Re-energizing a Leading Light

Background

According to the consultants’ report, a “risk-averse culture” with a “reluctance to hold people accountable” had literally “frozen” Connecticut Light & Power into a performance that was “not cohesive, nor executed with precision.”

“The centralized staff governance and Connecticut Light & Power’s implementation of a process structure are barriers...to becoming a top-performing business accountable for customer and shareholder satisfaction,” the consultants rationed.

Solution

The Pacific Institute assisted Connecticut Light & Power in developing a new executive leadership team to eliminate the cultural barriers blocking cross-corporate solutions. The team started by solidifying what it meant to be part of Connecticut Light & Power by creating a mission, vision and values statement. “For the long-term best interest of the company and its customers, Connecticut Light & Power needs ...a shared vision and a sense of urgency,” the consultant report said. Using The Pacific Institute philosophy towards progression as the focus of organizational change, Connecticut Light & Power began transforming with a new organizational structure, the implementation of key result areas to focus the company’s strengths, communication and training on the new direction and a performance measurement system.

The Pacific Institute’s Imagine 21® program was tailored to give Connecticut Light & Power’s 2,300 employees a framework for personal change and create a launching pad for organizational collectivity.

With self-efficacy well established, The Pacific Institute assisted Connecticut Light & Power in creating a one-year corporate strategy. The strategy’s success at the leadership level in 2001 led to its expansion over the next two years to “give purpose and team identity to all employees,” President Lee Olivier said. “It has provided common language...and has given leadership a tool...to discuss the company’s direction, listen to the employees and to engage in constructive, robust dialogue.”

Outcome

In Lee Olivier’s drive to make Connecticut Light & Power the “best of the best,” the organization has exceeded and continues to exceed their corporate, employee and customer satisfaction goals:

• 7% Reduction in operation and maintenance costs
• 30% Reduction in lost time and accidents
• 40% Increase in project restoration accuracy
• 70% Reduction in interrupted service
• 400% Increase in completed maintenance tasks

Today Connecticut Light & Power is more agile, results-driven and forward-looking than ever before. “The mindset has changed. The people now see the visions of two years ago becoming a reality,” Olivier said. “They see accountability in action as results are soaring.”

The Pacific Institute “ignited a future perspective, and consequent positive energy, when it launched the Imagine 21® program to all employees and to all levels of supervision,” Olivier said. This “engaged the employees in self-discovery, practicing new learning, setting goals, and being accountable for the desired future.”