How We Serve: Human Resources

Employees at Basin Electric understand their role as stewards of service to the members of the cooperative. The “How We Serve” series highlights an employee and their work group and explains how they serve our members every day.

Kayla Hieb joined the Basin Electric family in December 2022 as vice president of Human Resources. Prior to her role at Basin Electric, Hieb was the director of Human Resources for North America at Bobcat. She is a member of the Chamber Workforce Development committee and the Chamber Economic Development Corporation presidential selection committee. Hieb was a member of the Young Professionals Network and was co-lead for the Ambassador team. She has volunteered for Junior Achievement and was a volunteer coach at the YMCA.

Hieb discusses her role and the role of the Human Resources team, and how together their purpose has strengthened Basin Electric’s dedication to serving its member-owners.

The team provides strategic direction on all things related to the cooperative’s employees. "We know they are truly our greatest asset, and we have the opportunity to oversee recruitment, compensation, benefits, training, employee and leadership development, and engagement," Hieb says. “Ultimately, we strive to improve employee performance and culture by having an engaged workforce, and to provide organizational development opportunities that support our strategy." Some of those opportunities include supervisory and leadership training, organizational design/structure, performance management, and change management.

The team has developed strategies across multiple disciplines within Human Resources to be well positioned to allow the cooperative to excel in years to come. “We are changing and evolving the way that we work and do business to position Basin Electric to achieve our long-term objectives,” Hieb says. Currently, recruitment is working on a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) strategy that is critical to ensuring Basin Electric has the talent needed to support our facilities. “This strategy will outline areas where we will focus and areas that we will prioritize efforts in order to meet the changing needs of the cooperative,” she says.

Employee engagement plays a big role in helping Basin Electric be successful at supporting the member at the end of the line. “Employee engagement is critical to any high performing organization.  Engaged employees have fewer safety incidents, have less absenteeism, and do the right thing for the right reason when no one is watching,” Hieb says. Basin Electric has a great reputation in the communities it serves. “The significant investments that we make in the communities where our employees and members live and work is a true display of our values and the cooperative spirit.”

“Human Resources has the opportunity to lead the organization regarding employee strategies and initiatives. Investing in and developing our people, and our leaders, is a top priority to meet the future needs of the cooperative and further engage our teams.”