Steve Wilson posted on October 10, 2011 10:27
Back in June I wrote a post about perceptions of operators, boards, and customers based on work completed by the North Carolina Environmental Finance Center. They surveyed 300 operators in North Carolina on a number of topics. The post in June discussed how customers and town boards value or don't value their operators. Today, I wanted to highlight a little more from their report dealing with operator satisfaction.
Study Purpose
According to the report, one of the main reasons for completing the study was that so many small towns complain about their operators leaving. Turnover is high, and in this study they wanted to look at why. Here are some reasons they found:
- 32 left their last job for more money
- 32 left for more possibility of advancement
- 19 left for better benefits
- 12 retired
The other top 10 reasons given included plant closed/downsized; laid off; management/board issues; closer to home; career change; and better shifts. It's a common problem for small towns across the country that small town operators, move on to better paying jobs with benefits once they have the experience to be eligible for those jobs.
Common Problem
Last week I heard two different stories about operator retention that highlight the problems for small systems. A community of about 1000 hired a new operator to run their water and wastewater plants. He left 6 months later to take a meter reader position in a large community that paid more ($26/hr) and gave him the opportunity to get into operations after 2 years making ($30/hr). So he could not only make more, but he had a chance for advancement.
In the 2nd case, a trainer told the story of a large community that offers him free space to hold CEU classes for small town operators in the area. The community provides the space because they use the training events to recruit operators/workers for their system.
You Get What You Pay For
There is really one issue here, and that is how valuable is a safe, dependable water supply to your community. It all starts with your operator, who understands your system and has experience working with it. Without that person, the community can't sustain their water system. Small communities are fiercely independent and want to be left alone, but at the same time don't understand the costs required to stay that way.
What Can Be Done?
I don't believe there is a lot a small community can do to change this trend. The facts are simple: to retain an operator long term, they will need a competitive salary with benefits and a supportive work environment. Too many small communities don't value their water, so it follows that they don't understand the value of their operator. It is that understanding, by the community and its leaders, that will change things, nothing else.
That said, in our next post we will share some ideas for improving operator retention.