Podcast Episode:

Dean Seavers is the President of National Grid, US. Prior to leading the US portion of National Grid, Dean worked in leadership at companies such as Ford, GE, United Technologies and Tyco.

National Grid is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world – covering the UK and the Northeastern part of the US. They have 16,000 employees – about 10,000 that are customer facing and the other 6,000 or so that are in management roles spread out across three states. National Grid serves 20 million customers.

What are the workforce trends Dean is paying attention to?

The first trend is technology– we all need to be tech savvy. We can use technology to drive better efficiency and productivity through things like data analytics and automation. Dean says, “The reality is, I think, when you spend 80% of your time doing routine things, you don’t have the time to always focus on the things that truly add value for customers and employees”.

Dean is also paying attention to clean energy sources. National Grid is a big proponent of driving change in the way we consume energy. They are looking to solar, hydro and wind power to improve our impact on the environment.

Another trend Dean is paying attention to is self-driving vehicles and electric vehicles. He believes transportation needs to be cleaned up and there are a lot of great advances coming that can help do that.

Dean’s advice for leaders is to listen and understand employee base. It really is important to understand the pulse of the organization. You have to be transparent and drive alignment to values and lean into the challenges and make tough choices.

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

● How energy is evolving
● What it’s like to work at National Grid
● Workforce trends Dean is paying attention to
● How National Grid is using automation, bots, and people analytics to stay ahead
● Why Dean is now a believer in self-driving vehicles
● How the way we consume energy will change in the next 5-10 years
● How Dean is future proofing National Grid as the energy industry rapidly changes

Link from the episode:

Dean Seavers on National Grid