Inside the toolkit helping hydropower keep its workforce strong

Adam Kanter, Workforce Development Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US. (Photo by Gregory Cooper / NREL)

Hydropower is the largest source of utility-scale energy storage in the US. In 2023, it accounted for 5.7% of US utility-scale electricity generation ^[1], and pumped storage hydropower accounted for 96% of all utility-scale energy storage. Based on the conventional hydropower development pipeline of non-powered dam projects, conduit projects, new stream-reach development, and capacity additions, NREL estimated that conventional generation could add roughly 300 new on-site hydropower jobs across the country based on the current employment levels at existing facilities per megawatt of generation.

The pumped storage hydropower development pipeline is expected to develop more capacity than conventional hydropower in the coming years, which will create an additional 8787 jobs based on the current employment levels at existing facilities per megawatt of generation. This growth in hydropower jobs is already placing additional pressure on the US hydropower industry as it experiences increasing rates of retirement and an influx of new hires ^[2]. The resulting dynamic creates turbulent operating environments for organisations, often resulting in the loss of essential organisational knowledge that is tied to an individual and not well documented. That knowledge loss can pose financial implications for organisations, lead to operational disruptions, and increase pressure on existing employees, causing dissatisfaction, turnover, and reduced productivity ^[3,4,5]. To mitigate these issues and develop organizational resilience, a strong culture of documentation and knowledge sharing should be established ^[6,7,8].

Workforce knowledge sharing

To facilitate organisational efforts to foster that kind of culture, NREL, with funding from the US Department of Energy’s WPTO, developed the Knowledge Sharing and Succession Planning Toolkit. This toolkit equips hydropower organisations with essential tools and resources to evaluate the risk of knowledge loss, initiate succession planning strategies, and foster a culture of knowledge sharing. The toolkit is intended to help prepare for worker turnover and reduce operational disruptions and includes best practices and focused tools designed to facilitate and simplify succession planning and knowledge sharing.

Knowledge sharing is the process of capturing and sharing important knowledge, including what an employee is expected to do (their tasks), how they need to do it (steps), and what they need to know (context) to be successful ^[9]. Knowledge sharing strategies can also help improve team performance, reduce repeated mistakes, and improve problem solving and synergy across an organisation ^[6,7,8], Western Electricity Coordinating Council 2020). By understanding the importance of knowledge loss and leveraging tools designed to address it, organisations can preserve critical information and ensure that the next generation of employees has a strong foundation for their career success.

Succession planning is a systematic way of organising knowledge sharing, wherein an organisation identifies key staff and positions and works to prepare employees to fill vacancies as others in the organization move on ^[9,10,11]. It can be thought of, broadly, as knowledge sharing within an organization and career development to avoid organisational knowledge loss in the future. Succession planning works in tandem with knowledge sharing to help improve staff retention by providing career progression opportunities within the organisation. Succession planning can help organizations ensure operational continuity amidst workforce changes and can help mitigate worker loss by providing defined career progression opportunities.

The toolkit strengthens the processes and culture associated with both knowledge sharing and succession planning by evaluating knowledge loss risk, initiating succession planning strategies, and fostering a culture of knowledge sharing for your hydropower organization. The toolkit is broken into five steps:

1) Assess Organisation.

2) Documentation.

3) Learning Plans.

4) Knowledge Sharing.

5) Recurring Updates.

Each step includes tools and templates that can be adapted for specific organizational contexts. The toolkit can be used chronologically, or organisations can deep dive into specific areas that are relevant to their needs.

The target audience for the toolkit are workers involved in hiring, staffing, or strategic planning – however, anyone in a management role can create a culture and implement practices that encourage knowledge sharing and succession planning. Furthermore, any staff member can take steps to document and share key knowledge associated with their job to help maintain continuity while they are out of the office or when they move to another position.

With this toolkit, hydropower organisations can safeguard institutional knowledge, enhance workforce resilience, and ensure long-term operational stability in an evolving industry landscape by proactively implementing the knowledge sharing and succession planning strategies contained therein.

By proactively implementing knowledge sharing and succession planning strategies, hydropower organizations can safeguard institutional knowledge, enhance workforce resilience, and ensure long-term operational stability in an evolving industry landscape.

NREL has developed a wide range of resources to support hydropower workforce needs. Learn more about the US hydropower industry’s workforce trends, and access resources to support the hydropower industry, educators, and job seekers in building a strong workforce.

Authored by Adam Kanter, Workforce Development Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US