West Monroe Announces Smart Grid Workforce of the Future Service Offering

West Monroe Partners, a management consulting firm, today announced the addition of the Utility Workforce of the Future service offering by its Energy and Utility consulting services.

“As smart grid and deregulation continues to impact the industry, we’ve identified a need for utilities to transform not only the technologies that drive its business, but its talents, skills and people, as well,” says Managing Director and Energy and Utility practice lead Tom Hulsebosch. “The changes in necessary skillsets resulting from transformations in the utility space are a completely new challenge to the industry – one that can be very costly if not addressed.”

The creation of the Utility Workforce of the Future service offering is a result of research completed in conjunction with a leading university. The research findings and outcomes identify 12 skill sector and associated competency levels required in a smart grid enabled utility and have led to the development of job competency profiles, which are used to define and integrate necessary education and training.

“As smart grid and restructuring transform the utility industry, the research done by the Illinois Institute of Technology and West Monroe Partners - under a grant provide by the United States Department of Energy, identified a critical need for utilities to transform not only the technologies that drive its business, but the competencies and skills of its current and future workforce as well” says Dr. Mohammad Shahidehpour, Carl Bodine Distinguished Professor and Director of the Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation at the Illinois Institute of Technology. “I am pleased to see that the talented consultants of West Monroe Partners will be helping our utilities and smart grid vendors create their Workforce Of the Future plans. Without these plans in place, utilities will not be able to realize the full benefits of a smarter grid.”

This initial research has been further expanded by West Monroe Partners to focus on near-term and longer-term organizational changes in the utility environment. The shortage of engineering and technical talent in the utility industry is compounded by the addition of new technologies and accelerated attrition due to the retiring Baby Boomer generation. This perfect storm of external pressures is creating challenges and opportunities for the utility industry.

“Utilities and their stakeholders can leverage the full benefits of grid modernization by transforming their organizations to mirror the convergence of energy delivery, telecommunications, IT systems, and customer choice,” says Sr. Principal Jack Winter with West Monroe. “I look forward to providing utilities the strategies, tools, and methodologies they need to effectively develop and manage their workforce.”

With the addition of this offering, West Monroe continues to meet the growing needs of its utility clients. West Monroe provides services to utilities around Smart Grid Consulting, Utility Telecommunications, Demand Side Management, Customer Communications, Project Management, Systems Integration and Cyber Security.