July-August 2018 NPJ

Nuclear Plant Journal, July-August 2018 NuclearPlantJournal.com 35 (Continued on page 36) Jim Little Jim Little is principal of Nuclear Energy Programs, a consulting firm focused on strategy and issues associated with the nuclear industry. With a career encompassing more than forty-five years in the global nuclear industry, he has held a number of executive positions within URS Corporation, Washington Group International and the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Jim serves on a number of advisory and corporate boards which include being a founding advisory board member of Energy Production Infrastructure Center located at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and also as a founding board member of E4Carolinas, an industrial trade organization serving the energy production industry in the Carolinas. He was appointed by then Governor Nikki Haley as the industry representative on the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council which oversees issues of interest to the State of South Carolina. Jim holds degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Rhode Island and in nuclear engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. period of time and accept a work culture which manages risk through a formalized process of advancement through training programs and time-in-grade performance. To a Boomer, a resume filled with many short-term assignments and no long-term corporate employment was seen as a negative. Millennials, on the other hand, tend to value quality of life, independence, learning by doing, variety, change, workplace harmony, technology, and value over brand. Far more than their “analog” Boomer colleagues, Millennials actively seek out and readily employ digital technological solutions to productivity challenges, especially when the task at hand is tedious, complex, and involves sifting through mountains of data and information. Millennials value speed in obtaining results over working hard and are far more motivated by autonomy, a sense of purpose, and the opportunity to master tasks in a hands-on, “practice- makes-perfect”, trial and error tolerant environment which can definitely be at odds with the nuclear compliance-based culture. They are far more likely to move on to other employment avenues if their needs for advancement opportunities become too time consuming or limited. A resume with many, varied assignments or employers, but with a trend of increasing responsibility and achievement, is seen as a positive sign of ambition. To some Baby Boomers in the nuclear industry, Millennials are seen as unwilling to work hard, self-centered, impatient and not very loyal. Mind the Gaps: The Answers Aren’t So Simple At first glance, it would seem that the obvious answer is to employ the newer generation and either indoctrinate them in the nuclear industry culture or somehow accommodate their cultural needs with some changes. But the answer isn’t simple at all and requires some integrative thinking that addresses the needs of industry and at the same time the needs of the future workforce without forcing a “half-answer” of compromises where both sides lose something. To consider possible solutions, it is important to first consider competing salient features of the challenges: population size, cost, practices and time. Few and Far Between The Millennial generation population is substantially small- er than the Boomer generation they are replacing and are generally not seeking the types of degrees or pursuing trade qualifications in the numbers needed to even partially replace retiring Boomers in the nuclear industry. They have substantially greater employ- ment opportunities in other more “glam- orous” and less economically challenged industries, and are entering a job market where demand is greater than supply and in which mobility is valued over remain- ing with an employer for an extended pe- riod of time. Cultural Divides Relying upon Millennials to remain long enough in the industry using the traditional training and advancement processes is quite risky. Their culture doesn’t meld well with the traditional approaches in the workforce with their need for mobility, technological solutions, speed, experiential learning, advancement opportunity, and autonomy. Furthermore, the perception of entering an industry which is retrenching and under considerable financial and organizational stress would not necessarily create a positive picture of future growth opportunities for this new generation of employees. Time Is Not OnYour Side Clearly the conventional approaches for train-and-replace will not work given the rates of loss, the lower supply of available talent and the socio-economic conditions and cultural differences. And while efforts have been made to “transfer knowledge” from the older generation of knowledge workers to younger worker through programs such as mentoring, training, and internships, these have not been effective in stemming the scale of loss of critical knowledge and expertise before it can be captured and retrieved. It is absolutely imperative that the industry begin immediately seeking and implementing innovative and effective solutions, looking outside of its traditional thinking approaches. Integrative Thinking Addressing complexity requires a new approach of integrative thinking. A good first step in this process is to