Operators and contractors need to work more collaboratively on skills initiatives rather than being short-termist and buying in experience, a young professionals debate in Aberdeen heard.
The event, held by the Energy Institute’s Young Professionals Network and sponsored by Nexen, also heard that is was in the industry’s best interest for the entire supply chain to support a “strategic trickle” of people with skills and knowledge into the business, attempting to overcome the traditional cyclic nature of the industry and recruitment.
The event, called the Great Crew Change, was held in a Question Time style and included a panel of industry professionals, including Amanda Chilcott, BP North Sea’s vice president of HR, Will Serle, Amec’s group human resources director, Gordon McIntosh, director of enterprise, planning and infrastructure for Aberdeen City Council, Jon Gleinger, founder of Expert Alumni, and Karen Scott Willsher, a senior HR advisor for Nexen.
Their question was: Given the age demographic in the oil and gas industry – a high proportion of the workforce are likely to retire soon – giving rise to a major concern that there will be a sudden and irrecoverable loss of knowledge and expertise, to what extent do you agree/disagree support this scenario?
Chairman of the event Annette Thomas said: “Questions from the floor touched on the tension between the value of experience and the urgency and in some cases impatience of new starts.
“An interesting debate then ensured about how the exchange of knowledge and experience can be facilitated with individual reflections on what efforts companies are making to transfer knowledge and skill from senior and experienced staff.
“Mentoring was widely held to be an effective approach. Finally, the perennial question about the cyclical nature of the industry and its impact on recruitment and development were discussed.
“There were opinions expressed from the floor that operators and contractors should work more collaboratively to support initiatives, such as technician training; that the change out of people referred to as the “great crew change” referred predominantly to offshore personnel and that short-termism led to companies preferring to buy in experience rather than develop it.”
The response from the panel, she said, was that it would be in the industry’s best interest for the entire supply chain to support a strategic trickle of people with the appropriate skills and knowledge and that the issue was not confined to offshore personnel.
“Whilst recognising that on occasions it was necessary to buy in experience and expertise there was also a feeling that long-term profitability would require a recalibration of costs that would deter companies from doing this,” she added.
o The YPN’s next event is a panel debate on decommissioning and will be on June 7. It is holding a dinner dance on October 27.
What was said . . .
o A narrow focus on age is too linear and simplistic economically; social and cultural expectations also need to be taken into account when considering the people issues affecting the industry.
o Irrespective of where companies operate they are all part of a global industry, which competes for and allocates resources financial, human and technical based on the best return on investment.
o Successful companies will need to have a differentiated focus, which would include managing the expectations of both clients and employees with a range of cultural norms and mores.
o Internally, companies need to develop communication which gives them a better understanding of the expectations, preferences and abilities of its existing staff as well as the “next generation” so that companies will see the benefits of leveraging differences – rather than treating them as barriers, threats or irrelevances.
o The benefit of developing and respecting diversity within an organisation was seen to be a critical success factor.