A passion for people drove Esther Cooper into the water industry in her role as a Talent Acquisition Partner for TasWater, where she has continued to flourish as part of the Young Utility Leader program.
One of the things often forgotten about running a business is the essential role played by human resources and recruitment. Finding the right talent for a role is an enormous challenge, and retaining talent is an important part of maintaining a company’s success.
That’s why having partners in an organisation who are passionate about getting the right people on board is vital. It’s what Esther Cooper does every day. As a Talent Acquisition Partner for TasWater, she’s been ensuring that this eleven-year-old organisation continues to thrive.
“I came into the water industry through the people,” Cooper said. “There are so many fantastic people that work in the water industry, and since moving from the agricultural industry, I’ve had a great care for people. The ability to work in the water industry and see the contribution that people are making motivates me. We all know we are helping in public health, environmental health and sustainability. That’s just some of the great work that the industry does.”
Cooper’s career change was not just driven by the improved conversations she had with people as opposed to cattle. She found that once she started working in the scientific and environmental aspects of the agriculture industry, she fell in love with the people.
“I fell in love with the people that work in the agricultural sector, including the farmers and producers,” she said. “Their way of life led me down the path of caring for people. I feel like I’ve come full circle because I am at the start of what the agricultural industry needs to thrive and succeed. High-quality water that provides good public and environmental health contributes to the agricultural industry through the water industry.”
Attracting and retaining talent
The water industry is not immune to the labour shortages affecting nearly every industry nationwide. As the sector grapples with an aging workforce and a diminishing pool of skilled professionals, having dedicated talent acquisition experts like Cooper has become essential for any organisation. She is at the forefront of talent acquisition and can see how people can fit into different roles.
“There are so many different pathways into different roles, including fields within the water industry that are not well-known to the wider community,” Cooper said. “We employ everyone from the circular economy and renewable energy teams to strategy and innovation teams. We also have lawyers, human resources, finance and information technology.”
It’s why people like Cooper need to have that niche skill set where they can look for people with transferrable skills within their work experience and their lives as a whole.
“We need to take a holistic view for attracting talent,” she said. “One of the biggest benefits I could provide when I came into the water industry is that I had skills and experience in the agriculture industry that others did not. This has added value to my ability to understand the roles for which the water industry recruits. It was also an opportunity to showcase my experience as a volunteer for the State Emergency Service (SES) and the Tasmanian Fire Service (TFS).”
These volunteer experiences have added value to the community both in and out of TasWater. People’s experiences are all-encompassing, and every little thing they do builds on their holistic person. It’s also crucial for Cooper to get out and about across the multiple sites across the state.
“I love going out to a treatment plant or an operational site for the day,” she said. “In my experience, the staff at our water treatment plants are conducting scientific measurements and tasks; they could all have science degrees. They have extremely intricate and innovative ways of doing things, and I love hearing their insights about how they see the water industry, our community and our environment.”
Developing career pathways
Cooper believes that all sorts of utilities need to shift to fill a gap in mapping skills and career pathways for roles. Like much of the water industry, her team is working on this area.
“At the moment, we are matching pathways and mapping over 60 different types of roles,” Cooper said. “The goal is to enable students to see what they are studying, where their passions lie, and how to connect them to a career in the water industry. I don’t think people realise quite how diverse the industry is, with a plethora of opportunities.”
Generating a full scope for every job within the water industry and their differences is an enormous task. Cooper and her team are among the many talent acquisition experts mapping each role out so people can understand what they need to do to enter and stay within the water industry.
“I’ve been lucky in my career with TasWater, to have so many inspirational leaders to look up to,” Cooper said. “Many have encouraged me and provided advice on how to succeed. Understanding my own career pathway means I can share this knowledge and motivation with other people.”
The diversity of roles in the industry is essential, and there are many opportunities for young people. Cooper believes there are roles within the industry that the young generation would be very interested in.
“I think the circular economy provides an enormous opportunity for young people interested in environmentally focused career paths,” she said. “There are many innovative ways to deal with the transition to the circular economy, particularly around technology and artificial intelligence (AI). These fields will be the cornerstone for how people can maximise what is happening within TasWater as a business. It’s an opportunity to look at our operations and do the most we can to benefit the environment even more. Other fields like water reuse, water recycling, renewable energy and solar power provide enormous opportunities to make a difference.”
Young Utility Leader Program
Part of Cooper’s career pathway was her participation in the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) Young Utility Leaders Program. She was the first Tasmanian to be awarded a place in the program, which is an opportunity for exposure to senior leaders within the urban water sector. Cooper worked with managing directors, directors, and executives on WSAA board committees, leadership events, and initiatives. The program included tailored leadership coaching to help successful applicants understand their strengths, opportunities for improvement and leadership values.
“I see the program as an excellent avenue for people who want to make the water industry their long-term career path,” Cooper said. “Part of that has been the development of my networks with people from different water utilities across the country. It’s a perfect opportunity to do that while getting involved in a range of different projects.”
Those projects include committees, working groups and special projects. Every one of these has helped participants build their experience. It’s also an excellent opportunity to add value to these projects from everyone’s life experience and participation within the industry.
“The network I developed from this experience is enormous,” said Cooper. “Everyone that participated in my program is spread out across the country, from Perth to Queensland and through Sydney and Melbourne. They are now lifelong friends of mine. I have a vast network spanning the country through my connections to them. The program with WSAA, going to OzWater, and travelling around the country for events, all helped me build my network.”
Understanding leadership
As a member of the human resources team at TasWater, Cooper has an appreciation for the many tools that can help leaders understand their teams. The Young Utility Leaders Program includes coaching sessions with the Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust. It bills itself as a transformative program designed to foster courageous leaders who will drive the sustainable and equitable management of Australia’s waterways and natural environments.
“I loved the leadership coaching,” said Cooper. “The DiSC personal assessment tool certainly taught me a lot about myself. Within six months of completing the program, I joined a team with a new team leader. I presented my DiSC profile and told them this was the key to understanding how to manage me. It also showed them how to understand my style and my workload. He found this valuable, and it was excellent for me to recalibrate where necessary.”
Working in talent acquisition, Cooper needs to adjust to different personality types that tend to be in different roles. The difference between frontline operators and specialist engineers can be vast, not just in their roles but in their traditional personality types.
In looking at her future, Cooper found inspiration in the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
“When watching the documentary about the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, I found it fascinating that they had a panel of former cheerleaders who could match potential candidates to the exact role that suits them,” she said. “I want to be that good at picking a person’s personality, skill set and experiences and match them to a role in the water industry where they are going to have an awesome career.”
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