News

While many Hay River residents were sleeping off the Hay River Pig Roast festivities from Saturday night, these three young men were taking on the 2019 Great Hay River Triathlon.

Sixteen participants started between 7 and 8 in the morning, swimming, biking and running their their way around Town. Dave Dewar and Ian Flood are both NTPC triathalon veterans but Louis-Philip Brosseau, one of NTPC's current co-op students was new to the event.  CTO Scott Spencer encouraged Louis-Philip and a few others to take on this life ambition while in the Hub. The weather did not disappoint and all the athletes put on a strong showing. Results can be found at www.zone4.ca.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you’ll do things differently.

Warren Buffet

In life, and in business, reputation is everything. That said, reputation is very fragile and it only takes one mistake to cause serious damage to our image. That’s why it is so important to identify potential issues before they become real threats to our reputation and/or damage our ability to achieve the Corporation’s strategic goals.

How do you identify a potential issue? While there is not a one-size-fits-all answer to that question, there are a few things to ask yourself when trying to determine whether an issue or interaction is likely to escalate to a full blown public relations problem.

• How many people are likely to be impacted (positively or negatively)?

• How severe will the impact be on a person or a number of people?

• Is the situation likely to cast NTPC in a bad light or as the “bad guy”?

• Are people discussing this issue, either in person or on social media? Are negative things being said about NTPC?

• Is this a reoccurrence of something that was previously an issue?

• Has someone suggested they will be contacting the media, their MLA or community leaders about this issue?

• Is the person/people involved in this issue influential in the community, with the media or with MLAs?

• If you were the President and CEO or the Minister Responsible for NTPC, would you want to know about this situation?

If the answer to these questions indicates a risk of the issue escalating and attracting public, media or political attention, you should notify your supervisor. They will then make the appropriate people within the company aware so that we are able to find a solution to the situation and be prepared to address any questions that may arise.

If you are in doubt about the answer to these questions, the best course of action is to discuss the situation with your supervisor or a manager.

It is important for us all to remember that if senior leadership doesn’t know that an issue exists, our ability to respond is obviously limited. Early warning that an issue may be coming is the best way for NTPC to protect and strengthen its image. 

Lindsey Woodford, daughter of Yellowknife power lineman Keith Doran, was a big winner at the recent NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River. Lindsay finished first in the all-round competition for 2^nd Year Bantam Girls.  She competed in the high jump, long jump, triple jump and 100 metre sprint, finishing first in all three of the jumping events.

Lindsey set the high jump record for 1^st Year Bantam Girls last year. While she was unable to set a new high jump record for 2^nd Year Bantam Girls during the official competition, she did exceed the record following the meet.

Keith is one very proud father!  

The 2018/19 Q4 Health & Safety Statistics Report is available here.  It has lots of great information on incidents, injuries, and concern reports - check it out

The following article is intended to assist employees who do not interact with the public as part of their day-to-day responsibilities, such as Customer Service Representatives. These employees should continue to follow the processes already in place.

The Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) is committed to open and transparent communication with customers and other external stakeholders such as the Government of the Northwest Territories (Cabinet, Members of the Legislative Assembly, public servants), community leaders, non-governmental organizations, the general public and the media. While some restrictions need to be in place to protect corporate reputation and ensure consistent messaging with key audiences, we want to:

• Empower employees to actively engage with customers/external stakeholders, when appropriate

• Ensure that employee engagement with customers and other external stakeholders does not result in the escalation of issues or concerns

General Guidelines

The following guidelines are intended to assist employees in determining when it is appropriate to engage with customers and other external stakeholders and when they should remain silent and/or refer the individual to someone else in the organization.

• If asked a basic question for which you know the answer, feel free to respond. These would normally be yes or no type questions or questions with a number in the answer (“How many employees does NTPC have.”)

• If asked a question for which you don’t have an answer, never guess. Your guess will become the truth to the person you were speaking with even if your answer is wrong. If you don’t know the answer, record the question, get contact information for the person raising the question and commit to getting an answer back to that individual. Pass the question on to your manager or the Manager, Communications for follow-up.

• Remain calm regardless of the tone or actions of the person with whom you are speaking. If they are agitated, the best course of action may be to get their contact information and have someone else get in touch with them at a later date. As difficult as it may be, avoid becoming either defensive or aggressive in these situations. Employees should maintain their professionalism throughout all interactions.

• If any interaction with a stakeholder is likely to result in further action, notify your supervisor. Supervisors should forward this information to their manager or director if they believe the issue may escalate.

• When on the job, employees should not publicly share their opinion about NTPC plans, policies or practices (“What do you think about limits being put on the amount of renewables in our community?”). If asked this type of question, the best response is to indicate that the issue is complex and offer to have someone contact them with more information. If accepted, contact your supervisor or te Manager, Communications.

• Employees may provide information about their activities if approached by a member of the public (“I am checking powers lines to ensure they are free from branches”)

• Employees may not communicate with the media on matters pertaining to NTPC unless authorized to do so by the President and CEO

• If contacted by the media, employees should refer the individual to the Manager, Communications

  We want to establish strong relationships with our customers and others and you have an important role to play. Employees who are out in the field and in our communities become the face and voice of NTPC. By using the previous guidelines in your interactions, you can help to build support and trust for the Corporation.