Navigating Turbulent Times with Empathy and Engagement

BY THOMAS W. SIGMUND | GREEN BAY, WI

As I write this message, NACWA is organizing its Winter Conference taking place in Sonoma, California with the theme “Galvanizing Ratepayer Trust in Turbulent Times.” Turbulent defines the last few years well, but it is likely an understatement.

The forever-changed pandemic workplace, inflation, supply chain problems, thorny issues like PFAS and affordability, managing social, racial and political unrest, and the frequency of natural disasters and cyber-threats have all been thrown at us in a seemingly unending barrage of events challenging the nation and our sector.

I have heard our fellow utility leaders say they have never seen staff fatigue and burn-out like they are currently experiencing. The leaders have expressed their own exhaustion as well. But I know we are up to the challenge; let me tell you why.

Over the last several months I have had the pleasure of serving as the host/moderator of numerous NACWA Board, Utility Executive, and Regional Utility Zoom discussions. These have been structured as “Open Forums” where utility executives can discuss whatever is on their mind. It is no coincidence that many if not all these utility leaders have focused their remarks on the workforce challenge as the most pressing – why? The answer is simple — without a fully staffed team of trained and competent professionals we cannot sustainably fulfill our environmental and public health mission as utilities, we cannot galvanize ratepayer trust, and we will fail at our efforts to navigate these turbulent times.

The answer is simple — without a fully staffed team of trained and competent professionals we cannot sustainably fulfill our environmental and public health mission as utilities, we cannot galvanize ratepayer trust, and we will fail at our efforts to navigate these turbulent times.

But what I have heard in these discussions from our utility leaders gives me enormous hope. They are not allowing workforce fatigue or malaise to overwhelm them. They are working to secure competitive salaries and benefits for their employees; they are conducting innovative programs like “stay interviews” to determine what makes a fulfilled employee want to stay with the utility; they are taking advantage of opportunities like NACWA’s Core Leadership program to get their staff networked, inspired and feeling tapped into something larger and meaningful in terms of their daily work; and they are finding opportunities through technology to improve staff efficiency, preserve the institutional knowledge being lost to retirements, and attract a younger, more tech-savvy workforce.

I can tell you that these are just a tiny sampling of the efforts that utility leaders are taking. But when you listen to these discussions and participate in them, what you hear overwhelmingly is how much utility leaders CARE. How much they care for the mental well-being of their staff; how much they care to create an attractive workplace for current and future employees; and how much they care about the importance of the job and mission to ensure that our ratepayers and communities have affordable, uninterrupted service so that we all can enjoy our treasured waterbodies.

I can tell you our member (and non-member) utility leaders are wrestling with Herculean fervor to navigate these turbulent times and galvanize ratepayer and community trust. I know that sharing these best practices through NACWA and other venues will shape positive outcomes and we will emerge stronger and more energized as a sector.

Sincerely,

Tom Sigmund | NACWA President

Executive Director, NEW Water | Green Bay, WI