Washington, D.C., Oct. 16, 2012 -- The National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) announced the winners of the NAWC Management Innovation Awards at its 2012 Water Summit. California Water Service Company (Cal Water) was awarded First Prize for its Emergency Notification Application, and Second Prize was given to United Water for its Human Resources Employee Service Center.
“The 2012 Management Innovation Awards entries were as diverse as they were dynamic,” said Michael Deane, executive director of the NAWC. “Today’s innovations are tomorrow’s standards, and the sharing of new approaches throughout our industry is central to the NAWC mission. We hope that the solutions put forth by this year’s entrants will benefit customers and communities across the country, whether they receive water service from a municipal utility, a private provider or a public-private partnership.”
For more than 35 years, the NAWC Management Innovation Awards have offered a unique opportunity for members of the NAWC to be recognized for groundbreaking advances in customer education programs, management plans, technological advancements and community support efforts, among other areas. More information about the 2012 winners appears below:
First Prize Winner: California Water Service Company
Emergency Notification (EN) Application
Like many service providers across the country, Cal Water relied on door hangers and mass media to notify customers of water quality and other emergencies. In an effort to improve efficiency and better track incident reporting, Cal Water worked with a consultant to create a custom Emergency Notification (EN) intranet application. The intuitive system connects the company’s Geographic Information System (GIS) with customer information and telephone numbers, giving emergency responders the ability to quickly and efficiently respond to incidents and notify customers quickly and effectively. With a few key strokes, an emergency responder can convene an incident response team, draw a notification area on a map to isolate affect customers, produce door hanger routes, send automated phone calls to customers, track notification campaign status and retain incident-related records.
Second Prize Winner: United Water
Human Resources Employee Service Center
United Water’s former Human Resources (HR) model was to provide a full spectrum of support at each business location. For an organization employing more than 2,300 people in over 140 sites across 25 states, the effort spent by HR professionals on transactional and administrative processes left little time for them to provide strategic support. Therefore, the company launched the Human Resources Employee Service Center (HRESC), a centralized self-service, portal-based system and a contact center where employees can satisfy many of their day-to-day HR needs, from checking pay statements and updating personal information, to enrolling in benefits and reviewing company policies. The HRESC has freed HR personnel and management teams to become more focused on operations, improving business performance and increasing focus on health and safety, employee reward and recognition and employee development. Since its launch, more than 90 percent of employees have accessed HRESC, with more than 80 percent of employee cases resolved on the same day – resulting in 97 percent employee satisfaction with the new system.
About the NAWC Water Summit
The NAWC Water Summit is hosted by the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) -- the voice of the private water industry and the organization exclusively representing this group of quality water service providers, innovation drivers, creative financiers and responsible partners.
Interested members of the media and policy officials can pre-register for the Summit by visiting nawc.org. Stay up-to-date with Twitter updates by searching #watersummit12, or follow NAWC on Twitter and Facebook.
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