The answers Deverman expected came—strong and safety-minded—but responses like “self-aware,” “patient,” “calm” and “present” surprised him.

“I was expecting more production- or safety-related answers, but these were more related to soft skills,” said Deverman, manager of safety and forestry at the Bloomington, Illinois-based co-op. “I think this shows that workers look for their leaders to be engaged with the crew, understand their strengths and weaknesses. Calm and patient to me states that it’s important to workers that their leaders try to develop an environment that is conducive to learning.”

Those qualities are high on most co-ops’ wish lists in their never-ending hunt to find and keep good crew foremen. While technical expertise and industry knowledge are crucial, co-ops are recognizing that foremen are leaders who can directly affect a crew’s efficiency, effectiveness and susceptibility to injuries.

“The crew foreman sets the tone, and the crew will work to the standard that he demands and no higher,” said Gerald Gordon, vice president of safety and loss control at the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi in Jackson.

Foremen can influence crews’ attitudes for years to come, experts say. Cut corners on the job or rush to get that outage repaired? Apprentices—tomorrow’s foremen—will learn to do the same.

“Good foremen learn from good foremen, and bad foremen learn from bad foremen,” Deverman said, adding the trainees can still be successful if they have other strong outside influences.

Complicating the issue is the recent realization that the industry has not done a good job developing leadership identification and training programs specifically for potential foremen.

“It’s been a failure on our part, and it applies to other states as well,” said Gordon. “We do a good job training apprentices, and we’ve done a decent amount of training for management-level people. But we’ve done nothing for foremen.”

Co-op safety experts are working to fill that gap in a variety of ways.

Minnesota Rural Electric Association Director of Safety Services Anthony Lenz, who calls foremen the “backbone and gatekeeper of line crews across the cooperative world,” helped launch the Foreman Conference, a three-day event earlier this year where more than 80 current foremen and up-and-comers attended sessions on topics that included high-impact communication, managing difficult situations and understanding generational differences. A highlight were seven mentorship sessions, each led by a co-op CEO.

Deverman sends foremen and potential foremen to an Illinois-based outfit, Frontline Utility Safety, and the Mississippi statewide association’s apprentice school has broadened its curriculum to include a level 1 and level 2 program for foremen.

And NRECA Safety Director Ken Macken teaches a program for lineworkers transitioning from journeyman to foreman called “From Bud to Boss.”

Experts say that lineworkers, for all their “brash and brawn,” need coaches for direction, accountability and even praise for jobs well done. That’s where foremen come in.

“I’ve seen it many time times,” Lenz said. “You can throw anyone into the role, but if they’re not an effective leader, and they don’t have key traits, they’re going to struggle,” he said. “We’re realizing now that investing in our foremen, especially the younger ones coming up, is very important as we navigate these changing times.”

Victoria A. Rocha is a staff writer for NRECA.​