June
2016
HYDROCARBON
ENGINEERING
68
valuable expertise, which will now leave the industry as
they retire. This loss of knowledge from within the industry
could result in additional risks that might impede its ability
to continually grow and operate safely. Companies are
therefore under pressure not only to fill vacancies, but also
effectively transition expertise to a younger and less
experienced workforce.
Effective transitioning
As a result, companies operating in the Canadian oil and
gas sector will need to take a comprehensive approach to
progression planning, skill development and employee
retention in order to prevent expertise from being lost
forever. This means that the historically favoured
approach of poaching workers from competitors, by
paying high salaries or offering better benefits, will only
solve half the problem, if that. This is compounded by the
geographical location of the oilsands, where vast
distances need to be covered in order to reach
workplaces, which favours the position of the employees
and costs the employer dearly.
Some tested solutions include attracting employees
from other provinces where unemployment is high, or
indeed from the US where workers may be geographically
closer than potential Canadian candidates. Another
successful technique is enlisting qualified labour from
other process or resource industries whose workers have
transferable skills.
Nevertheless, new recruits still need training and the
most experienced and highly skilled workers should be
providing it for the development stages of the future
mentoring programmes. The necessary skills for junior staff
need to be agreed upon by mentors and human resources
(HR), and then relayed by senior employees to ensure that
the necessary knowledge is effectively transferred.
Technology and additional skill
requirements
Given the continuously evolving nature of the oil and gas
industry, there has been significant investment in
technology to enhance productivity and operational
efficiency, as well as employee safety. These technological
advancements have contributed to the growth of the oil
industry and an elevation in the complexity of processes
and major projects. The growing complexity within these
processes requires a higher level of training, knowledge,
technical skill and awareness that was not required in the
oil and gas industry 10 - 20 years ago. Companies must,
therefore, ensure that new hires not only possess the
necessary qualifications, but also the technical skills and
ability to adapt to a more complex technological
environment.
Additionally, managing more complex technical
processes will require a greater commitment from oil and
gas companies to ramp up their leadership development
programmes. This will ensure that experienced personnel
are better prepared to move into leadership and
mentorship roles in the future. Over the coming years,
those companies will also need to incorporate knowledge
transfer programmes that propel individuals to contend
with the rapidly escalating change and technological
innovation.
Managing costs in a competitve market
Within the oil industry, corporate initiatives have been
intensified in order to control and manage costs as a
reaction to the significant drop in oil prices. To remain
competitive and sustain healthy profit margins in the
global market place, Canadian oil and gas companies must
effectively manage the growing costs associated with
executing more complex processes and retaining a skilled
labour force. In the upcoming years, multiple Canadian oil
producers will continue to compete for skilled labour to fill
vacancies, this will have a knock-on effect on workers'
wages, which will continue to rise and further constrict
profit margins.
The competition within the Canadian oilsands is more
intense than that of other countries due to the high
number of companies that operate refineries within a
relatively small geographical area. In order to recruit and
retain key personnel, Canadian oil companies will have to
provide individuals with significantly higher compensation
and benefits packages compared to other parts of the
world. Otherwise, oil companies will risk filling positions
with underqualified personnel who do not possess the
skills necessary to ensure long term success. Therefore, the
challenge for Canadian oil and gas companies is to find the
right balance in attracting and retaining skilled labour that
is competitive, while at the same time remaining cost
effective.
One way to address this would be to focus on
employee retention by offering non-financial benefits, such
as holiday, flexible working and further training, to help
create a sense of belonging and contentment within teams.
If a company can provide apprenticeships and scholarships
for young people and learning desired professions, loyalty
to companies can be built from a young age. Support from
the government in subsidising funding, as well as increasing
the number of university and college places for young
people, would certainly help, while family support
initiatives would also help increase the number of women
attracted to the industry.
Conclusion
Canada is a commodity-based economy and, as such, is
highly correlated to its natural resources: chiefly the gas
and oil industry. Since Canada’s success within that
industry has a direct impact on the country’s employment,
revenue, currency fluctuation and investment from foreign
countries, it is imperative that its oil and gas operations
thrive.
However, due to the remote geographical position and
limited labour pool of the oilsands, a more comprehensive
approach to employment is needed in order to ensure that
the companies operating in Canada remain appealing to
employees and competitive within the global oil and gas
market. If companies are prepared to invest the time and
money in planning, recruiting, training and retaining their
employees in the short term, they will reap dividends in
the long term.
