Atmos Energy 2012 Annual Report Download - page 9

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 9 of the 2012 Atmos Energy annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 36

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36

1 Oscar Barrera (left), who benefited from Atmos Energy’s educational assistance funding to advance to operations manager in the
West Texas Division, reviews plans for a construction project in Lubbock with Operations Supervisor Glen Dwyer. 2 Allen Chandler
(left), a senior instructor at the Charles K. Vaughan Center, draws on his more than 40 years of field experience and expertise in
natural gas measurement to teach employees about Atmos Energy’s equipment and operations. 3 Hundreds of company employees
have been involved in transferring knowledge to other employees, a cornerstone of Atmos Energy’s culture, during two years of
developing information technology for a new Customer Service System. 4 In the Flow Lab at the Charles K. Vaughan Center, employees
practice on some of the most advanced equipment in the industry today as well as the widest range of devices found in natural
gas distribution and pipeline operations.
Our leadership
training empowers
individuals
3
2
Oscar Barrera had just graduated from high school when he started work as a construction operator for the
company more than 30 years ago. By the 1990s, he had worked his way up to frontline supervisor. en,
he heard about Atmos Energy’s educational assistance program and decided to advance his career even further.
“I recognized the opportunity—that I was going to be allowed up to $3,000 a year to go to school. I had
aspirations to become an operations manager, but I was lacking in some areas, especially in understanding nance,”
he said. “at’s what prompted me to broaden my knowledge and earn my college degree.”
Barrera, an operations manager in the West Texas Division, now leads a team of some 60 employees in the
Lubbock service center.
Atmos Energy invests more than $250,000 a year in educational assistance to help about 4 percent of its
employees attend school. It also develops leaders through its internal programs, such as AtmoSpirit for Leaders.
“Having a common culture means that we believe in shared values, not that we’re creating cookie-cutter
people. We seek individuals who can think, who can nd the best solutions and who can communicate those
solutions,” explained AtmoSpirit Director Bonnie McElearney. “We believe that all employees can be leaders.
Formal education and leadership training help bring out the best in every employee.”
7
ATMOS ENERGY 2012 SUMMARY ANNUAL REPORT
4