Commission reviews staffing, customer‑service and safety metrics

Glendale Water and Power support services told the commission January 22 that recruitment remains a national challenge, customer‑service response improved in 2024 and safety incidents and lost days dropped materially year over year.

Why it matters: staffing affects the utility’s ability to perform valve exercises, plan checks, outage response and other core services; customer‑service performance shapes public experience during outages and billing cycles.

Steve Nersesian, assistant general manager for support services, summarized personnel and customer‑service KPIs. He said the utility filled a number of vacancies but continues to compete in a tight labor market; the division ran 77 recruitments in 2024 with 33 separations. Nersesian said the utility is using succession planning, outside recruiters and outreach to expand the candidate pool.

Customer service: the utility handled about 80,000 phone calls that were answered in 2024 (out of ~87,900 calls received) and substantially increased web‑contact responses within 24 hours versus 2023. Nersesian said a new, city‑wide phone system with callbacks and language support is in progress.

Safety: Nersesian said safety is a proactive priority: “safety is not something you do reactive. It's proactive.” He reported a decline in incidents (from 18 in 2023 to 14 in 2024), a fall in lost days (from 1,059 to 310) and lower associated costs. Commissioners asked staff to return with hiring‑time metrics and to track any delays attributable to centralized city HR so the utility can identify process bottlenecks.

Ending: Staff agreed to add recruitment‑cycle metrics (days-to-fill, open positions count), provide a callback and IVR update for the commission and return with a plan showing how customer‑service contacts could be reduced through outreach or self‑service.