Stretch and Mindfulness Session

General Session: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Roadmap for Change

Concurrent Sessions

• Program Spotlight: AABE Virtual Energy Academy

  This session will bring together panelists from Duke Energy that work closely with the American Association of Blacks in Energy in finding creative ways of engaging with students in diverse communities with a purpose of creating awareness of the great careers in the energy industry. You will learn y about their approach to working with AABE to expose youth to careers in energy as well as how AABE has pivoted during the pandemic and continued to engage students during this time. 

• CASE STUDY: Why Workforce Development is No Longer Only HR’s Responsibility

  Southern Company recently moved workforce development responsibilities from HR to operations. This session will explore the “whens, whys, and hows” of this move and provide an overview of how the transition is working and what lessons have been learned to date. Presenters: Shannon Pierce, SouthStar Energy Services; Jesse Owens, Georgia Power; and Corey Hines, Southern Company Gas.

• Preparing for Jobs of the Future

  Through the rise of technology and globalization, competition among and for workers has become fiercer. The jobs of the future will require a hybrid set of skills from a variety of subject areas that will change several times over during our careers. In addition, workers expect to be able to learn on-demand, getting the skills and knowledge they need in that moment, to be able to apply it as soon as possible. What will the jobs of the future require and how can and should you prepare now for and respond to the changing dynamics? This session will explore how three industry companies are considering the future of the energy workforce – what the needed skills will be and what characteristics will be defining in how we train them. Presenters: Sam Held, Tennessee Valley Authority; Raquel Mercado, Avangrid.

• Recruiting Resource Round-Up

  This session will offer a “best practice round up” of novel ways companies are partnering with veterans organizations, community-based organizations, schools and workforce systems to fuel their talent pipelines and we will hear from some of the organizations directly to learn about some of their most effective partnerships. Presenters: Amber Fogarty, Consumers; Melissa Miranda, Electricities of North Carolina; Michelle Homme, Omaha Public Power District.

Lunchtime Learning Labs and Networking Lounge

• What’s Everyone Doing About Telework?
• What’s Everyone Doing on the DE&I Front?
• Lessons Learned from Virtual Internships
• Recruiting Veterans During COVID
• Lessons Learned from Virtual Internships

Break

Concurrent Sessions

• CASE STUDY: Dominion Diversity Conference

  This session will provide an overview of Dominion’s Diversity Conference that selects 120 interns of diverse backgrounds from 700 who apply for an all-expense paid learning experience. Program managers will address their wildly successful conversion rates of interns becoming permanent hires and they will address program adjustments made this year, in response to COVID-19 and lessons learned from the virtual pivot. Presenter: Chrystal Neal, Dominion Energy.

• Succession Planning in the Age of COVID

  The global pandemic has challenged operations for businesses across the world on many levels. While initial attention focused on functional logistics, attention has turned more recently to the some of the unique “people challenges” created by the sustained remote work environment in which many employees still find themselves. This session will explore ideas for focusing on career development for internal talent (i.e. talent mobility) throughout all levels of the company in this new virtual environment, where accomplishments and the ability to work with others may not be as visible as pre-COVID. Session participants will learn how companies and managers can ensure career planning and development are done in ways that benefit both the employee and the organization. Presenters: Wayne Robinson and Ina Gantcheva, Deloitte.

• How and Why to Connect with Your Local Workforce Development Board

  This session will explain why workforce boards should be an area of focus for workforce development outreach, hitting upon their ability to hold recruiting fairs, promote professions, pay for apprenticeships, and help employees with wrap-around support services. These groups are often responsible for investing federal funds into state workforce priorities as identified by business leaders. The energy sector needs to be engaged with these groups to support sustained workforce priorities. Presenters: Stan Sherrill, Duke, Annie Izod, NCWorks Commission, and David Fortney, Portland General Electric.

General Session: Reinventing the Employee Experience: Research Recommendations from Accenture for CEWD

This session will present Accenture’s recommendations to drive essential engagement of the workforce of the future in the energy/utilities sector. With an aging workforce, global pandemic, and social justice change sweeping the United States, we will discuss the Employee Experience transformation required to compete in the market for talent. The data will be anchored in Accenture’s new Net Better Off research and how it applies to utility companies, and specific actions you and your leadership team can take to unlock the human potential of all employees in 2020 and beyond.

Networking Lounge: Cocktails and Conversation

Legend

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Managing Workforce Development and Workforce Planning
• Training and Skill Development for Our Future Workforce
• Workforce Development Outside the HR Suite
• Staying One Step Ahead of the Changing Workplace Culture

*CEWD reserves the right to change or alter the program schedule.