The cooperative difference means taking care of your employees and your community. Kari Reichert, NISC Chief People Officer, sat down with Bob Paulling, CEO of Mid-Carolina Electric, to discuss how to foster a positive culture and the importance of giving back.

For more than 80 years, Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative has brought its members advances that make a difference in their daily lives. From the original construction of power lines that carried electricity to rural areas needing it most to fiber optic internet and smart grid technology, Mid-Carolina delivers what matters. As a not-for-profit, member-owned electric distribution utility, they’re deeply committed to the communities they call home and improving life for their members.

Paulling has had an extensive career in the utility industry, both on the cooperative and corporate side of business. He has experience in everything from sales to engineering, and is currently the CEO of Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative.

Concern for Community

As a cooperative, Mid-Carolina invests in the community they serve. Paulling shared his personal involvement in Real Champions, a 501c3 that aims to end generational poverty through professional mentorship from kindergarten through college or career preparation.

“We start earlier and stay longer,” Paulling proudly shared. They currently serve two counties in South Carolina and are planning to expand to a third.

Mid-Carolina employees have also adopted a few schools, helping students with reading and math, as well as participating in different activities. Paulling says their community involvement stemmed from them asking how they could better support their members and coming to the conclusion that the best way they can provide better service is to take care of each other first.

“Through that, we formed several teams, and one of those teams is a community engagement team,” Paulling said. “We have five or six employees tasked with community engagement. What kind of parades can we be in? What kind of needs do the schools have, those types of things.”

Organizational Culture

Paulling says every organization has a culture, and if you aren’t purposefully trying to move it forward, it will head in a negative direction. Mid-Carolina has an employee committee dedicated to benefits, and thanks to their feedback, they now close the office on Friday afternoons.

“If you purposefully try to move your culture forward, you’ll be successful, but you gotta get buy-in from everybody,” he said.

A key part of culture is hiring the right people. “When we go through the interview process, we talk about culture and somebody’s values and those type things, try to understand what they’re made of before we hire,” Paulling said.

Mid-Carolina now has people interviewing to be a lineman climb a pole, or for member services, answer tough questions on a phone call. “The worst thing you could do is hire somebody that’s really not cut out to perform that job,” he said. “It’s bad for them and it’s bad for us.”

Paulling went on to discuss leadership succession, not only for himself as CEO but for other senior leaders in the organization.

“As long as I’ve been at NISC, we’ve used the phrase ‘grow our own’ with the idea that we have a lot of people who are interested in leadership, and we probably don’t need to go outside the organization,” Reichert added. “You provide a career path for someone; you maintain institutional knowledge and you preserve your culture.”

Paulling, a Board Director for NISC, and Reichert went on to discuss how NISC’s board has picked internal candidates for the last two CEO appointments and the value that brings to the organization.

“I think the unique perspective that the NISC board has is we’re all CEOs,” Paulling said. “We all run our businesses back home. I know that the proudest moment for me is when one of my homegrown employees gets moved through our organization.”

Paulling went on to share the importance of good internal communication and employee retention. From a member value perspective, retaining employees is crucial to serving members well.

“Retention is the key,” Paulling said. “For example, it takes seven years to train a lineman. It takes four to five years to train a member service rep where they can really do their job. You’re investing in your employees, and as you invest in them, you have to make sure you communicate with them and that you’re fulfilling their needs. What do you need? What do you need in your training? What do you need personally? What do you need from benefits?”

Paulling shared some changes Mid-Carolina has made to their benefits package to stay competitive in the labor market, and how they communicate those benefits with their employees.

Reichert emphasized the importance of communicating total compensation. “There’s the financial aspects of the package, but things like flexibility become part of the package,” she said. “And I feel like culture is part of that package. Stability is part of that package.”

“One of the really great things about our organization is being owned by our Members,” Reichert said. “And just through this conversation, I’m learning so much, and I love this idea that we learn from each other, we learn from our Members.”

“We’ve got to learn from each other,” Paulling agreed. “If we don’t, we get left behind.”