The simple recipe for an exciting webinar on the pains and gains of human resource management in water and wastewater utilities: Take one successful female plant manager, one scientist, one seasoned HR manager, and one World Bank Social Development Specialist, add water - and stir up a lively, multifaceted conversation.

“Tapping Talent - how to attract and retain a qualified workforce in the water service sector of the Danube region” was the title of the 11 October edition of the Danube Water Program's popular KnowKnow webinar series on up-to-date topics with impact on the water sector.

Talking about impact, human resources shortfalls are a growing headache for utility managers everywhere in the region. Water utilities find it harder and harder to attract and retain experienced staff. Experienced engineers and managers leave for higher salaries in other sectors, and many who stay will reach retirement age over the next five to ten years, threatening a brutal brain drain for the sector. Meanwhile, the introduction of new, complex water technologies, digitalization and AI applications put new demands on staff expertise.

The Tapping Talent webinar looked at the problem from every professional angle. Sarah Keener, Senior Social Development Specialist at the World Bank, took the helm as moderator. Her main message is inclusion and gender equality, and not just because fair is fair: “All data show clearly that more gender equality improves performance on every level.”

In a presentation titled "The Secret Sauce", Ms Keener introduced the audience to Equal Aqua, a global gender equality initiative of the World Bank that runs a worldwide knowledge exchange network, a HR benchmark database covering 240+ utilities, and provides technical assistance in currently 60 World Bank projects.

Ms. Keener challenges the industry to think outside the box, to reach out the young generation with messages about the importance of water and also attractive career pathways: “How many kids dream of working in the water sector? We need to shift perceptions and inspire, because the competition for young, female talent is keen!”

Next, Fiolla Lasku-Hoti, Head Manager of the wastewater treatment plant Gjakova in Kosovo, gave insights into her career path in Kosovo, where the share of women in the workforce is by far the lowest in the region. Her background in chemical engineering, a Master in environmental protection engineering, and excellent on-the job performance as a process engineer earned her the seat at the helm of one of the first wastewater treatment plants in Kosovo.

Sounds like a cakewalk? Well, it wasn't: “I struggled a lot. In a mostly male technical department, I often found myself the only woman in the room, and I remember some really awkward and stressful situations.”

What kept her going? “Support and motivation from the senior management, family, friends and colleagues helps a lot. What also works for me and what I recommend to all Young Water Professionals is picking role models and following their example. The President of Kosovo is a woman. If she can make it, I can as well.”

Following up, Louise McSorley, Strategic Resourcing and Skills Manager at Scottish Water, presented the employer perspective, introducing the audience to an exemplary,  strategic HR approach. Scottish Water covers the whole career journey and with exemplary initiatives, using web-based career maps as a medium to attract young people and offering every thinkable support in developing skills, qualifications and individual career paths, including, but not stopping at, graduate apprenticeships, future technical specialist programs, “Take the Lead” programs for aspiring leaders, BELONG diversitiy and inclusion groups, and an “I Love Data” initiative for digital skills.

Last but not least, Florian Kretschmer provided the academic perspective. Mr. Kretschmer researches and teaches as a Senior Scientist at the Austrian University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. Noting that “water is somehow under the ground”, an out of sight, out of mind, taken-for-granted infrastructure, he invites everybody to think outside the box to make the water sector attractive to new talent: “Water is not only about grey Infrastructure, and when we deal with wastewater, it's not waste, it's a resource with so many aspects. We really need a paradigm change. Stop talking of wastewater treatment. Call it water resource recovery instead. And let's reach out across sectors – agriculture, energy, public health. The connections are there, let's use them to attract students from other fields!”

For a full report on the lively exchange that ensued after these initial statements, and for a full video recording of the webinar please follow the link below. And please stay tuned for the future KnowNow webinars that are already in the pipeline.