ASSP Energy Corridor Section Meeting – September 2026

TOPIC: Using Learning Teams to Engage Employees and Support Principles of HOP

SPEAKER: Tom Knode, Principal Consultant, vPSI Group, LLC

Attendees will earn 0.1 CEUs for attending

JOIN US on September 10^th as we hear from Tom Knode on “Using Learning Teams to Engage Employees and Support Principles of HOP”. Learning Teams are becoming a popular mechanism for engaging employees in learning how work is done. Companies are recognizing that the Work as Imagined versus Work as Done disconnect, otherwise known as the “Black Line-Blue Line”, must be understood and explored. Central to the concept is involving employees in a way that reduces stress and potential defensiveness and giving them an opportunity to explain the challenges of completing Work as Imagined. Learning Teams can be used proactively to understand normal work, or post-incident to better identify the circumstances and context of the work leading to an unplanned event. There are five steps to hold a Learning Team event; 1) Prepare; 2) Learn; 3) Soak; 4) Improve; and 5) Take Action. Each step will be discussed with suggestions for the execution of a successful event.

Tom Knode is a principal consultant with vPSI Group in Houston. He began his career in health, safety, and environment more than 30 years ago after a brief stint as a laboratory petrophysicist and environmental regulator. Tom has had leadership roles in HSE, at regional and global levels for large and small companies. He has been actively involved in the development and execution of strategies to improve employee engagement and performance. Knode sat on the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ (SPE) Board of Directors as the HSE representative (2008-2011) has co-chaired five SPE HSE conferences and has authored or co-authored more than 20 technical papers principally focused on safety leadership and culture.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how Employee Engagement affects business performance, including safety
• Describe how Learning Teams support HOP principles
• Identify the 5 steps of a Learning Teams event, and key components to success for each step and the overall event

As always, feel free to arrive before the presentation for networking and lunch!

Agenda

11:00 am to 11:30 am Networking and lunch

11:30 am to 11:45 am Welcome and Section Business

• Welcome
• Sign In
• Introductions
• Old & New Business

11:45 am to 12:45 pm Presentation

In-Person Location

960 Memorial City Way (next door to Memorial City Club)
Houston, TX 77024

All attendees should park in the 920 Memorial City Way parking visitor area (the parking garage). The parking in front of the conference room is reserved for the gym and the management office.