How We Serve with Human Resources

Employees at Basin Electric understand responsibility as stewards of service to the members of the cooperative. The “How We Serve” series highlights employees and their work group and explains how they serve our members every day.

Miles McGrew joined Basin Electric in 2022 as senior vice president and chief human resource officer. He has more than 25 years of experience in human resources, international labor relations, mergers and acquisitions, operations with profit and loss responsibility, and organizational development and design. He shares more about his role and the role of the Human Resources team, and how together their purpose has strengthened Basin Electric’s dedication to serving its member-owners.

“Our mission supports our consumer-owners by providing quality programs and services and promoting high standards of ethics and mutual trust for our most important asset, our employees,” McGrew says. “We attract and retain employees to keep the cooperative running in an efficient and safe manner. We have the right employees in the right positions at the right time.” 

Human Resources also focuses on the development of employees by keeping them trained, engaged, and productive, with an eye on continuous improvement. In 2022, Human Resources launched a performance management system to support the cooperative’s goals and strategies; employee engagement will be critical in establishing a baseline and making improvements each year. The team is also conducting a market wage and benefits analysis to remain competitive for all employees. 

In addition to performance management and employee engagement, the co-op will also focus on safety. Over time, Basin Electric has seen a fluctuation in its injury rates, but there hasn’t been a consistent decrease. This year’s shared co-op goal is to decrease the Total Case Incident Rate and Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred by 10% from 2022 year-end numbers. McGrew says 10% is a stretch goal, it’s attainable. 

“Safety isn’t necessarily considered a priority because priorities change. Safety is who we are. It’s a culture of how we go about doing things. Safety first, safety always,” McGrew says. “If we want to evolve and change and continue what we’re doing there has to be a focus on safety. It has to be a part of our DNA.” 

When asked about the future of Basin Electric, McGrew says he sees great things on the horizon. “We’re going to keep it a great place to work by continuing to engage employees and make them feel empowered to improve things, and we’ll continue to find energy solutions to support our members. The people at Basin Electric know they’re working toward a cause; they value what we do, which is to provide electricity to rural America.”