employer brand report 2012 1
DESCRIPTION
OUR REPORT ON ENERGY BRANDSTRANSCRIPT
nesglobaltalent.com
NES Global Talent’s brand tracking survey into employer brands
EMPLOYERBRANDSIN THEENERGYSECTOR
BRANDS IN THE ENERGY SECTOR
“LISTEN fIRST, SPEAk SECOND. SEEk OUT THOSE wITH ExPERIENCE AND LEARN fROM THEM.”
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Engineering contractor, 20 years in the field.
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Challenges Facing the Oil and Gas Industry
For more than 30 years, NES Global Talent has been helping the Oil & Gas Industry recruit and retain personnel. It continues to be our primary goal. As part of our services we are acutely aware of the challenges our clients face in the Energy Sector.
First, the world’s energy needs are spiralling. They are increasing by a factor of three in the lifetime of our children. Second, the world’s population is escalating at a frightening rate. In 1960 it was 3 billion and in 2011 7 billion. It will be 9 billion in 2050. Third, within the next ten years, more than half the workforce in Oil & Gas will be eligible for retirement. Fourth, the skill shortage continues with less science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates entering the engineering industry.
Our task at NES Global Talent is to fully appreciate these problems confronting our clients and assist them in searching for outstanding talent.
In 2011, our brand and marketing team conducted a brand tracking survey to highlight some of the current branding problems facing the industry and point to possible solutions. We contacted 800 people from our database. The majority of respondents have more than 20 years experience. 65% are engineers, 14% subsea specialists, 11% managers. 82% with degrees and 90% hold at least one professional qualification. Most of our respondents were from the United Kingdom and South East Asia. A significant number are from North America. (*see call out box on research sample)
Employer Branding and the Workforce Our survey looked at employer branding I.e. the package of benefits, which make companies distinctive in the minds of current and potential employees. We found that contractors are attracted to the companies they are most familiar with. The major oil companies had the greatest appeal. We also found two critical factors in staff retention. Employees are more easily retained if the culture of an organisation is good and if they are handled well by their managers. They also place great store on clear and effective communication. Culture and style of communication, in some instances, come before reward and remuneration as influencing whether they stay. Our survey also revealed how an employer’s brand reputation is affected by their professional approach to safety standards.
NES Global Talent surveyed 800 people from its contractor database
•Themajorityhave20years+experience
– 65% were engineers
– 14% were subsea engineers
– 11% were managers
– 7% were consultants
•82%haveauniversitydegree
•90%haveatleastoneprofessionalqualification
• ThemajorityofthesamplewasfromUKandSouthEastAsia, but there were significant number from North America too.
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Operator takes good care of its employees 13%11%
8%
8%4%
4%1%
Good teamwork colleagues
Employees were empowered
Strong Management Team
Operators attitude/commitment to employees
Rate of pay
Employer flexibility
AND WHY DO THEY APPEAL?
Other – 49%
INTRODUCTIONBP
ExxonMobil
Shell
Total
Chevron
BP
ExxonMobil
Shell
Total
Chevron
1.0 Which companies appEal as employers of choice?
Top 5 versus other The top five major international oil companies account for 40% of all choice ranking. Of the other 23 operators who were included none received more than 3% of the mentions, showing the dominance of the appeal of the Top 5.
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The factors which influenced their choice included the company’s attitude and commitment to employees – how they were taken care of. They rated the company in terms of how they were treated, whether there was a strong culture of teamwork and what the overall work environment was like – above pay.
The company’s attitude towards its people
The company’s ways of working
professional standards
Breadth of learning opportunities – interest of role
“SIMPLE COMBINATION Of TEAM wORk AND PROjECT APPEAL.”
“THERE wAS GOOD TRAINING AND DEvELOPMENT.”
fACTORS INfLUENCING THE CHOICE Of AN EMPLOYER
“THEY wERE INNOvATIvE AND ENTERPRISING.”
“THERE wAS A STRONG COMMITMENT TO PEOPLE.”
“NOT TOO MUCH ‘US vERSUS THEM’ MENTALITY.”
“THEY wERE fRIENDLY, RELAxED AND TECHNICALLY ExCELLENT.”
“HIGH STANDARDS Of ENGINEERING PRACTICE AND INTEGRATION Of ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONING TEAMS.”
“LOTS Of EMPOwERMENT.”
“MANAGEMENT wERE EMPOwERING – THEY MAkE DECISIONS qUICkLY.”
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2.0 Employee perceptions of other operators
When respondents were asked to consider the appeal of operators that they had not worked for in the past, they reported slightly different attractions.
3.0 Drivers of locational appeal
The appeal of a location was perceived lifestyle – including the weather. Family, the safety of the work and the region were all major considerations.
4.0 What attracts you to an assignment?
Company reputation again features as a main reason in choosing an assignment.
The second biggest influence on the appeal of an assignment was culture – namely, a company’s approach to employees.
An interesting role or project, earning potential and the breadth of opportunities were also likely to increase the appeal of an assignment.
While hard tangible benefits – including salary – were important, they were much less important that a company’s reputation, with over 40% of respondents ranking reputation as a key driver of attraction.
This underlines the appeal of security and familiarity associated with big name brands. It shows how important it is to build an employer brand for talent strategies to ensure the company name is promoted.
Additionally, 14% perceived a good working environment as one of the key drivers for choosing an operator.
The key dimensions of a good working environment were noted as:
Safety standards “It’s a highly hazardous industry, so a company with a good track record of safe working.”
Good working conditions “I’d heard good things about their work culture.”
Management style “Empowerment and forward-thinking.”
Drivers of Employer of Choice
6.0 What soft skills are important in the job you do?
When asked which soft skills mattered most to them in the job they did – respondents listed teamwork, having a ‘can do’ attitude, honesty and good communication skills as the most important.
Comments from the research included:
Teamwork: “Empathy with others.”
“Ability to find the middle ground.”
“Mutual respect.”
“Credit to where good ideas come from.”
Communication:Listening and influencing skills were highlighted as a key soft skill to have.
“What I look for in new talent is the ability to be able to work well with others and it’s so important to have good communication skills.”
“From my perspective, the most important lesson we need to learn is there needs to better communication.”
“Every project I have been on we talk about it, but it is very difficult to achieve. The reality is we work in isolation so finding a way to communicate decisions, questions and concerns is a real challenge.”
5.0 What keeps you or makes you leave an assignment?
Once on assignment the pay and salary do feature strongly as reasons to stay. Yet team spirit and interest of role is still high up.
The key reason to leave an assignment is more about management issues than money – things like not being listened to, unreasonable expectations and poor leadership. These factors cause individuals to move on.
Pay is also cited as a factor for leaving an assignment but only driven by changes in terms and conditions or a significant underpayment in the market.
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Attitude:“Can-do attitude.”
“Proactive, dynamic.”
“Problem solving and ambitious.”
Adaptability - to local issues “patience” came up a lot.
Integrity “genuine’ ‘honest, hard-working’ ‘fair, dedicated to work’
Continuing Professional Development“Do not give up trying and always question something you think is wrong, don’t give up, be ready to work in hard conditions with a lot of stress”
“Listen to everything and everybody but formulate you own solution taking the best parts from everywhere.”
“Listen first, speak second. Seek out those with experience and learn from them.”
0 10
Benefits
Job itself
Career opportunity
How they treat you
Project
Past experience
Good working environment
Salary
Company reputation
20 30 405 15 25 35 45
0 10
Appeal/Lifestyle
Family
Physical safety
Convenience
Money
Quality of work
20 30 40 50
0 5
Reputation
Approach to employees
Rate
Project size / Role
Breadth of opportunities
Flat management/no
Previous experience
10 15 20 25 30 35
0 5
Money
Good team
Interesting work
Life balance/Work
Career progression
Job security
Job satisfaction
Location
working environment
10 15 20 25 30 35
0 5
Poor management
Salary dissatisfaction
Job satisfaction
Work environment
Contract change
Family
10 15 20 25 30
0 5
Teamwork
Can do
Communication
Honest/integrity
Influencing skills
Listening skills
Flexible / Adaptable
Safety
Thechnical know how
Attention to detail
10 15 20 25
Our survey has been conducted with experienced and senior personnel in the energy sector. It reveals that the big brand names of major oil companies are attractive to employees. They are familiar with them and like their reputation. They like good management, good teamwork, and good communication. Reward and remuneration are important to employees but not as much as one would expect. They are very conscious of a company’s commitment and attitude to contractors They like to be handled and treated well. They like interesting assignments and, in an industry with hazards employees stress the importance of a sound track record with regard to safety.
At NES Global Talent we know the problem of finding and retaining talent is serious at the present time, but it will get worse. The alarming fact is that the energy sector has an ageing workforce with 50% of its engineers being eligible for retirement within the next ten years. How will the industry ensure that knowledge is passed from workers approaching retirement to new entrants, from engineers of one nationality to another and from one project to another? This is a real dilemma. The industry will also have the challenge of retaining its best staff. We see a workforce that is increasingly global and diverse, increasingly mobile, one that is ready to go whenever and wherever. The industry will have the challenge of logistics, mobilisation, work permits, security etc’.
Everyone in the energy industry will need to play their part in meeting these unparalleled challenges. The brand included.
Energy companies must build strong brands to support the need for a unified approach for talent. They must do this on research insights that help them to understand the desires of different cultures, ages and groups. They must deliver on their brand promise, no matter what country they operate in.
With more cooperation and the sharing of talent data and thinking about the skills needed in the future, planning for future talent needs must be global and encompass all segments of talent.
Integrated people strategies that go beyond recruitment can increasingly consider more marketing tactics and strategies. Human Resource Directors can use:
• Digital and mobile communication tools to reach all projects and convey important messages
• Intelligence tracking tools to measure data that drives retention
• Communication tools to ensure that information is passed from workers approaching retirement to new entrants
Employer Branding needs to be far more than recruitment advertising. Communication campaigns must focus on not just specific jobs, but on the company’s overall brand reputation. Given these challenges is now the time to consider: Should talent be at the heart of the company’s brand strategy?
CLOSING THOUGHTS
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THERE HAS NEvER BEEN A TIME wHEN TALENT MATTERS SO MUCH TO A SECTOR. Your business is driven by your people. HR teams must attract and retain great talent. Act now to strengthen your employer brand and contact us if you need help to do so. We can survey how your brand is perceived internally with your people and externally with potential talent segments. We can take this and shape a recommendation to strengthen your brand appeal for employees. [email protected].
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