Robert Sturtz Email & Phone Number

Perrysburg, Oh, Us

Gahanna, Ohio, Us

• Directed the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and emergency restoration of AEP Ohio’s distribution system to provide safe and reliable service to 1.5 million customers.• Oversaw a $500M operating budget.• Led a cultural improvement initiative informed by employee engagement and executed through organizational action plans. A 2023 Gallup Organizational Culture Assessment found that alignment of individual employee beliefs and values within Distribution Operations of AEP Ohio increased by a mean score of 33% to 71% from 2019 – 2022.• Implemented a safety performance management plan for the organization resulting in improved practices to safeguard employees, the public, and company property. Safety KPIs improved across the board over three of the last four years.• Served as a point of contact for the consolidation of the digital ecosystem to a singular platform within AEP Ohio. Functioned as a liaison between the C-Suite executives, management, field level end users, and the technology provider, ARCOS.

Fort Wayne, Indiana, Us

• Collaborated with the AEP Distribution Technical Skills Department to align, schedule and implement technical training for 2,000 employees annually.• Oversaw the process of designing, scheduling and/or facilitating training that addressed learning and organizational needs (leadership academy, new employee onboarding, interview basics, Power Up and Lead, R-Factor).

Fort Wayne, Indiana, Us

• Managed the Distribution Dispatching Group of 30 employees for Indiana Michigan Power Operating Company.• Ensured safe distribution dispatching practices and proper coordination of distribution facility outages for 600,000 customers.• Interfaced with operating company personnel as well as other organizations such as customer solutions centers, transmission services, and transmission operators.• Acted as Planning Section Chief, Incident Commander, and Situational Unit Leader within Indiana Michigan Power’s Emergency Response Structure.

Fort Wayne, Indiana, Us

• Managed the construction, maintenance, and operation of the distribution system for the Fort Wayne District to provide safe, timely and reliable service to approximately 150,000 customers.• Oversaw capital, operations, and maintenance resources and budgets including three distribution facilities, fleet/materials and over 80 employees including Engineers, Linemen, and Administrative Support.• Directed service restoration efforts in outage events, including the June 29, 2012, Derecho event that disrupted power to 60,000 customers.• Deployed change management strategies, tools, and techniques to effectively manage the people side of change to achieve desired business outcomes, i.e., leading a Lytx (Drive Cam) technology pilot program. The implementation of Drive Cam technology improved employee behavior from fourth quartile scores to first quartile scores in comparison to similar industries and resulted in full deployment across the entire AEP footprint.

Columbus, Oh, Us

Managed the construction, maintenance, and operation of the distribution system for the Fort Wayne District to provide safe, timely and reliable service to approximately 150,000 customers.• Oversaw capital, operations, an• Managed the Human Resource (HR) effort to provide support and guidance to approx. 2,000 employees throughout Indiana and Michigan business areas including Transmission, Distribution, and Fossil Generation region operations. • Provided HR support related to regional and corporate-wide initiatives, reorganization efforts, and ad hoc requests. • Support included: staffing/onboarding, resolution of personnel issues, policy/procedure interpretation, completion of EEO/AAP related reports, guidance related to laws/regulations, organizational changes, corporate-wide efforts and initiatives, labor issue coordination, staff development and training. • Established strategic partnerships with business unit partners that linked business objectives with HR services and programs. Maximized the use of the wide range of HR resources to optimize support of business units' goals. • Coached and mentored ten HR staff to ensure a proactive consultant model for HR support. Model included: support for performance management, change management, succession planning, leadership development, diversity, and overall employee relations.

Columbus, Oh, Us