Invest In Recruitment To Support The Water Workforce

by Tonya Bronleewe

As director of the Environmental Finance Center (EFC) at Wichita State University (WSU), if I did not show up and do my job for a few days in a row, only a handful of my coworkers would be negatively impacted. The work we do for communities is important and valuable, but my absence would not cause ripples through the community that negatively impact schools, households, hospitals, businesses, industries, veterinary clinics and on and on. However, if our community water and wastewater operators decided to stop showing up for work, there would be some pretty big ripples that would disrupt all aspects of our community for days and possibly weeks!

In today’s utility workforce, there are a number of factors – retirements, job transitions, infrastructure growth and investment, and new technical and scientific skill requirements – that leave more open positions than there are job seekers. These vacancies have the potential to risk the safety and reliability of our most important daily requirement: water. Therefore, we need to do all that we can to build a strong water workforce for the future.

Current high school students and veterans are two groups that, with a little investment of time and effort for outreach and recruitment, could help us fill our water workforce vacancies and create a pipeline of talent that benefits water service in our communities for years to come.

High School Students

Want to find the next generation of your utility’s workforce? Look no further than your local high school. Today’s young people are looking for jobs that are meaningful and provide good-paying, stable employment with the opportunity to advance and continually learn new things.

Reach out to your high school’s career counselor to connect with students who have the right skills and attitude to be a public servant for the community. Counselors can direct you to students that might be good fits for internships or summer staff. You can use these temporary positions to get to know young people and see how they can help meet future staffing needs in your utility. Maybe some students are ready to transition from high school straight into a career in water. You can also start your own water utility outreach program to show high school students what water utility jobs are like and how they can develop a life-long career in the industry. An outreach program can provide your utility with the opportunity to get young people interested in a career in water. Check out all the great, free resources that can help you connect to local high school students at www.wichita. edu/workinwater. Do not hesitate to contact us to help you start your own Work in Water program.

Another opportunity on the horizon to engage high school students is WaterCorps. The WSU EFC recently received one of 10 EPA Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Grants. The aim of this project is to build the water workforce by developing a nationwide network of high school and post-secondary students who will receive internship experiences, educational resources, guidance from professionals in the field, and facility tours.

Amanda Curry, Garden City High School Work in Water Summer Intern at the city of Garden City Public Utilities-Kansas.

The Environmental Finance Centers at the University of New Mexico and Syracuse University will join Wichita State University on the project.

If you would like to provide your experience and expertise to help build the new WaterCorps program, please reach out to the WSU EFC at efc@wichita. edu. We are seeking mentors, advisory board members, and resources that are already successful. Join us in creating and sharing a great water workforce pipeline for the next generation.

Veterans

U.S. veterans are a highly skilled and motivated, but often underutilized, pool of candidates. Veterans often have technical and leadership skills that they can bring into the civilian workforce. Individuals that have served in the military are able to perform under pressure, are accustomed to nontraditional work schedules and environments, and can provide unique insight into the operations of a utility. Veterans are also familiar with work environments where procedures and regulations are essential, are effective problem solvers, good team members, and have a community mindset. All these traits align with the attributes of our water utility workforce.

There is a strong business case for hiring veterans: A study by Syracuse University shows that the “strong sense of mission that comes from military service are characteristics that are highly valued.” Use the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Career One Stop to easily connect with veterans who are job searching in your area. Learn more about hiring a veteran with the DOL’s Employer Guide to Hiring Veterans. The American Water Works Association also has resources for recruiting, hiring, and retaining veterans. Invest In Recruitment

With all the demands on the technical and regulatory tasks at your water/wastewater utility, developing and implementing an outreach and recruitment plan can easily get pushed to the bottom of the list. However, there are dollars and time lost during the hiring process when there are long job vacancies. Additionally, those losses are compounded when an employee is hired that is not a good fit for the position.

Take the time to do outreach.

Share with the community and potential employees about the job of a water and wastewater operator. What are the duties, expectations, and highs and lows of the job? Talk about how meaningful the work is and about specific times when you were able to solve a problem to benefit the community. This will help increase appreciation and awareness of the water and wastewater utility service in the community. It will also help avoid false expectations of the job for potential job seekers, while allowing others to identify how they might enjoy the job. Take time to strategically recruit.

Be where your next great employee might be today. It could be the local high school, on a veteran job board, a community college job fair, community event, social media, etc. Train everyone at your utility, from board members to managers to clerks to technical staff to talk about how their jobs positively impact the community, where potential job openings may occur next, the skills and abilities of the next potential staff member, and how folks can apply for careers with your utility. Word of mouth is where most people find their jobs.

Investing time and energy into outreach and recruitment pays off when filling vacancies with great employees is quick and seamless. Take the time today and avoid ripples of disruption tomorrow.

Tonya Bronleewe is the director of the Wichita State University Environmental Finance Center. Learn more at https://www.wichita. edu/academics/fairmount_college_of_liberal_ arts_and_sciences/hugowall/efc/ .