In its 130 plus years, the Holland Board of Public Works has grown our services to match the Holland area’s growth. As our services continue to grow, so does our workforce. By bringing together individuals with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, our workforce is better equipped to innovate and meet the evolving needs of our community.
Our community’s expanded services required eight new positions at Holland BPW this year alone, five of which directly supported the fiber optic initiative for the City of Holland. Expanding our fiber team has allowed us to deploy expanded access to the modern-day utility, fiber internet.
A Rich History
As a utility, we have a rich history of employee service with a growing list of employees who spend much or all of their careers at Holland BPW. In fact, this year Holland BPW honored 11 retirees who held a combined 290 years of service. Individually, these employees ranged from 11 to 39 years of service in their careers and five of these retirees served for over 30 years at Holland BPW.
We are proud to carry a tradition of long careers in service to our community. As older generations retire, our needs turn to the next generations of utility service workers. These retirements spur us on to find excellent candidates to take up our retirees’ mantles. In the last year Holland BPW hired a recent record of 31 employees, mainly to fill newly created positions or to fill positions vacated by retirees.
Employer of Choice
Holland BPW has made great strides in creating and sustaining an excellent workplace culture. More than a decade ago, we began to be more intentional in our actions and decisions to create and promote workplace culture. As a strategic priority, Holland BPW continues to adapt to further the goal of being an employer of choice. We do this by connecting with the current and future workforce to:
- Understand what the ideal vision of work looks like to a cross-generational workforce.
- Implement programs and offer benefits that workers find desirable and are sustainable for the organization.
- Seek opportunities for improvement toward inclusive recruitment practices.
Apprenticeships
Whenever we post a position that has a potential apprenticeship track, we post both the apprenticeship and the full position, allowing flexibility to hire those with all the required skills or those looking to gain valuable skills and experience. This year we formalized the process and expected completion criteria for 9 positions across our electric, water and wastewater utilities. Apprenticeship programs help us with recruiting and training our workforce all while providing the highest caliber of essential services to our community.
Education
Attracting new talent and educating the public on the impact of utility careers is also a large part of recruiting future talent. Our Education and Visitor Programs Specialist continues to forge relationships with local schools and organizations to educate students through in-classroom experiences and field trips at our facilities.
Education, improved programs and continual conversations will allow us to strive toward a better workplace. The solutions we uncover will allow us to hire and retain the best possible teams and continue providing the efficient, reliable services our customers depend on.