When Perficient senior project manager Morgan McNeal was assigned to collaborate with Xcel Energy to create a plan to revamp their arc flash safety electrical program, she had no idea what she was getting herself into. But, three years and a withstanding partnership with Xcel Energy engineer Eduardo Ramirez Bettoni later, she is now an expert in all things arc flash, and her fresh set of eyes on the program allowed her to know where true, meaningful change most needed to be implemented.
Morgan and Eduardo recently shared their experiences in building this new arc flash safety electrical program for Xcel Energy in our webinar, How Xcel Energy Built an Arc Flash Electrical Safety Program.
Here are some takeaways from the webinar:
- To thoroughly execute a large change across a company, a change management plan must be implemented. A change management plan requires looking forward, and it doesn’t necessarily have a precise start to finish; rather, it continuously evolves and consists of preparing the company for the change, managing the change as it unfolds, and reinforcing the change.
- Communication is the most integral part of any change management program. Morgan and Eduardo held town halls to announce and follow-up on changes, as well as sent a series of e-bulletins regarding changes implemented to ensure all were in the know.
- Effective training methods are essential to ensuring change withstands. Eduardo and Morgan developed various training materials catered to every type of worker, whether electrically qualified or not. They organized in-person training sessions for 2,000 people across three states and produced training videos. These materials were made easily available to employees.
- You must thoroughly understand your current state to know where you want to go. Gap analysis and a learn-as-you-go approach are integral – identifying the gaps through regulatory review and review of company policies and procedures allowed the team to know where to start when developing their implementation plan. It also helped make clear what other business units they needed to partner with to get the appropriate expertise.
Interested in learning more about how Morgan and Eduardo created an arc flash electrical safety program? Watch our on-demand webinar here.
