Electric personnel
Electric personnel
Peace River Electric Co-operative, Inc. (PRECO) – a not-for-profit distribution co-operative providing electric service to 24,000+ families and businesses – has a common business problem: geographic dispersion. But PRECO takes this problem to the nth degree with 100 employees – the bulk of which in the field – reporting back to ten remote locations across ten Florida counties! They recently had a typical problem – integrating the widespread HR, payroll and training data that they regarded as being critical to their business. They addressed this problem by choosing Best Software's Abra suite to:
centralise key HR and payroll data in a single database;
empower employees and managers with online self-service access; and
streamline reporting and analysis, strategic planning and workflow.
The bulk of PRECO's employees are "line technicians" in charge of maintaining the consistent flow of energy to its rural customer base. To accommodate such a wide area with limited staff, PRECO technicians use an increasingly complex array of tools and technologies – becoming more mobile with the use of two-way pagers and laptops. This gives a requirement for regular technology training so PRECO partnered with a local community college to train its line technicians in electrical distribution technology. Paying employees to obtain a degree, the co-operative challenges employees to display a working knowledge of more than 270 skill sets specific to the line technician job function to graduate.
Abra tracks and audits the skill sets performed successfully by individual employees based on testing by PRECO and the college. The response has been excellent. PRECO claims that:
Employees are more productive! They manage their time better to juggle fieldwork and time to attend classes.
Employees are more motivated and professional! The co-operative is helping them feel a sense of accomplishment by helping them obtain a degree.
This is a true win-win situation for both parties involved.
Taking the shock out of succession planning
The success of this programme means that the HR department has already received requests from other employees wishing to move into utility management. By tracking every employee's unique skill set, Abra is helping with the organisation's succession planning requirements. PRECO is able to monitor employee progress and match appropriate skills and capabilities with job descriptions for optimum workforce efficiency. This is increasingly important as the organisation estimates that nearly 25 percent of PRECO's workforce will retire in the next five to seven years.
Powering up for growing needs
Outside of training, PRECO is using Abra to recruit technicians to compensate for growth in both the industry and region. The organisation culls hiring and applicant pools using Abra's sophisticated database, and then matches CVs with open job requisitions. All of these capabilities are in addition to Abra's use as a back-office system for compensation, benefits, and payroll administration. Harrison hopes to have PRECO operating in a completely paperless HR environment within the next three to five years.
The latest development is that PRECO is implementing Abra Employee Self-Service to provide employees with online access to their training and educational progress.
For more information, see www.best-software.com
