Diversity Journal | Tom King, President – National Grid U.S. - Nov/Dec 2010

20 Profiles in Diversit y Journal N O V e m b e r / D e C e m b e r 2 0 1 0

National Grid’s President in the U.S. Tom King views Inclusion & Diversity as a

business asset in driving innovation.

How does National Grid’s Inclusion & Diversity strategy contribute to shareholder value?

THE ability to attract and retain talent is critical in helping to main-tain a competitive business edge that will set us apart as an employer of choice. I am not just talking about hiring and promoting people – hav-ing an inclusive corporate culture means providing an opportunity for

people of diverse backgrounds to introduce new approaches and ideas. It means fostering an environment that is welcoming, where people can collaborate and come up with creative and innovative approaches to business challenges. In the energy sector, we critically need talented people who can think outside the box in order to find new energy solu-tions. Annually, National Grid pres-ents the Chairman’s Award in several categories. One of them focuses on Diversity. However, when you look at the cross section of the programs and teams nominated you can see

the power of diversity in action through the solutions developed by employees to make our workplace a safer, more inclusive, customer-focused and community-minded organization. Many of the projects can be monetized in terms of cost savings, enhanced safety protocols, branding and improved efficiency.

Meet Tom King

ceo + interview

President, National Grid U.S.

Company name: National Grid

Corporate headquarters: UK with U.S. Headquarters in Massachusetts

website: www.nationalgrid.com

primary business: International electricity and gas company.

2009/10 revenues: $22,101 million

employees: 28,000 (about 63% work in the U.S.)

Profiles in Diversit y Journal N O V e m b e r / D e C e m b e r 2 0 1 0 21

The energy industry is facing some major talent challenges in the next 10 years. How is National Grid addressing these workforce Diversity challenges?

THE industry as a whole is facing a major challenge because more than 60% of the workforce will be retire-ment eligible over the next ten years. At National Grid, we are facing simi-lar challenges. This is why we have made a commitment to assess our needs and create programs that will enable us to address those challenges.

In particular, the Inclusion & Diversity team has put in place part-nerships with professional develop-ment associations like the American Indians in Sciences and Engineering Society, Ascend (Asian Professionals Association), American Association of Blacks in Energy, the Asian MBAs and National Society of Hispanic MBAs, and others in order to edu-cate people about career opportu-nities in the energy utilities sector. While we provide an essential service to people on a daily basis we know we are not the industry that many people automatically think about, so we need to build brand awareness about the careers and opportunities in the utilities sector.

The other major factor impacting us is that other countries outside of the U.S. and U.K. are grow-ing talented engineers, researchers, environmentalists and scientists at a faster rate. So we have established internship programs to grow our talent base. We are also working to encourage young people to pursue careers through our Engineering Our Future program and partnering with some professional associations as well as non-profits to support math and science initiatives.

There are many talented people in the marketplace and we just have to

get more creative in attracting them to our industry. A big part of that is educating people about the kinds of opportunities and difference they can make as individuals. Ultimately, without a corporate culture that is inclusive and embedded in every-thing we do, from our business deci-sion processes to our community relations activities, we will not be able to retain the talent we attract.

What is your biggest concern about the future talent needed at National Grid?

THE biggest challenge we face is that there are not enough young peo-ple pursuing math, hard science and engineering studies. The gap is even more pronounced among women

and minorities. It’s an issue right now and one that will not only impact our company in the near future, but which is already impacting the entire energy sector and our country’s abil-ity to compete in the global business space. That’s why we are investing in programs and partnerships focused on workforce development.

By providing role models to young people through our volun-teer efforts and employee resource group outreach, supporting summer science camps, and awarding schol-arships and internships, we hope to encourage middle school, high school and college students to not only get excited about math and science careers, but also to stay in school and get their degrees.

“We believe that our objectives as a group must support and complement National Grid’s business objectives,” states Cindy Chiu, manager of the Staten Island,

NY, Customer Marketing Group and Asian Leadership Group chairperson. “Our mem-bers work within the company, developing their business skills and industry knowledge, and in the community, where they support local business skills and charitable and environmental initiatives.”

Formed in 2004, the group now includes 150 active members from many parts of Asia. Together, they hold internal speaker events to learn more about the company, sponsor smaller learning forums and network with similar organizations in companies including General Electric, Ernst & Young and IBM. In the community, members teach Junior Achievement classes, sponsor Earth Day celebrations and volunteer with the United Way.

Blending cultural understanding with learning about National Grid and energy conservation is something the group enjoys. “For the fourth consecutive summer, a National Grid team has participated in the annual New York Dragon Boat Festival and this year National Grid signed on as a boat sponsor,” explains Wen Wen, leader of the company’s Dragon Boat effort and a senior analyst in Energy Accounting.

During the two-day festival attended by more than 50,000 visitors, the first day is for race sponsors to share information about their organizations with the Asian community. This year, more than 1,000 attendees stopped at the National Grid exhibit booth.

Day two is reserved for the excitement of the Dragon Boat races. National Grid Dragon Storm participated in four different races – regular mixed 250 meters and 500 meters, the sponsor race and the corporate race – placing second in the preliminary round of the regular mixed 250 meters. In this competition class, there may be a maxi-mum of 12 rowers and one drummer in each boat.

“It was a great way to bond as National Grid employees and as members of the broader Asian community,” Wen said.

Asian Leadership Group Links Learning With Tradition

How would you assess National Grid’s progress in its diversity initiatives at this point?

WE’vE done well in some areas. The number of women in senior leadership roles, the extent and success of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), and our supplier diversity programs are three areas where I feel we are making progress at National Grid. I am particularly proud of our veteran, Asian and Pride (LGBT) employee resource groups who have done a great job of helping us connect with exter-nal events/programs to increase awareness about opportunities. Our Women in Networks group and Alliance of Black Professionals as well as NewNet ERGs have intro-duced mentoring and professional development programs internally.

But I don’t feel we are moving fast enough. In particular, we have not moved the needle much in increasing the number of people of color – both male and female – in our middle and senior ranks, and that continues to be an area of focus for our diversity initiatives. We have established a number of professional association partnerships, thanks to our ERGs, to try to tap new sources of talent. But from time-to-time, I have to remind myself that this is a journey and our goal is to make sure that we provide an opportunity for people to grow and develop across the board, whether it be through a promotion or a lateral opportunity into another line of business.

What are the unique challenges of addressing diversity in your organization?

THERE is a very strong global commitment in place to have a diverse and inclusive corporate culture. I&D


Tom King | National Grid

Created in 2007 by National Grid and Hudson Valley

Community College, the Overhead Electric Line Worker Certificate program is the first State University of New York-approved Overhead Electric Line Worker Certificate pro-gram designed to fill workforce needs, supporting National Grid’s Engineering Our Future initiative.

“The Hudson Valley Com-munity College Overhead Electric Line Worker Program provides exceptional training to the community with unique employment opportunities, while at the same time, helping National Grid and other utilities develop a well-educated future workforce through the Engi-neering Our Future initiative,” said Tom King, President of National Grid in the U.S.

The HVCC program consists of new and existing courses in the electrical Construction and Maintenance A.O.S. degree program. These include elec-tricity, technical math, electrical wiring and industry-specific electric power. The program is offered through the college’s School of Engineering and Industrial Technologies.

The college’s new Overhead Electric Line Worker Labora-tory in Williams Hall provides students with hands-on experi-ence. National Grid provided and installed a series of utility poles and transformers in the laboratory which are wired together to simulate an actual job site.

In the first two years of the program, 15 graduates have been hired directly into National Grid’s overhead line department and several other graduates have been hired into other parts of the company. The HVCC effort is part of National Grid’s “Engineering

Our Future” initiative to grow and develop talent by support-ing comprehensive learning programs.

Eight National Grid em-ployees helped create the Overhead Electric Line Worker Certificate program. They were recognized earlier this year with National Grid’s Chairman’s Awards, the company’s highest recognition for outstanding efforts and achievements.

“The program has been the model for similar training that is now being offered in community colleges throughout National Grid’s upstate New York market area,” King added.

Hudson Valley Community College Program Helps Build Tomorrow’s Workforce

A student gets hands-on experience working on utility poles and transformers in the Hudson Valley Community College laboratory. National Grid provided and installed a series of utility poles and transformers in the Hudson Valley Community College laboratory.

is a topic of business discussion that starts with our external board of direc-tors and our internal board. However, our global organization is made up of various smaller companies that have been brought together under one roof. So like other major companies coming out of a merger, we are work-ing through integrating some of our systems. In some cases, we are putting

in place new systems like a global exit interview process or a global talent management system.

National Grid has been strengthening its ability to work with minority- and women-owned businesses. How do you feel you are doing?

THIS is an area of real passion for me. There is a misconception


that using minority and women suppliers is not necessarily the most cost-effective solution. But the truth is that a diverse supply chain gives us more flexibility and allows us to build stronger relationships in the communities where we oper-ate. By working with minority- and women-owned businesses, we have an opportunity to have an eco-nomic impact that we wouldn’t be able to make somewhere else. Our global head of procurement and the supplier diversity director are both making a difference.

National Grid has been recognized for its diversity efforts by a number of organizations over the course of the last two years. What are you most proud of?

THE external recognition is a good sign that we are moving in the right direction, but I like to look at the bottom line. I tend to look at how we are doing on the Inclusion & Diversity factors of the Employee Opinion Survey. What impact are we having on the diversity scorecard measures related to recruiting, pro-motions and turnover?

The numbers tell me we have some work to do, which is why we created a vice President of Inclusion & Diversity position. We needed someone to help us build a foun-dation for increasing collaboration and challenge policies, practices and processes to help us to become an employer of choice.

Over the course of the last two years, I have seen cross-collaboration growing internally and externally thanks to the ERGs. For instance, our Pride employee resource group has formed an Energy Sector LGBT Roundtable that includes 12 energy sector utilities and com-

With more than 800 members, National Grid’s Women in Network resource group plays a key role in the professional development of the company’s women employ-

ees. Daria Liston, one of the group’s three Steering Committee members, talks about the group’s impact. “We have young women coming to us from high school and college, women professionals in non-traditional roles such as engineering and field work, and experienced women looking to further their careers. Each person needs something a bit different to help them succeed and that’s where we play a role.” Daria is National Grid’s regulatory manager for electrical operations.

Programs offered to members and non-members alike include an “Executive Event” featuring senior company executives providing insights into their parts of the organization. “Lunch-and-Learn” sessions, a newsletter and a new mentor matching program create an environment for women of all levels to improve their leadership skills. Women Empowered

Women Empowered (WE) is a cornerstone offering, now in its fifth year. Sharareh (Che-rie) Goldsmith, Manager of Information and Records Management, manages this program for the Women in Network employee resource group. “In the past five years, the Women Empowered Committee has presented nine WE programs consisting of six to seven ses-sions, each targeted to a specific topic,” she explains. The sessions, each with a capacity of 50 students, include networking, mentoring and emotional intelligence; communicating with confidence; conflict management; achieving work-life balance; change management; and managing teams.

Program materials are developed, facilitated and administered within the company. At the completion of each WE program, participants are surveyed for evaluation and feedback. Committee members review results and adjust session materials to reflect current business or developmental needs of the audience served.

Women Empowered is targeted at entry- and middle-level managers. So far, more than 420 women have graduated from the WE program.

“We are also beginning to offer mini-sessions that are open to all employees,” Goldsmith says. “These are aimed at single topics that can be covered in just an hour or two. We also work to equip participants with the knowledge they need to discover more information about each topic.”

Professional Development Key Focus of Women’s Resource Group

panies who share best practices on professional development, sup-plier diversity and other topics. Internally, the Alliance for Black Professionals has, for the second year in a row, secured the par-ticipation of more than 50 senior leaders who for one day are each focused on mentoring five to six people. Similarly, the NewNet ERG, which focuses on helping to onboard new employees, works with other ERGs to get the word out about their events. Employees with less than 10 weeks in the company work with those who

have more than 30 years, and par-ticipate in the learning sessions.

Looking ahead, what is your vision for National Grid’s diversity journey?

DURING a really bad winter storm, like the nor’easter that hit us in 2009 in New England, there were thousands of customers who lost power. It was an all hands on deck situation. Job titles didn’t matter, the line of business you were from didn’t matter, and seniority didn’t matter. What mattered was work-ing together to implement solutions that would help us get the power

back to our customers. We have a pretty amazing group of dedicated professionals. If I could capture that same level of passion and commit-ment in driving our diversity efforts forward we would be a pretty amaz-ing organization.

While we are moving in the right direction, I would like to see great-er progress and representation of women and people of color in the middle and senior levels.

The two major challenges our company is facing include the reten-tion of talent and the attraction of diverse talent interested in a career in the energy sector.

We are at a major crossroad in the energy industry as we focus our attention on supplying the world’s growing energy needs while protect-ing our fragile environment.

So we need people who have a diverse slate of talents, skills, knowl-edge, and thinking styles to help us address this challenge. My hope is that by having teams in place that reflect a wide breadth of diversity we will be able to develop new creative solutions to address our energy needs.

Developing the Workforce of the Future

National Grid is committed to focusing a significant portion of its community investment on building a qualified and successful engineering workforce. Through the company’s corporate giving programs, employee volunteerism and internal leader-ship and development activities, the utility has created a comprehensive program dedicated to targeting stu-dents of all ages and backgrounds to encourage them to study science, technology, engineering and math, collectively known as STEM.

“National Grid’s broad approach



National Grid’s Alliance of Black Professionals (ABP) is the company’s oldest Employee Re-source Group, tracing its beginnings to 1999. “Our key focus is to point out and provide pro-

fessional development opportunities for our members and other interested employees,” explains ABP chairman and Manager, Maps & Records, Michael Amadi.

Internal workshops around developmental topics help employees explore avenues to their professional growth. Monthly meetings feature speakers on corporate topics from electricity transmission to finance and provide networking opportunities throughout the company. “One of our most popular offerings is our Executive Connection Day held each November,” Amadi continues. Executives and employees register to spend time in conversation, sharing the details and impacts of their roles in the company. Another opportunity during the day is for employees to help execu-tives delve into specific business cases the executives are grappling with.

But that’s only half of ABP’s objectives. Renee McClure, Community Investment representative for National Grid and a member of the New York chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Engineering (AABE), works to coordinate the company’s efforts in corporate citizenship. “We strongly support Junior Achievement in the New York metropolitan area.” Working one day a week for eight weeks in elementary and middle school classrooms, company volunteers teach ‘economics for success.’ Class members are introduced to life skills subjects including budgeting, insurance and work life, while stressing the importance of education.

Partnering with AABE’s New York chapter and The Polytechnic Institute of New York Univer-sity (NYU-Poly), National Grid’s ABP also participates in a “summer energy academy” for middle school students from the surrounding areas. “We’re very grateful to NYU-Poly for this partner-ship,” McClure says. “It’s a great place to bring these students together for their full-day sessions over the six-week course.”

The academic exposure program shows how science and math are used to deliver energy locally, nationally and globally, and the impact of energy policies on technological growth. Both the ABP and AABE provide speakers for these classes so that students can meet and talk with people who work with math and science every day. As well, field trips, such as a trip to National Grid’s Gas Dispatch Operations, illustrates the complexity of getting gas-related services addressed, from installations to emergencies. “We’re a very active organization,” ABP chair Amadi states. “We really believe that National Grid’s sponsorship of our organization has had some profound positive effects on our employees and our community.”

Alliance of Black Professionals Highlights Development For National Grid Employees and Young Students Alike

to community involvement focuses on three themes – energy and the environment, education and skills, and community development,” Loretta Smith, National Grid U.S., Director of Citizenship, explains. “We have invested more than $3 million in many community-based projects, funding research centers to support new and exciting tech-nologies, and partnering with orga-nizations that provide programs to educate teachers as well as students in the STEM curriculum.”

To help fill skilled positions left by

retiring employees, National Grid is creating and investing in the future. That means helping to improve education, which is critical to devel-oping the future work force.

National Grid has a number of programs, including its signature ini-tiative, “Engineering Our Future,” to inspire, attract and develop aspiring young engineers, and the Bentley Project to tap MBA talent and give them hands-on corporate experi-ence. The company is also work-ing with community colleges in Buffalo, Syracuse and New York’s


Capital Region to train overhead line workers. The company’s Graduate Internship program gives young pro-fessionals real world experience.

National Grid has other programs designed to help students and teach-ers from elementary to college. Here are a few examples: Elementary through high school•Energy Explorer – a National

Grid interactive Web site with edu-cational materials for use in class-rooms that focus on building sci-ence, technology, engineering and math skills and aim to enhance energy efficiency awareness among teachers and students. •Boston Children’s Museum,

“Our Green Trail” – an energy-efficiency education program designed to teach children and their families how to mitigate the effects of climate change and take positive steps toward living environmental-minded lives. •Green Education Foundation

“Green Energy Challenge” – more than 30,000 students from 70 schools in National Grid’s service area will conduct energy audits around their schools and homes to locate and correct energy leaks in an effort to reduce energy costs by five percent by Earth Day, April 22, 2011. •NYU-Poly – as a “PolyPartner”

National Grid provides mentoring and educational opportunities for talented middle and high school students in science, engineering and mathematics beyond those regularly available in courses and laboratories at students’ schools. •University of Buffalo – National

Grid is expanding the university’s award-winning BEAM (Buffalo-area Engineering Awareness for Minorities) program with a new, five-year program aimed at introducing

Did you know that every 26 seconds a student

drops out of school in the U.S.? And every year, up to 25,000 children in the UK drop out of school at the age of 14?

Research has shown that high school dropouts are three times more likely than college graduates to be unemployed and are eight times more likely to be in jail or prison than high school graduates. The more than 12 million students projected to drop out over the next decade will cost the nation $3 trillion.

To address the startling drop out rate statistic, Na-tional Grid donated $750,000 to City Year’s Whole School, Whole Child program, which is specifically designed to close the achievement gap and build the graduation pipeline. And the program became National Grid’s first global community initiative when National Grid helped City Year get off the ground in the UK in September.

“While National Grid has been a City Year partner for about 10 years, we have increased our involvement to become the Northeast regional sponsor of Whole School, Whole Child, which is specifically designed to help keep students in school and on track to graduate,” explains Loretta Smith, National Grid U.S. Director of Corporate Citizenship. “We are excited to work with City Year, a global organiza-tion, to keep as many kids in school as possible.”

“City Year is about the power of young people to address one of our na-tion’s biggest problems, the high school dropout crisis, through full-time service as tutors, mentors and role models to children,” said City Year CEO and Co-Founder Michael Brown. “We are honored to have National Grid as a partner, and grateful that they are helping us power our effort to keep students on track to graduation and life success.”

City Year is a national organization that engages young people of all back-grounds who pledge to serve full-time as “corps members” for a year to serve children in communi-ties across 19 states. During their tenure with City Year, corps members provide 1,700 hours of service to improve student attendance, behavior and coursework.

“As the northeast regional sponsor of this important program, we will be cover-ing funding for the Whole School, Whole Child pro-gram in our service areas of

Massachusetts, New Hamp-shire, Rhode Island and New York,” Smith added.

City Year’s Whole School, Whole Child program focus-es on positive interventions for underserved students and addresses three key in-dicators for students most at risk for dropping out – poor attendance, unsatisfactory behavior and course failure in Math and English.

As a result of National Grid’s donation, the com-pany will help provide:

• Financial resources to sponsor more than 200 corps members in New England and New York who help improve attendance, behavior and course per-formance at the elementary and secondary levels;

• Numerous volunteer op-portunities for National Grid employees, where they can engage in the communities served by National Grid and work with City Year corps members to improve educa-tion; and

• Sponsorships for sev-eral special events focused on community service.

Making a Difference: City Year

Tom King (second from left) receives his own distinc-tive City Year jacket at the Boston check presentation ceremony with City Year corps members from Massachu-settes, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New York.



Buffalo Public School students in grades 6-12 to careers in biomedical and green energy industries. •Hofstra University summer

science green research project – a six-week workshop designed to focus high school students on envi-ronmental issues and awareness.Colleges and universities

National Grid is actively work-ing with a number of colleges and universities around its service area to invest in engineers and sup-port the company’s development and recruitment efforts. Examples include: •Clarkson university – the

“National Grid Student Research Opportunities in Sustainable Energy,” an endowed program to support engineering education and research opportunities for up to five summers for Clarkson Honors Program students studying sustain-able energy. •tufts university – in partner-

ship with the Boston Architectural College, students researched, designed and built a solar-powered house to compete in “Curio House,” the Solar Decathlon contest for the U.S. Department of Energy and National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s biannual international solar energy competition. •City College of new york

Grove school of engineering – the “Success in Undergraduate Engineering (SUE)” program pro-vides scholarships for National Grid SUE Scholars and introduces girls beginning in the 6th grade to engineering through workshops and mentoring opportunities with female engineers.

“This is just another way we sup-port the local communities that we operate in, removing barriers to

Graduate students get the opportunity to tackle real projects that provide hands on experiences. Left to right: Meghan Haigh (University of Michigan - Tauber Team intern) Jitesh Bhatia (Bentley University intern) Pooja Mathur (Bentley University intern) Chelsea Snodgrass (University of Michigan - Tauber Team intern) Malik Angalakudati (National Grid Acting VP) Emily Dwinnells (University of Michigan - Tauber Team intern).

achievement and shaping our future workforce,” Smith added.

Tapping Top MBA Talent Benefits Everyone

“This experience revitalizes our organization and allows us to tap the latest business thinking and new technologies,” explains Mallik Angalakudati, National Grid’s Acting vice President for Distribution Support in the U.S. Gas Distribution business. He’s speaking excitedly of the work-learning partnerships he has brokered with three universities since 2007.

“In 2007 we were working to complete several major projects for our Gas business,” he continues, “but we were just building the ana-lytics function and did not have the resources to get all of the projects done.” At the same time, Executive vice President and Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Gas Distribution, Nick Stavropoulos, told Angalakudati about a program underway at Bentley University’s McCallum Graduate School of Business in Waltham, Massachusetts. The pro-

gram provides an opportunity for graduate business students to work on corporate projects and get real- world business experience. Through conversations with the school, the first team established was made up of six students who worked part-time for three months standardizing damage prevention processes. The team received class credit and first-hand experience.

Today, National Grid works with two additional schools, the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and New York University’s Stern School of Business. In 2011, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management will become the fourth school to partner with National Grid. Almost 40 students will be working on eight projects. “We work closely with University administrators and faculty to select student teams that are diverse across disciplines and cultures,” Angalakudati adds. Since the program’s beginnings, student teams have worked throughout the company, widening their impact beyond National Grid’s U.S. Gas


Membership in National Grid’s newest Employ-

ee Resource Group – mili-tary veterans – has already grown past 100. “And that’s without any advertising!” says Tim Horan, executive sponsor of the group. Horan, a retired U.S. Army colonel, is senior vice president of National Grid’s Safety, Health and Environmental Services group. “I’m also proud to say that number includes 16 women military veterans.” The veteran’s group was formalized in January of this year.Development and community focus

Its charter calls for two main focus areas: to provide an essential resource for employees who are military veterans and to actively plan and participate in community events honoring veterans. “One of our committees is now working up a formal learning and development plan for our members,” explains Peter Allen, group vice chair and Senior Analyst/Investiga-tor with the Revenue Assurance Department. Veterans don’t usually talk about their service and what skills they learned while in the military. “We want to help them use the leadership skills and share the “get it done” attitude that veterans have,” Allen continues.

While much of their efforts have been concentrated on creating a framework for develop-ment, the veterans have not ignored the community. “We have had a very busy first eight months,” explains West Point graduate Ross Turrini, the group’s second co-chair and Vice President of Global Procurement. A way to say ‘thank you’

Ross explains that they have teamed with several outside organizations to honor and re-member veterans. “Peter (Allen) got the ball rolling by piloting programs at the Syracuse, NY Veterans Administration Hospital.” Allen circulated several three-by-five-foot posters through-out operations in his area. Signed by Tom King, President of National Grid USA, the posters also included personal messages from most who signed them. They were then presented to the hospital for posting in common areas, where they would have the most visibility.

Allen also worked with a national organization, Thank a Service Member, to create a custom “challenge coin” for National Grid to give to veterans and the families of recently-deployed veterans. “We are looking at how we might expand this into other National Grid communities,” Allen said.

Thank a Service Member was originally founded in 2006 as a grass roots initiative de-signed to educate the public and to support and show appreciation to the men and women who have served our country. The response was overwhelming, and in 2010 Thank a Service Member was incorporated as a not-for-profit and its programs were expanded.

Their Military Appreciation Campaign focuses on conducting appreciation and com-memoration events throughout the year at VA Hospitals, elderly and long-term care facilities, welcome home events and other select venues. In order to create a lasting reminder and a token of appreciation the organization has developed the “TASM Coin,” which is intended to serve as a source of pride and remembrance.

“We want our efforts to be a win-win process for our members, our company and our community,” Tim Horan summed up. “And we’re well on our way.”

Veterans Group Starts With Active First Year

Peter Allen (standing) presents the oversized posters to Syracuse, NY Veterans Administration Hospital patients at a ceremony in August. The posters were placed in high-traffic areas where the most patients would see them.

Distribution line of business.Benefits of the partnership are

deep and have resulted in a win-win opportunity for everyone involved. “The students learn what it is like to work within a major organization, facing the pressures and challeng-es of everyday worklife,” explains Stavropoulos, the program’s execu-tive sponsor. “Also, the employees who work with the students not only take an active role in their development but also have a chance to experience working with a wide variety of students who bring differ-ent perspectives.”

“National Grid is an outstand-ing partner for Bentley University, and this partnership is at its stron-gest in field-based learning,” offered Dr. Heikki Topi, Associate Dean of Business, Graduate and Executive Programs at Bentley University.

“Bentley’s projects with National Grid have all been excellent learn-ing opportunities for our MBA stu-dents; the projects are always cho-sen carefully, managed with utmost care, and they provide the students with opportunities to make a real difference. Mallik’s leadership is one of the key elements in the projects’ success, together with the strong commitment by National Grid’s entire top management team and the dedicated work of Bentley’s fac-ulty and students.”

Beyond exposure to new insights and technologies, National Grid benefits from this partnership in other ways. “We have an opportu-nity to work with some of the best and brightest people in the coun-try,” Angalakudati explains. “This gives us the ability to identify top potential MBA talent for possible recruitment in the future. It’s also a lot of fun!” PDJ


spotlight

The combination of an aging workforce and a loss of

appeal for engineering jobs by young people is creating concern for a lack of engineers to fill criti-cal jobs in the near future.

“We depend on engineers to design and build our systems to deliver energy to our customers safely and reliably,” National Grid President Tom King said. “We must act now to create a corps of smart, dedicated and highly trained engineers to develop innova-tive technologies and renewable energy solutions to meet the ever changing needs of our customers.”

“Engineering Our Future,” or EOF as it is known, has three goals: to INSPIRE, ATTRACT and DEVELOP future engineers.Phase 1: INSPIRE

The process of building a strong engineering corps starts with inspiring youth to be inter-ested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). EOF aims to accomplish this by applying a multi-level approach to reach students at all levels of the educational system, reaching out to students both in conventional and unconventional ways, funding research centers to support new and exciting technologies and partnering with organizations that provide programs to educate teachers as well as students.Phase 2: ATTRACT

National Grid wants engineer-ing graduates to see National Grid as a great place to work.

The centerpiece of EOF is a new program called the “Engineering Pipeline Program.” The Pipeline

program is a six-year development program that creates a recruitment pathway, beginning after the junior year in high school, for promising students across National Grid’s service area in New York and New England who want to become engineers. Each year, 60 high school juniors who have strong grades and an interest in study-ing engineering in college will be accepted into the Pipeline. If they study engineering in college, keep their grades up, and participate in ongoing Pipeline program activi-ties – including a paid internship at National Grid, as well as educa-tion, job shadowing and mentoring activities – they will be fast-tracked for full-time employment at National Grid upon graduation.

The inaugural class of Engi-neering Pipeline Scholars took an important first step toward becom-ing the engineers of tomorrow with the launch of the “Engineer-ing Pipeline Program” this August. The first class of more than 50 promising high school students got their first taste of working in the energy industry through the Intro to Engineering Academies that took place at National Grid Learning Centers across New York and New England.

“Increasing the engineering workforce is an imperative not only for National Grid but for our entire industry,” says National Grid Director of U.S. Citizenship Loretta Smith. “The inaugural class of Engineering Pipeline Scholars has excelled academically, with diverse interests and experience, and we look forward to work-

ing with these students to help develop our industry’s creative problem solvers of the future.”

Students learn through classroom instruction, site visits, research and projects. The cur-riculum, put together by National Grid’s Learning & Development group, includes classroom and hands-on activities on topics such as: introduction to the energy in-dustry, engineering safety, natural gas operations, electric power systems and future technologies, including smart grids.

Recently students worked in a plastic fusion lab, a common method in the natural gas industry for joining plastic pipes or fittings. “We were all very impressed by the quality, professionalism and moti-vation of the Scholars selected into the Pipeline,” says Brian Varga, National Grid Director of U.S. Tech-nical Learning & Development. “They were extremely excited to participate in the Academies, and we were equally excited to play an active role in inspiring and develop-ing engineers of the future.”Phase 3: DEVELOP

Once engineers are working at National Grid, the company wants

to grow and develop their talents with comprehensive learning programs. National Grid’s formal internal engineering development program includes the Engineering Graduate Development program designed to accelerate the time to competency for new hires, custom-ized technical training programs, on the job training and mentoring, annual expert training, customized Personal Development Plans, en-gineering training courses for new technologies, engineering rotation programs designed to enhance competencies and online engineer-ing degree programs.

National Grid works with the community colleges in its service area, including the Hudson Valley Community College, to facilitate a certificate program for overhead line workers with hands-on techni-cal training.

“When National Grid thinks about the future, we think of innovation, especially in the area of energy conservation,” King added. “We are committed to playing a major role in the transi-tion to a low carbon economy. We cannot make that transition without engineers.”

Engineering Our FutureNational Grid’s signature program, “Engineering Our Future,” is designed to inspire youth and attract and develop engineers in an effort to take action to address the impending critical shortage of utility engineers.

Students participate in National Grid’s “Engineering Pipeline Program” plastic fusion lab, a common method in the natural gas industry for joining plastic pipes or fittings. On the left Amanda Low (of Marine Park), a Brooklyn Technical High School student, works with National Grid Instructor John Mead.

Documents

Diversity Journal | Tom King, President – National Grid U.S. - Nov/Dec 2010