Supporting performance improvements at a Canadian utility company

Canadians take pride in their country’s natural resources, and we want to ensure they are being stewarded appropriately as both a legacy to the future and a vital part of the economy. McKinsey Canada has a long history of supporting our clients in addressing these twin objectives through its expertise and analyses which help Canadian resource leaders become champions in energy and materials that are more sustainable. This has contributed to improving the production of agricultural minerals in Saskatchewan, digitalizing the operations of Western Canadian oil and gas and mining companies, and providing more reliable and low carbon emission energy for Canadian homes, schools, and hospitals.

After decades of successfully producing energy for consumers, a leading Western Canadian utility company was looking to improve its competitiveness and execution performance in an increasingly uncertain business environment. This included addressing challenges such as the anticipated retirement of coal-fired power plants, navigating variable market conditions, and investing in employee capabilities and experience to address meaningful skill gaps and higher-than-expected employee turnover.

McKinsey worked together with the organization to build its capabilities in driving execution and identifying operational improvements to fund future investments. At the same time, we helped develop an organizational health strategy to improve the experience, performance, and engagement of the utility’s employees which reduced turnover.

McKinsey partnered with the client to do the following:

• Improve operational efficiency across the business to support and finance a faster transition to renewables
• Enable employees to drive the overall organizational transformation from strategy to execution, thereby facilitating an orderly transition to a reliable and affordable energy system for consumers
• Train 100% of employees and provide the necessary skills and tools to adapt to, and independently manage, the transformation
• Enhance employee performance and safety, resulting in a significant improvement in organizational health, from bottom-quartile to top-quartile relative to its peers