A recruiter, who was made redundant five times in the last downturn, has set up an event to help address the “PR” problems being faced by the oil and gas industry.
David Wynn is hosting the ‘Are You Ready to Change?’ event later this month, looking at leadership within the sector.
He said the industry is facing significant challenges brought on by the last downturn with workers leaving for “sexier” industries, while not enough investment is being made in the next generation.
Meanwhile there is a perception problem around the way it is seen by others in terms of the low carbon transition.
All of this, he said, has culminated in the industry not being as appealing to the next generation, which will leave a “big gap” ahead.
To address that, the event will discuss “leadership coaching” which could help change perceptions.
He said: “We’re faced with an issue where there hasn’t been investment in the next generation so there’s going to be a big gap and a lot of people have left the industry because it has been such a long depression.
“For people coming into the world of work, they’re not seeing oil and gas and energy sector as being the sexy sector that it once used to be and trying to attract talent is even more challenging because of the competition now out there, as opposed to say five or ten years ago.
“There’s also the whole green issue now about the world we live in and making it more sustainable. Oil and gas has a PR challenge there.
“By deploying a coaching leadership approach, I think we all believe that could help to create perhaps a different perception about oil and gas that it is actually about supporting people.”
Mr Wynn, a business development and recruitment specialist, is working with the Mindful Talent leadership coaching organisation to put on the event, at the Village Hotel on June 25.
He believes that more bosses taking on this approach, raising their own self-awareness to make better decisions, will show the industry to be one that supports people to career progression.
Another private event is being run on July 9th for HR specialists, with talks underway to deliver sessions with other groups such as the Oil and Gas Authority, Maersk Training and the Oil and Gas Technology Centre.
He added: “This is about supporting peoples’ careers and their ambitions, to really try to appeal to that next generation that are now coming through who have higher demands.
“They think differently and want different things.”
More information on the event can be found here.
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