OPG turns on to new ways of managing employees and

resources

Nazanin Maghsoud Noora Ahmadpour

Ontario Hydro was divided into:

Hydro one The Independent Market Operator The Electrical Safety Authority Ontario Power Generation (OPG)

OPG

one of the largest electricity generators in North America. producing more than 120 terawatt hours of electricity

annually. resulting in revenues of more than $6 billion. In currently has

11,500 employees. switching from being a bureaucratic behemoth to a lean,

modern corporate competitor.

Infrastructure and outsourcing

“what is happening is similar to what occurred in the telecom industry,”

“We anticipate that the same will be required for the electricity industry.

We need to be innovative, streamlined, and able to respond rapidly to change.”

HR functionsManaging the reduced generating

infrastructureOpportunities for outsourcing

3 major areas that need change

Reducing the staff

1,200 people would leave the company voluntarily through a staggered process.

The other 800 would leave the company within the next two years.

The new contract:

Allows for time-based reductions over a 2 year period.

gives time to review the work, wrap up jobs that are drying up without losing essential staff before they are finished.

allows them to better manage the transition and would help them transfer skill sets and knowledge in the process.

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The biggest change in the company was its approach to HR.

The shift is toward automating a lot of the HR functions & adopting the self-service model of HR.

With this change, employees have access to more information and personal control of their own information.

HR

instituting a common IT platform and web-based applications to make employees self service and general HR management more efficient.

All information associated with individuals, pension plans and benefits are web-enabled.

The greatest benefit that everyone in the firm gains from the new centralized web-based initiative is the access to information it offers.

OPG uses the web for all information required by employees across the province and sometimes they even use screensavers to get across key massages to employees, like safety issues.

Instituting a code of business conduct computer-based training program.

Words for the works

The training:

Highlights specific aspects of the code, such as:

conflict of interest diversity / harassment The importance of safeguarding confidential information Fair competition through the use of interactive ethical

scenarios

The benefits:

it offers a consistent message about the code; it automatically tracks when an employee completes the program so that a record is automatically made for each employee; employees can go through the training at their own pace and can bookmark sections so that they can complete the material at a time convenient to them; and employees can offer feedback immediately to the senior ethics advisor about any section of the program.

OPG has created an employee service centre that is the single point of contact for employees' pay- and HR-related questions.

Management uses Web-enabled systems to measure the response time to keep the effectiveness of this service in line with their goal of being responsive to employees.

Customer satisfaction was 90% in the first year, much higher than anyone expected it to be.