Back to All
Research has shown that structured mentorship programs bring great value to the workforce. Programs such as the Women in Hydropower Mentorship Program have many positive externalities and are mutually beneficial to both the mentees and mentors who participate.
A current effort is underway to identify formal mentorship programs in the electric power industry. Readers are invited to participate in a survey on the topic, open until March 11.
WHY MENTORSHIP MATTERS
The relationships and connections that form through mentorship programs help employees grow in leadership, skills, confidence, and thinking. This, in turn, helps employers recruit and retain talent and increase employee satisfaction, loyalty, productivity, innovation, and diversity.
Many more benefits exist when formal mentorship programs are properly established, and can assist organizations excel under rapidly changing regulations, technologies, and workforce compositions.
There are a host of associations that offer formal mentorship programs, but how many companies in the electric power industry (utilities, trade allies, firms, etc.) have formal mentorship programs of their own?
Snohomish County Public Utility District in Everett, Washington, is sponsoring graduate research on the topic of sustainable management to investigate the prevalence, types, purposes, and perceived key success factors related to formal mentorship programs within an organization in the electric industry.
INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A SURVEY
Dawn Presler, senior environmental coordinator at Snohomish County PUD, who is conducting the research stated, “There is quite a lot of interest in having a formal mentorship program at our utility, so we want to discover what others are doing, or not doing, regarding this topic. A survey of the industry is a great way to gather information on a grand scale, inform our decision making, and also assisting our partner organizations that may have similar interests.”
Readers are requested to participate in a short (10-minute) survey exploring the prevalence of formal mentorship within the industry. This survey welcomes participants from:
- electric power companies and other organizations (firms, associations, trade allies, governments, etc.) that support and partner with the electric industry
- organizations that have and those that do not have established mentorship programs
- all levels of staff – from staff through executive leadership
- multiple people within the same organization (i.e., share with others in your organization)
The survey is open through March 11. Responses are anonymous. Results will be shared in summer 2022 upon request with those that participate.
Take the survey by clicking the link here.
FOCUS ON MENTORING DURING WATERPOWER WEEK
At the National Hydropower Association’s upcoming 2022 Waterpower Week in Washington being held April 5-7, the April 6 Women in Waterpower Networking Breakfast will feature the Women in Hydropower Mentorship Program. This program has been in existence for about 10 years and boasts alumni such as Juliann Blanford of NuSTREEM and Jillian Lawrence of Central Rivers Power.
The breakfast also will highlight the work of NHA’s new Future Leaders of Waterpower (FLOW) group. Although FLOW is not a formal or structured mentorship program, it also has the goal of attracting, retaining, and providing vital career development services to the incoming workforce. FLOW also promotes existing mentorship programs in the industry as important resources – especially as a means for transfer of knowledge.
