COVID really threw a wrench into our traditional training methods. How are you folks handling remote onboarding for new auditors? Screen sharing helps with software training, but explaining complex Consumers Energy tariff interactions is much harder without being able to point at physical documents and walk through calculations side by side.
Remote training challenges during COVID
Tina, we invested in digital tablets for all our auditors. Being able to annotate PDFs in real-time during video calls has been a game-changer. MLGW's rate schedules are complex enough that visual markup is essential. Also started recording training sessions so new hires can review them multiple times.
We've had good success with virtual whiteboards for collaborative problem-solving. When training someone on Dominion Energy's demand ratchet calculations, being able to work through the math together on screen helps maintain that interactive element. Takes some getting used to but it works.
The biggest challenge we faced was building rapport and company culture remotely. Technical training can be done online, but mentoring junior auditors requires that personal connection. We started doing virtual coffee breaks and informal check-ins outside of formal training sessions. Oncor territory is spread out anyway, so remote work wasn't totally foreign to us.
Marcus J here from Columbia. We created virtual reality training modules for common audit scenarios. Sounds fancy but it's just 360-degree photos of different facility types with interactive hotspots. New hires can 'walk through' a manufacturing plant and identify potential energy efficiency opportunities. SCE&G customers love the high-tech approach.
We're still struggling with hands-on meter reading training. Hard to teach someone to identify CT ratios and demand registers through a computer screen. Dominion Energy has been cooperative about arranging socially-distanced site visits for essential training, but it's definitely slowed down our onboarding process.
Alice, we bought a collection of different meter types and created a mock meter room in our office. New hires come in individually for hands-on training while maintaining social distance. Not ideal but better than trying to explain CT calculations over Zoom. MLGW has been supportive of creative training solutions.
Great idea Randy! We're going to look into setting up a similar mock facility. The meter manufacturers have been surprisingly helpful - Landis+Gyr donated several retired meters for training purposes. Anything to maintain hands-on learning while keeping everyone safe.
One unexpected benefit of remote training has been increased participation from rural auditors. Before COVID, our Charleston office dominated training discussions because geographic proximity made attendance easier. Now everyone's on equal footing and we're getting more diverse perspectives on utility practices across the Carolinas.
The documentation has improved too. When everything's recorded and stored in the cloud, new hires can reference specific training segments months later. Before, if you missed something during in-person training, you were out of luck. Now our Oncor tariff explanations from last year are still helping new auditors today.
The client presentation skills training has been interesting to adapt. Hard to practice confident body language and room presence over Zoom, but it has forced us to focus more on clear verbal communication and visual aids. Honestly, some of our junior auditors are better at virtual presentations than they ever were in person.
Looking back, I think we'll keep many of these remote elements even post-COVID. The flexibility and documentation benefits are too valuable to abandon. Hybrid training - combining in-person mentoring with virtual resources - seems like the future of professional development in our industry.
Agreed Randy. We're planning a formal hybrid training program that incorporates the best of both worlds. Remote flexibility with in-person relationship building. COVID forced innovation that we probably wouldn't have pursued otherwise. Silver lining to a difficult couple of years.