Forty young professionals attended a recent interactive professional development event at Sir Ian Wood House in Aberdeen.
Communication and self-awareness were the core themes of the event, hosted by The Young Professionals branch of the Energy Institute in Aberdeen, Highlands and Islands, in partnership with Wood.
Presentation were delivered by senior industry leaders, including Steve Nicol, chief financial officer, asset solutions, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia Pacific at Wood, and Chris Bird, chief operating officer at Goodwyn Energy.
Mr Nicol focused on four steps to successful communication: getting a hook, winning the hearts and minds, how people feel and bringing your message to life.
He explained that this was important within the recent Wood Group/Amec Foster Wheeler merger as well as sharing examples of how effective communication is relevant in sport and advertising.
Mr Bird discussed leadership through effective communication. He presented several frameworks for communication, including a framework that he created himself over the course of his successful career.
Following the presentations, the young professionals were divided into three groups to take part in workshops.
Alan Johnstone, President Europe (Asset Life Cycle Solutions) at Wood, said: “We were delighted to host the latest EIYPN event at Sir Ian Wood House. At Wood we’re committed to supporting early career energy industry professionals and EIYPN offers excellent networking, learning and development opportunities. Focussing on communication at Thursday’s event highlighted the importance of understanding different communication styles and connecting with people appropriately. Developing self-awareness of how your own communication style impacts others was a very engaging workshop topic.”
Michael Howie, Vice Chair, EIYPN Aberdeen, Highlands and Islands, added: “Energising the Next Generation’s Leaders was our most engaging professional development event to date. The support and assistance provided by the Wood Leadership and Talent Development teams was fantastic, helping us to develop bespoke workshops considering the impact of communication. Our event programme provides a unique platform for young professionals to learn, develop and network. After the success of this event, we are looking forward to integrating more workshops into our programme next year.”
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