UTILITIES SURVEYS CASE STUDIES
Employee Strategic Plan Survey
Aether’s client wanted to update its strategic plan and Aether suggested that company-wide employee input could both enrich the plan as well as maximize employee engagement as the plan was implemented. At the front end of the project, Aether worked with the client to develop the survey content to elicit feedback from employees. Using a web-based platform, Aether prepared and fielded the survey, collected the raw data, and summarized participation rates and results.
The survey addressed a variety of strategic issues. Employees were asked what customers valued, how customers’ interests have changed, and what areas of focus should be included in the next strategic plan. Employees also provided input regarding internal and external opportunities and challenges facing the utility and its customers. The survey structure included employee demographics: work unit, length of employment, and type of customers served. Aether provided statistical analysis as well as graphs and summary tables for the client to review.
Enterprise Risk Survey
Aether’s client wanted to update its enterprise risk inventory, rank risk issues, and prepare mitigation plans. In order to maximize the use of utility’s leadership team's time, Aether developed a pre-workshop survey instrument to gather new information about the most pressing risk exposures. This exercise provided an opportunity to thoughtfully re-visit risks from the prior workshop that remained relevant, include new emerging risks, and consider ‘retiring’ outdated risk exposures.
The survey asked participants to rank risks over two time horizons. Within these time-frames, the participants were asked to consider: the risk impact to the utility, the likelihood of the risk occurring, the speed of onset of the risk, and how well prepared the organization was to address the risks. Using the survey data (in the form of graphs and bar charts), the leadership team was able to efficiently review the updated information to assign risk owners, develop risk mitigation opportunities, and plan next steps.