2005 Annual Report - Employees

Employees

BC Hydro has three employee-related long-term goals:

• The Workplace goal is to be among the Top 10 Best Employers in Canada.
• The Teamwork goal is for all employees to work collaboratively on one team to the benefit of all stakeholders.
• The Safety goal is to provide the safest work environment compared with the best performers in any industry. None of our employees will experience a serious safety injury.

BC Hydro seeks to build both a skilled workforce that mirrors the diversity of B.C. and a culture that is performance-based and service oriented. Employing a teamwork model, we strive to ensure that all employees clearly understand how their work individually and as a team contributes to our business success.

In addition, we want to provide a safe, injury-free workplace and ensure safety for the public. This will be achieved through injury prevention and implementing the right procedures and policies. Our three employee-related goals are interdependent; as we work toward becoming a Top 10 Best Employer, we also need a working environment built on the solid foundation of teamwork and safety. With a focus on doing the basics well, this year our employee-related priorities included initiatives to:

• encourage employee commitment by setting clear expectations and providing meaningful feedback
• improve the delivery of benefits, pensions and general Human Resources services
• increase two-way employee communication in alignment with our purpose

Like other employers, BC Hydro has an aging workforce. We have developed sophisticated modelling tools to predict retirement uptake. This year 626 employees were eligible for retirement. Consistent with our history, about 24 per cent have actually left the company.

We have also identified those areas where we will have critical skills shortages. BC Hydro hires apprentices and trainees in advance of projected retirements so they will have completed their training and be ready for deployment in the workforce as employees retire. Since 2000/2001, we have hired 364 apprentices and trainees under our Strategic Workforce Planning initiative at a cost of $36.7 million. Over the next two years we will be hiring and training another 139 trainees at an estimated cost of $22 million.

Our Strategic Workforce Planning initiative is not expected to meet all of the vacancies in critical skill occupations. We will be supplementing these positions with market hiring. We will be continuing to enhance our recruitment and selection processes to make sure we get the best possible candidates. Our most significant initiative in this area will be the implementation of a computerized Candidate Management System. This system will help us identify and track the best qualified candidates available.

We will ingrain our performance culture with new tools and initiatives for all employees, including continuing to develop employee understanding of job expectations and strengthening the link between compensation and employee performance. We will help employees understand the company’s goals, how their own role fits into the whole organization and how as individuals they contribute to the team at BC Hydro. Ultimately, the initiatives being implemented will continue to develop best practices to move BC Hydro toward being a Top 10 Best Employer.

Employee Conduct Policy

BC Hydro’s Director and Employee Code of Conduct policy provides general guidance to all employees on standards of conduct, including guidelines on conflict of interest, as well as requirements associated with confidential information, entertainment and gifts, environment and safety, and use of BC Hydro property.