Nurturing talent is key to the success of any industry, with schemes to aid and encourage personal development on an international level becoming increasingly popular with oil and gas companies.
In 2007, CETCO Oilfield Services North Sea business development manager Mark Graham (then manager of strategic development and projects at an international oilfield service company) participated in phase two of the UK/Norway Cross-Border Business to Business Mentoring Programme.
Mark said: “It was a great opportunity to take part in the 12-month scheme organised by government department BERR (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), now DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change), and Norwegian organisation INTSOK. The main aim was to improve cross-border export opportunities and share knowledge.”
The programme saw individual mentors matched with SMEs based on the skills and experience they could offer, and aligned as much as possible to the skills and experience required by the enterprise being mentored. For any areas of expertise that the mentor may be particularly lacking, they provided support by accessing more relevant personnel within the larger organisation.
After extensive research, Mark was paired with senior market analyst and special adviser procurement at Statoil.
Mark continued: “The programme enabled mentor organisations to gain an insight into the influences and issues facing SMEs, including the effect of their own commercial and supply chain practices, whilst SMEs gained a better understanding of how larger organisations operate and subsequently allow them to improve their strategy and working practices.
“The scheme provided me with a valuable insight into business practices and cultures between the two countries and has proven highly beneficial to my career progression to date. The scheme encouraged a very open and honest environment where issues between operators, contractors and SMEs could be discussed freely.
“As well as personally developing my confidence through the networking opportunities made readily available to me, I also gained a far better understanding of the differences in UK and NORSOK standards and improved understanding of contracting strategy and how to approach opportunities in the future more effectively.”
The UK/Norway Cross-Border Business to Business Mentoring Programme has gone on to have two highly-successful years and March of this year saw the launch of the fourth phase of the programme.
Since his involvement in the scheme, Mark was headhunted by CETCO Oilfield Services in 2011 and has been further promoted to his current role as business development manager.
CETCO Oilfield Services North Sea will be showcasing its new CrudeSep DGF, oilfield water processing technology, set to be a game-changer for the multibillion-dollar produced water market, at ONS 2012 on stand 916 from August 28-31.