AES is a place where employees are seen, heard, and feel safe sharing their ideas. Employees participate in collaborative “centers for excellence” to troubleshoot and solve issues in cross-functional teams. We have bi-weekly professional development courses where employees, on paid time, voluntarily attend classes and discuss leadership or operational challenges. We have frequent “hazard hunts” where employees work together to identify safety hazards to support our incident free culture. We conduct town halls so employees can ask questions and have concerns addressed. Employees have access to online tools to collaborate from anywhere, whether at home, in the office, or the field.
In 2019, over 1,000 employees participated in a year-long process to identify and articulate our Company values and purpose. Our employees decided that our purpose is “to find solutions for a sustainable future.” This captures our entrepreneurial and positive, future-oriented approach to solving the Arctic’s problems together so Alaska is a place where future generations can thrive.
As stated in one of our “People First” behaviors, “we value and respect everyone’s contribution.” Through our employee of the week program, which recognizes initiative or demonstration of our values, we provide company-wide recognition and a monetary award. Through the ‘Excellence in Action” program, our CEO hand-writes personalized notes and provides a Company gift when an employee is nominated for special recognition. Over the past 12 months, she wrote more than 100, individualized notes.
Our employees can also privately share their ideas through e-mail and comment boxes or via our third party, employee hotline where employees can provide anonymous feedback.
We provide an online professional development program called “ASPIRE Academy,” where employees can attend courses on approximately a bi-weekly basis and collaborate with fellow employees on topics like “Developing Talent and Giving Effective Feedback,” and “AES Innovation Process & Culture.” We also have options for tuition reimbursement for education-related expenses.
We also have the “Nutaaq” program (meaning “new learner” in Iñupiat), which is a paid training program that provides shareholders with little to no work experience the ability to work full time as trainees while they obtain job-related skills and credentials to graduate into full time, regular positions.
Our values are aligned because over 1,000 employees chose our values in a year-long process. In 2019, we held culture workshops across Alaska in three phases.
During Phase 1, over 1,000 employees answered questions about why they and our customers work with AES, from which we generated a list of the top 10 most identified values.
In Phase 2, teams voted to narrow down the values they believed best represented AES. Each group also drafted and selected behaviors for the values.
In Phase 3, employees’ voting results were tallied, and the top 6 values were finalized. The same approach was used for behaviors, with some editing to integrate word choice variations.
Our employees chose the following “ASPIRE” values:
• Absolute Integrity
• Safety
• People First
• Iñupiat Heritage
• Resilient Family
• Exceptional Service Quality
Our employees are enthusiastic about: (1) the employee of the week program, where employees are nominated and recognized, both in company publications and through a monetary award, when they have demonstrated adherence to our values, special initiative, or noteworthy innovation or improvement ideas; (2) our frequent “hazard hunts” to encourage and optimize safety practices; (3) our “Excellence in Action” program; (4) the ASPIRE Academy, our online professional development program; (5) our tuition reimbursement program; (6) our flexible, hybrid in office and work-from-home schedules; and (7) regular town halls.
Our CEO leads by example. She authentically cares and empathizes with our customers and employees and believes that if we take care of our employees and customers, they will take care of the business. When faced with difficult decisions, she requires teams to think about our values and eliminates inconsistent choices. She spends time in the field so she understands the issues employees face. In particular, it is very important to Christine that policies and procedures are reasonable and accurate with how work is actually being done. This sounds easy, but it isn’t. It is a constant process of reviewing and understanding as technology and work environment changes. This helps set our team up for success.
AES offers best-in-class benefits in Alaska through our participation in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, and our elective benefits that include dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance, accident insurance, legal insurance, and pet insurance, amongst others. We offer a 401(k) plan and provide up to a 4% match. Under our “pay for performance” approach we aim to pay at least at the 50% for market compensation, and often better. We have bonus and incentive programs based on personal and financial performance so employees across the company are aligned on key goals and initiatives.
ASRC Energy Services, LLC (AES) is a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation. In providing energy services in Alaska for over 40 years, we are deeply committed to the home of our Iñupiat shareholders, many of whom live in remote villages across the north slope of Alaska.
Our Company purpose is to find solutions for a sustainable future. Natural resources are finite, and the energy industry is ever-changing. With unwavering commitment to our over 2,000 employees, we are here to solve Alaska’s problems for a sustainable future – for ourselves, our shareholders, our communities, and future generations.
3900 C Street, Suite 701
Anchorage, AK 99503
Energy
Christine Resler
1001 - 10000
AES Business Culture: ASPIRE. from AES Marketing on Vimeo.
This video is about the business culture at AES.
