Successions Planning Using SAMS

The baby boomer generation has reached retirement age and it is expected that millions of individuals will be leaving the working force over the next decade. The ‘boomers’ are defined as post-world War II individuals born between 1946-1964 and are now leaving jobs in waves. Without proper succession planning, institutional knowledge and experience can be lost, leaving a huge gap for the Gen Xers (those born between 1965-1980) to bridge.

Succession planning is critical component in the business life-cycle representing a widely accepted industry practice. Insufficient succession planning can pose substantial risks for utilities and cities who supply drinking and wastewater services across the nation. Gaps in regulatory experience is an additional aspect posing significant compliance risks. For example; missed regulatory monitoring for a single month or quarter could result in risk to public health, public notification, and even fines and penalties for a utility.

Bridging the gap before an individual retires should include mentorships, coaching, and on-boarding sessions to train and qualify employees who will be taking over. Unfortunately, tight budgets seldom allow this luxury, and “succession planning” is often little more than the retiree preparing a written document of “what they do” in the weeks prior to retirement.  A lot of institutional wisdom and knowledge likely falls between the cracks when experienced employees leave.

SAMS is an impactful tool for regulatory compliance and monitoring that can help bridge the succession planning gap. Gen-X and millennials have grown up with technology and embrace cell phones and computers to manage their daily lives. The reliance of the next generations on software to help in their daily work lives offers an important compliance solution for the water and wastewater industry. Software integrates technology to help deliver compliance of national and regional regulations required by all utilities.

Implementing SAMS before a compliance manager retires or leaves is an excellent way to capture and store all details regarding a utility’s monitoring program. Details about sample sites, including documents once stored in file folders can be saved in SAMS. SAMS projects and schedules provide sampling guidance to staff, to include E-mails alerts as key sampling dates approach. Reams of data once stored in legacy systems or spreadsheets can be uploaded into SAMS providing a repository for historical and all future data. Finally, regulatory reports can be designed to run automatically for staff and may include electronic data deliverables for uploading to states.  

Succession planning is important for any business, and it’s more vital now than ever for water utilities. Senior utility management can rest assured that regulatory compliance will continue without disruption if SAMS is part of their succession planning strategy.  

Let NJBSoft show you how SAMS software can simplify your regulatory monitoring programs. Give NJBSoft a call at 602-759-1905 to discuss how we can help to streamline your regulatory compliance programs.

NJBSoft’s vision is to “Provide global software solutions while incorporating local requirements for Utility Compliance and Data Management.”