Battling for Employees’ Hearts and Minds? Don’t Lead with “Reliable, Affordable and Safe”

Egan EnergyEmployee, Employee Communications, Employees

Those words might have worked as a rallying cry 75 or 100 years ago, when the U.S. was electrifying (right). Back then, working in the electricity business was a leading-edge, change-the-world endeavor, like working in the space program was in the 1960s or the perennial search for a cure for cancer. But today, many utility employees need a more current, … Read More

Is Your Utility Headed for Trouble?

Egan EnergyBlog, Effective, Employee, Utility Communications

I hung up the phone and thought, “Wow, that utility’s headed for trouble.” Then I turned on the TV and watched the Washington Redskins get mauled. Again. The sideline reporter kept talking about how cultural problems had turned an exciting playoff team into a cellar-dwelling disaster in one season. That’s why I’m glad I’m not affiliated with the Redskins either. … Read More

How’s That Employee Engagement Project Working?

Egan EnergyBlog, Employee, Employees, Utility Communications, Utility Leadership, Utility Stakeholders

Employees are feeling beaten down. Can you blame them? Their commitment to their organizations is being sapped by frozen salaries, staff cuts, organizational inertia, endless reorganizations, and poor quality communications. High-skilled employees depart, opting to pursue more rewarding work elsewhere, leaving fewer people around to do the work. That’s not how you would characterize life at your utility, would you?