Electricity Human Resources Canada Honors Mike Allen of Ontario Power Generation, at its 5th Annual Awards of Excellence Event

Event unveils preliminary findings from EHRC’s Labour Market
Information (LMI) Study for the Canadian Electricity Industry followed
by an engaging discussion with industry

OTTAWA, Ontario–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electricity
Human Resources Canada (EHRC), Canada's leading source for human
resources research and tools for the electricity and renewable energy
industry, yesterday held its 5th Annual Award of
Excellence luncheon in downtown Toronto. The event featured Mike Allen,
Ontario Power Generation’s Senior Vice President, Nuclear Refurbishment,
who was recognized for winning EHRC’s 2017 Leader of the Year Award, for
his outstanding contribution within the Canadian Electricity industry.

The Leader of the Year award was established by EHRC in 2013 to
recognize and celebrate an individual who has made an outstanding
contribution to their organization within the Canadian electricity
industry through visionary people management strategies and leadership.
This year’s event sponsors included: The Independent
Electricity System Operator (IESO), The Alberta
Electric System Operator (AESO), Alectra, Ontario
Power Generation, Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE), Power
Workers Union, Hydro Ottawa, The Canadian Union of Skilled
Workers (CUSA), The Society of Energy Professionals and media
partner, Kerrwil Publications.

“We are delighted to recognize Mike Allen as this year’s recipient. As
the leader of a critical initiative, OPG’s Darlington Refurbishment, he
understands and demonstrates how important people are to the outcome of
a successful project,” said Jim Kellett, Board Chair, EHRC. “As an
inspirational leader, Mike personifies many of our key objectives for
this award such as passion, employee development, communications with
staff, and motivation.”

Additional 2017 award recipients include:

• Sara Rasouli, Ontario Power Generation – Emerging Leader of the
  Year Award
• Cambrian College, Innovation in HR Practices Educational/Training
  Institution Award
• Alberta Electric Systems Operator, Innovation in HR Practices
  Employer Award
• Ontario Power Generation, Workplace Diversity & Inclusion Champion
  Award

The event also featured a special presentation of preliminary findings
from EHRC’s 2017 – 2022 Labour Market Information (LMI) Study for
the Canadian Electricity industry, followed by a panel discussion from
employers, education and labour representatives. This body of research
aims to provide practical insights to guide the industry’s human
resources management and planning, including the most up to date issues
and statistics that impact the sector, along with subsequent
implications on the skilled labour supply-demand gap. Employers,
contractors and educators can still participate in the study by
completing EHRC’s LMI survey by March 31, 2018. Further details on how
to participate can be found on the EHRC
website.

Highlights from EHRC’s preliminary LMI findings
and panel discussion:

• Retirement rate in Electricity sector is higher than in others, along
  with the percentage of workforce that is over 45 years of age. This
  will lead to new challenges to replace the skillset of these older
  workers.
• With the emerging role of innovation and technology in the sector, an
  accelerated demand for cleaner energy, renewables and
  micro-generation, along with heightened cyber-security concerns, we
  are seeing a shift in skills’ requirements of the electricity
  workforce. Organizations will need to find innovative ways to engage,
  train and upskill for these emerging technologies, while integrating
  the newly-skilled workforce with existing workers and systems.
• New entrants are increasingly being called up on to possess work
  aptitude, design thinking and transferable “soft” skills that enable
  them to leverage technical or “hard’ skills to their fullest potential
  in the workplace.
• There is a clear need to develop effective outreach strategies to
  attract new entrants to the sector in particular the younger
  generation – both to increase awareness of the potential opportunities
  that innovation brings to the sector and mitigate competition with
  other industries who will also face increasing supply challenges.

About Electricity Human Resources Canada

Electricity
Resources Canada (EHRC) is Canada's most trusted source of objective
human resources information and HR tools to help the Canadian
electricity industry match workforce supply and demand. EHRC works with
industry to strengthen the ability of the Canadian electricity industry
to meet current and future needs for a highly skilled, safety-focused,
diverse and productive workforce. For more information, visit www.ElectricityHR.ca.

Contacts

Electricity Human Resources Canada
Michelle Branigan, CEO
(613)
878-8171
[email protected]