The Situation

NiSource has established a goal to be the premier provider of natural gas distribution services. To achieve this goal, they are undertaking a number of initiatives to “Modernize Operations,” including a commitment to strengthen and spread a culture that transforms and sustains industry-leading safety and operational performance through training and process improvement.

The operations workforce is the company’s most important asset, and while NiSource has a long history of investing in training and development, a new commitment is required to achieve their modernization strategies. The need to do this work now is magnified by changing demographics due to the expected wave of retirements, increasing and changing regulatory pressure, the increasing complexity of work due to new infrastructure and technology in the field, and the high consequence of human error.

Mosaic Offers a Solution

To address these challenges, NiSource partnered with Mosaic to create a “Culture of Learning” by developing an integrated training program that achieves, sustains and confirms mastery in field employees. This program enables the operations workforce to become fully competent more quickly and in a more complex environment. The new “Culture of Learning” includes the following elements of best-in-class field operations training:

• Consistent, effective and efficient training that shortens the time to competency for all field employees.
• Focused training that includes hands-on opportunities, context and end-to-end process knowledge.
• Sequenced, task-based training that provides just-in-time and just-enough content, supported by on-the-job training, performance support and feedback loops.
• An increased focus on required and structured refresher training and practice to ensure employees maintain the knowledge and skills needed over the course of their careers.
• A governance process that drives organizational alignment and prioritization, and measures return on investment.
• Strong and consistent communications from senior management supporting the initiative over the long term.