Diversity In Action

Philadelphia Gas Works supplies half a million customers

A wide range of employment opportunities is available. “Here at PGW, if you really want to do something, you can,” says a VP

A Philadelphia Gas Works group with organizational development VP Lorraine Webb at far left, staffing managers Racquel Kelly and Henry Dolberry at right.

“The company offers a wide range of employment opportunities and an excellent benefits package,” says Lorraine Webb, VP of organizational development.

“We’re a not-for-profit organization in a large metropolitan city with a 50 percent minority population,” Webb notes. “Our board of directors and management team are extremely aware of the need for diversity in the workplace.”

“PGW is primarily an engineering community, but the percentage of women engineers isn’t as high as we would like,” adds Henry Dolberry, manager of staffing. “To address that, we recruit at college and university job fairs, and recently we even attended a job fair on a battleship, the USS New Jersey. We cultivate the local schools, which are rich in the diversity we look for.”

The average PGW employee has seventeen years of service; many are in the twenty-five and thirty-five year range. The company is concerned about succession planning as well as maintaining diversity, and is working to seed the organization with strong entry and mid-level diverse candidates.

In 2006, PGW created a two-year executive leadership program. Five diverse employees were selected, and the group was trained in Six Sigma, attended courses at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and was mentored by members of PGW’s senior management team. “The goal of this program is to prepare the employees for promotion to the next level,” Webb explains.

Another new program, this one for junior engineers, focuses on open discussions about career paths with senior technical pros. A group of twenty-five diverse engineers meet monthly. “We want to offer mentorships and transfer institutional knowledge,” says Gary Gioioso, director of organizational development. “This program is a great communication tool to address issues and open discussions.”

“PGW is an exciting place to work,” Webb concludes. “I’ve been with the company ten years. Of the twenty-three other senior team members, half have been with PGW for more than twenty-five years, and many began in entry-level positions. That’s proof that if you really want to do something here at PGW, you can!”

D/C