Digital trends have intensified and transformed the oil and gas industry. The realization of digital evolution has become a priority, and investments in technology are happening. However, financing new tools won’t pay off if enterprises don’t have the necessary people or skills to use them.
In a world where today’s future may not be tomorrow’s reality, a powerful workforce strategy is essential. In this blog we discuss ways companies can empower the oilfield workforce to prepare for upcoming changes that will help organizations become agile enough to establish digital technologies, and achieve and sustain competitive advantages quickly.
Workforce Development Strategy
Based on the technical and adaptive skills needed to enable this technological transformation, the adoption of digital technology should start by questioning how well your workforce is situated. The oilfield workforce requires preparation to face everyday challenges and stay up to date as the industry changes. Resolving where to begin could be the most complicated step. We recommend considering these elements as you plan for an efficient workforce development strategy:
- Consider the skills your workforce needs most – When it comes to ranking the most valuable skills for an organization, technology skills might first come to mind. Although engineering skills are undoubtedly necessary, they become more efficient when balanced with adaptive skills. Resilience, creative reasoning, collaboration, and innovation are also critical competences to carry out value from digital initiatives. The need to have people who can be analytical, draw precise conclusions, and make better and faster decisions is imperative.
- Review at what level you already have some of those skills – Understanding the breach between where the company is and where it needs to be will provide a more comprehensive vision of its priorities. Benchmarking the workforce against those priorities and what the future requires will help score each individual’s potential. A data-driven assessment could clarify what development areas lead the workers, and offer detailed insights to improve upskilling and hiring decisions.
- Decide what is required to achieve your goals – Once you recognize the labor force demanding approach, decide what type of training best suits workers’ needs and roles. Skills that need to be grown organically within the organization could consider mentorship or internal coaching while integrating formal learning with on-the-job experience.
Shaping the Workforce for the Future
Shaping the future of the oilfield workforce structure as humans and machines work together will bring exceptional benefits. Preparing the workforce for Ai and related cognitive technologies could be the biggest challenge, and the significant need to reskill the workforce has become a priority.
As the competition for digital talents rises, not many executives have a clear plan to reskill their employees. However, there are other solutions where process automation and collaboration with external organizations have been the answer to solve these problems.
Understanding that not every skill has to be acquired in-house will make it easier for companies to identify what skills they want to develop locally through upskilling or reshaping. Having a clear vision of what can be outsourced or rented through contingent workers and partners will help focus the necessary efforts toward shaping the future’s oilfield workforce.
Prepare with Tiger General
To deliver a much-needed digital transformation, oilfield services companies need to prepare their workforce by offering competitive skills programs. Indeed, constant change and evolving technologies force organizations to broaden their view on the labor force and their role in securing the industry’s future. By accelerating adaptive skills, oil and gas companies can pivot more promptly to satisfy future business demands no matter the uncertainty they might face.