New Toolkit Available To Help Hydropower Industry Prepare for Workforce Transitions

In April 2024, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) launched the Hydropower Knowledge Sharing and Succession Planning Toolkit, a resource to help hydropower organizations smoothly transition knowledge to new workers. This toolkit equips hydropower organizations with tools and resources to effectively evaluate the risk of knowledge loss, initiate succession planning strategies, and foster a culture of knowledge sharing.

The toolkit was created to address the needs of the evolving hydropower workforce. According to an NREL report, U.S. Hydropower Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities, the hydropower workforce is experiencing large rates of retirements and workers leaving for other jobs. At the same time, the industry has reported challenges related to recruiting new workers and the job readiness of new hydropower workers. Given these trends, hydropower organizations have great potential for organizational knowledge loss. When knowledge loss occurs, whether in hydropower or another industry, it can have financial and operational implications because of the time required for new employees to come up to speed on organizational practices. These knowledge gaps can also increase pressure on existing employees, causing dissatisfaction, reduced productivity, or potentially additional worker turnover. 

The toolkit takes a two-pronged approach—knowledge sharing and succession planning—to help all hydropower organizations prepare for worker turnover and avoid operational disruptions due to knowledge loss. Knowledge sharing is the process of capturing skills and information and making that knowledge available to all employees. Succession planning helps leaders identify crucial positions within organizations and develop plans for filling those positions when they become vacant. 

Users of the toolkit are guided through a five-step process to determine their best course of action as an organization. Each step includes questions, worksheets, and other resources to help organizations assess, document, and create plans for ongoing learning, sharing, and evaluation of their strategy to retain organizational knowledge. 

The toolkit, which was compiled by NREL and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), is available for free and will be disseminated to hydropower industry partners. 

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