a new generation that can pilot drones and use things that haven’t been invented yet.

Second, an image overhaul is needed. The industry is on a momentous modernisation drive. Smart grids are evolving at a rapid pace and, once mature, will transform the way we live, work and play in the same way the internet has. Because energy is so fundamental to society, people with the right technical savvy are being amply rewarded. Technology providers and consultancies offer a hot skills bonus, in the region of a 30 per cent salary increase and the chance to work at the vanguard of innovation. In fact, because smart grid skills are in such high demand, people are starting to name their price. This isn’t sustainable – employers’ wallets are only so deep and the industry needs a steady stream of talent to future-proof our energy supply.

So how do we make the situation more viable? By exciting a new generation of talent and developing the people that we have to create smart grid A-Teams.

Creating smart grid A-Teams

Like the A-Team of the 1980s, there’s room for a plethora of skills and types of people. In the TV show, each team member had a special role, from the visionary leader to the smooth talker and strong man mechanic.

Similarly, smart grids need multi-disciplined teams. Versatile individuals who can work alongside traditional power engineers and team members with advanced digital skills, and consult with colleagues with commercial acumen. Successful utilities will be those that create a full-service function, as opposed to one or two lone superstars.

Energising millennials

The fact that half of the current workforce in the utility sector will leave in the next decade, either by retiring or going elsewhere, is an issue companies can ill afford to ignore. On the one hand this deadline is exacerbating the skills deficit. On the other it is providing an opportunity to replenish and rejuvenate the sector by recruiting a new wave of talent, hungry for innovation and fresh ways of doing things.

It’s been well documented that millennials have grown up with the internet. Using digital technology is second nature. Smart grid solution providers are known for taking the top 20 best students, fresh out of university, and training them up. Smart grid utilities are starting to do this but they must be prepared to do more.

Developing existing talent

As well as looking outward, companies must also audit and upskill their existing workforce. Many ambitious middle managers with 10 years’ experience represent untapped smart grid potential. Individuals of this ilk are seeking opportunities to develop an expertise in smartgrids. This is great news for their career acceleration.

If companies can acknowledge their employees’ aspirations earlier on, they’ll have a much better shot at retaining valued members of staff, through sought-after training and development opportunities. Long gone are the days when people would sit in a job until retirement. Employers now have to work hard to keep staff engaged.

The battle heats up

Companies face a conundrum. Either train people and lose them on the open market, or do nothing and lose vital ground. Smart grid skills remain in short supply, but firms with advanced development opportunities could make their brightest and best even more attractive to competitors.

The electricity grid is undergoing an historic upgrade. The industry needs more people with the right qualities and skills. Exposing employees to the workings of the smart grid may increase the bounty on their heads but the human capital investment will pay long-term dividends. Smart grids can’t be fully switched on without people.

Stephen Haw, partner, energy practice, Baringa