Contingency Staffing Plan Best Practices for Utilities
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Utilities in all sectors utilize union personnel, and therefore it is imperative to have a contingency staffing plan at the ready in the event of a work stoppage to ensure continuity of operations. Because this is such a critical aspect of emergency preparedness, I thought I would offer up some best practices for developing this type of plan.
How to Develop a Contingency Staffing Plan
A crucial aspect of any contingency staffing plan is identifying and securing qualified contingency workers who can temporarily replace striking employees. But first, it’s necessary to identify the “must do” roles or activities that must continue no matter what. Here are some best practices for electric utilities to effectively identify contingency workers.
The first step is to figure out what exactly will need to be staffed. To do this, you need to identify all the union-filled jobs, break each job down into its core activities, and then flag each activity as “must do,” should do” or “defer.”
Then for each “must do” activity, identify role that could fill in to perform the activity (i.e., contractor, office employee, engineer, etc.), then for each identify if training is needed (i.e., training may not be needed for a contractor or retiree, but an office employee may need training), and then the type of training, if applicable.
The result of this will serve as the foundation for identifying the contingency staffing training requirements. In conjunction with this, a list of non-union candidates should be identified to perform each “must do” activity and, if necessary, begin training.
The activities designated as “should do” or “defer” should be set aside for now. Because some of these may transform into a “must do” activity in the event a work stoppage duration becomes extended, you should plan to meet with the key stakeholders weekly until the work stoppage ends to review the list and identify any activities that need to be changed to “must do” status.
There is no doubt that utilities with union workers need a well thought out contingency staffing plan to address the risk of a work stoppage. Good luck!
