Candid Interview With Southern California Edison

Recently, I had a wonderful opportunity to interview Patricia Miller, Vice President of Human Resources at Southern California Edison. Ms. Miller was very candid in her responses and really did shed some light on keeping good talent, what motivates them and Gen Xers vs Baby Boomers. Hers is what Patricia Miller had to say.

Audrey: Do you feel your company has done a good job with acquiring and maintaining top talent? Why or Why not?

Patricia:  We have a done an excellent job of acquiring and retaining talent, but potentially for the wrong reasons.  Our company is a regulated business and has a long history of internal placements and hiring family members.  This has resulted in many employees wanting to work for and stay with Edison because it is viewed as a stable company with predictable hours and excellent pay and benefits.  Top talent is generally motivated by other factors such as challenging work, the ability to develop their skills and grow professionally, an entrepreneurial work environment and pay for performance.      

Audrey:  In general, what does your company do to keep “rising stars” (top talent)?

Patricia:  As part of our annual talent planning process, we identify those individuals who have a sustained track record of high performance and are deemed to be high potential (i.e. the ability to move multiple levels over a 3-5 year period).  These individuals are then targeted for developmental assignments.  Additionally, we have recently implemented a nine-month leadership development program focused on high potential employees.  The program is experiential, providing participants the opportunity to work on “action-learning” projects.  These projects are based on challenging issues the company is facing and the participants are given the opportunity to work on potential solutions to these problems.  Members of senior management are actively involved in the program and are assigned as mentors. At the end of the program, the participants make a presentation to the senior management team outlining their proposed solutions. 

Southern California Edison seems to have done its homework by not making some of the mistakes identified by (Martin and Schmidt, 2010). Instead of assuming rising stars are engaged SCE has taken steps to ensure engagement through mentoring and development programs as mentioned above. Additionally, instead of shielding rising stars, a mistake identified by (Martin and Schmidt, 2010), SCE has their rising stars work on real life challenges currently facing the company and support the stars on coming up with solutions. She also adds that they take these stars beyond their comfort zone.

 As Ms. Miller talks about what motivates these rising stars I believe the stars show signs of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (Ryan and Deci, 2000). These stars seem to be motivated by the opportunity to come up with solutions for these company challenges. I believe they are doing this activity for its inherent satisfaction (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Also, being motivated to be successful in this program can lead to promotions and salary increases. This can represent an extrinsic motivation.

Audrey:  What do you believe motivates “rising stars” in your company?

Patricia:  As mentioned above, the opportunity for professional growth and development is key.  That is most effectively achieved through challenging roles where incumbents are given job assignments that stretch them beyond their comfort zone. 

Audrey:  In considering all employees, do you believe motivated employees have an impact on company performance? Why or Why not?  

Patricia:  I strongly believe this to be true.  It’s the difference between employees doing the minimum amount of work necessary to meet the job requirements vs. going above and beyond the normal demands of the job (i.e. discretionary effort).  Examples of discretionary effort are helping others with heavy workloads, volunteering for additional assignments or looking for ways to perform work more efficiently.    

Audrey:  How does your company keep employees motivated when there is a bad economy?

Patricia:  As part of a sound change management process, we have put significant effort into improving communications with our employees so that they understand the rationale for changes we are making.  Additionally, we are training our leaders to communicate more effectively since employees are more likely to believe what they hear when it comes from their immediate supervisor.

Audrey:  Do you think Generation X leaders have a different mindset than the Baby Boomer leaders in Corporate America? Can you reflect on the leadership mindset? Do you think they make good leaders?

Patricia:  Generally yes, mainly because of the philosophical differences in how work gets accomplished.  While Baby Boomer leaders place importance on “face time”, Gen X leaders are the first generation of leaders to grow up with technology and therefore are more comfortable with flexible work arrangements.  This flexible approach is also a function of them desiring greater work-life balance than their Boomer counterparts, as the research shows they “work to live” vs the Boomers who “live to work”. I don’t believe, however, that the differences in their work philosophies in and of themselves make Gen X good leaders; but, it certainly makes them more compatible with Generation Y, the fastest growing segment of the workforce they will lead, as Gen Y also values work-life balance.

After this interview with Ms. Miller, I believe Southern California Edison fulfills all four of the emotional drives that motivates employees ( Nohria, Groysberg & Lee, 2008). Acquire – fulfilled by identifying high potential employees and placing them in challenging programs; Bond – fulfilled by action-learning projects and collaborating with upper management; Comprehend – fulfilled by placing rising stars in positions that allow them to affect solutions for current challenges facing the company and Defend – fulfilled by trusting and challenging these potential leaders and allowing them to step outside their comfort-zone to come up with solutions while rewarding them with fast-track opportunities (Nohria, Groysberg & Lee, 2008). Southern California Edison seems to be doing a great job with motivating employees.

References

Nohria, N., Groysberg, B., and Lee, L. (2008) Employee Motivation: A Powerful

    New Model, Harvard Business Review, pp. 1-7 (full article)

Ryan, R., and Deci, E. (2000), Intrisic and Extrinsic Motivations:  Classic

Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, No. 25,

    pp. 54-67.

Martin, J., and Schmidt, C. (2010). How to Keep Your Top Talent. Harvard

   Business Review, pp. 3-9.