Interview with Kent Larson, Vice President of Transmission, Xcel Energy free essay sample

Xcel Energy Xcel Energy is a leading electric and natural gas utility. Xcel Energy is an end to end provider of electricity. Electricity is provided from generation, to high voltage transmission, to distribution, to customer’s homes and businesses. Xcel Energy provides energy-related products and services to 3. 3 million electric and 1. 8 million natural gas customers. With regulated operations in eight states; Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin, revenues are more than $9 billion annually for the employer of 12,000. A commitment to the environment is vital to the core business practices of Xcel Energy. This strong environment focus has led Xcel Energy to become the number one provider of wind power in the country (Xcel Energy, 2008). Kent Larson is the Vice President of Transmission for Xcel Energy. In the organizational structure, Kent has twelve direct reports and over 2,000 employees report up through his direct reports. From those direct reports, he has six titled Directors of different aspects of substations, transmission, and design. We will write a custom essay sample on Interview with Kent Larson, Vice President of Transmission, Xcel Energy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The other six direct reports are of various rotational managers, administrative assistants, and governance. Kent directly reports to Paul Bonavia, the President of the Utilities Group, who reports to Dick Kelley, the Chairman, President, and CEO of Xcel Energy (Appendix 1). A unique management style can be derived from your past experience. Different experiences managers draw from should be used to motivate employees to encourage a high level of performance and achieve organizational goals (Jones George, 2008, p 62). Kent’s vast experience has led him to lead confidently based on his long list of positions held. Kent has held various positions throughout the company. He began his career as an electric designer, before moving into the role of an Operating Engineer in St. Paul. He then became involved in cost benefit analysis as a Traveling Engineer. From there, he became the Director of Outstate Construction, Operations, and Maintenance (ND, SD, Non-Metro MN) located in Fargo, ND. He spent time as the Director of Sales in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota Regulatory, MN State Vice President, before his current position as the Vice President of Transmission. A typical day for Larson is anything but typical. With his wide area of responsibilities, he often has a dynamic day. The majority of the time he spends at meetings and communicating via email. He has to be â€Å"On your toes and ready to go† at all times (K. T. Larson, personal communication, October 15, 2008). Another pitfall of his high level position is that he has to be careful of what he says. The majority of the meetings he attends, he has to give presentations anyone from the Public Utilities Commission, Corporate Executives, Mid-Level Managers, to Union Front Line employees. He has to carefully weigh any response he gives to a question on the off chance that his response will invoke a surety. At his level, caution needs to be taken so that comfort is not given where it should not, nor is fear spread when is should not be. Preparation is vital in planning for his meetings. Many of the meetings he attends, he is a presenter. Kent makes sure to prepare himself well ahead of time for any meetings he leads. Usually, Kent defines his time commitments as 75% true management tasks and 25% other. His definition of management tasks are anything related to his job responsibilities. It could be anything from presenting at a meeting, attending a meeting, or being the recipient of a presentation. Being a corporate level manager, he deals mostly with results and not the process to achieve them. His strong focus on having strong direct reports seem to help facilitate this. The rest of his time is spent on various tasks, but mostly travel. His roles vary depending on the day and time of year, but basically he provides the direct link to the Senior Management from the Business Unit and that link from Xcel Energy to the regulatory organizations. Strategic Planning is the largest portion of Kent’s day to day function. He also relies heavily on his technical expertise as part of this planning process. The scope of his organization’s planning is vast. Kent’s strategic planning comes from anywhere from substation design, to transmission line design, while keeping corporate values and regulatory concerns addressed. Goal setting is another important function to Kent. He needs to know what is going on (K. T. Larson, October 15, 2008). In order for goal setting to occur, a way of measurement is required. Score Cards, are his preferred method. Score cards, done correctly, can all roll up into each other. Starting with a broad base, each business unit can roll up into a higher business unit until they reach the corporate level. This process not only helps the individual business units reach their goals, but also assure that corporate goals can be attained as well. A main process for Kent’s approach to management is to hire good people. You have to have a strong team at his level. Not only do his direct reports need to have a strong sense of team work, but they must work well together. If they do not work well together, he is not afraid to replace them. His direct reports are there to meet corporate goals. If those direct reports can not work well together, he will replace them with those who will for the betterment of the company. Allocation of his time to his employees is different today than it was earlier in his management career. Today, his direct reports have corporate goals. In the past, he managed performance based groups. He still tries to allocate time though based on need. New employees will have much more of his time than those who are more experienced. He wants employees to work to their potential, but potential is not a defined limit. Some employees have a higher potential than others. His goal as a manager is find that potential and develop that into the highest possible outcome. He feels that direct feedback is the only way to manage. It is very important have the direct feedback between himself and his employees whether is it positive or negative. The ability to be able to both give and receive constructive criticism is vital to any strong manager. Xcel Energy would currently be classified as a Matrix organization. Matrix organizations are an attempt to combine the advantages of the pure functional structure and the product organizational structure. Companies, such as Xcel Energy, that are project driven companies, are ideally suited for this management structure. In a matrix organization, each project manager reports directly to the vice president and the general manager. Since each project represents a potential profit center and/or reliability enhancement, the power and authority used by the project manager come directly from the general manager. Information sharing is mandatory in such organizations, and several people may be required for the same piece of work. However, in general, the project manager has the responsibility to maintain technical excellence on the project. Each business unit is headed by a department manger whose main responsibility is to ensure that a unified technical base is maintained and that all available information can be exchanged for each project (Visitask, 2008). At Xcel Energy, many different levels of the engineering staff could be swapped out to a project manager in title alone and nothing would change. Rather than having true project managers, the engineers take on the responsibilities of most project management. This type of structure does have its benefits and weaknesses. Depending on where you sit in the organizational ladder, the centralized choices, standard outcomes, and Operational Companies being decentralized can either help or hinder the process. Conflict can arise because of no clear lines of responsibilities between the centralized company and the state jurisdictions. Beginning in 2000, Xcel Energy was managed from a central, large corporation aspect. In 2005, Public Utility Commissions required that each individual Operational Company be able to attest for its financials and prove that the money was being spent in each state. This led to having both centralized choices as well as jurisdictional decisions. Financially, the accounting is better tracked through this process and helps to build a rate case to the Public Utilities Commission. Other problems have surfaced though trying to standardize equipment. Silos have developed in all aspects of the design and construction phase, mostly dealing with standardization of equipment. For example, Texas uses the same size and type of underground conductor that North Dakota does. The climates are completely different during the winter and create many operational challenges. For being such a large company spread over such a vast territory, Kent believes this strategy is best for the company at this time. The overall benefits of being structured this way currently outweigh the negative aspects. In theory, if this changes, Kent sees it as Corporate Management’s responsibility to change to organizational structure. Once again, put the best members together to make the team work in the best possible manner. Digging deeper into the interpersonal relationship side of management, Kent believes that management must be cognizant of each work groups needs and idiosyncrasies. Xcel Energy hires all classifications of employees from engineers, lawyers, analysts, computer IT, technicians, administrative assistants, to union line workers. It is important to understand how different management theories affect the behavior and attitudes of employees. Specifically cited, union line workers are viewed as Theory X employees. It’s not that all union employees are inherently lazy, but their union rules do not reward thinking outside of the defined union work rules. Any extra or additional hard work outside of the standard union rules is not encouraged or rewarded. Managers of union employees must closely supervise these employees to ensure that daily work is completed. Company managers and union management have created a strict set of work rules as well as a well defined punishment system. In contrast, exempt employees; engineers, lawyers, analysts, are managed with the Theory Y thought process. Most managers at Xcel Energy allow the employee to take ownership for their daily work process. They allow the employees to have the resources necessary to achieve both organizational goals and individual goals (Jones George, 2008, p 66). One thing Kent has also learned that each manager brings their own individual twist to management theory. The longer he has been with Xcel Energy, the more tolerant he has become. He wants to judge the end results. He is not so concerned with whether a person fits into a certain profile, but what the outcomes that person achieves. From all accountable sources, Kent Larson is a highly regarded manager for Xcel Energy. His ability to lead his business units to accomplish goals set before them is undeniable. One thing that sets a good leader apart from an ordinary manager is the impact that that manager has on those employees once they are no longer their manager. The most rewarding feeling that Kent has had is that even though he is not someone’s direct manager, they value his opinion and ask his opinion. It is important to try to develop a relationship with subordinates to nurture this kind of relationship.