Remaining Competitive with Less Experienced Personnel

Organizations faced with the challenge of bridging the age gap between skilled professionals approaching retirement and the young professionals whose success is critical to the future of the business also find themselves having to fill critical employee roles with less experienced personnel. 

There are only two solutions to filling these roles: retain the personnel who are already in them or train the younger professionals to move into them.  Successful organizations will combine both strategies to maximize favorable impact.   You are likely already familiar with and implementing the strategies of bringing back retirees as mentors and trainers and implementing training and development programs to quickly make new employees fully operational.  But there may be an area of excellence that you haven't implemented: fully integrating your human resource professionals into your strategic planning.

What role does your HR department play in hiring less experienced personnel capable of handling the challenges of your organization?  The main function of a human resource department is to properly staff an organization; therefore, the HR department must understand the mission, goals, and strategies of the company they work for.   The new business reality is that companies must be able to maintain and grow current operations with less experienced staff. 

Executives and managers spend countless hours defining strategy and setting direction that they believe will result in increased profitability, effectiveness, and efficiency for their organization.  But if this plan is not clearly conveyed to and understood by the department responsible for finding and training the personnel who will implement it, how successful will it be?  For instance, you have a goal to increase your company's participation in shale plays; does your HR department know your main competitors and what they offer their employees? Are they familiar with the technology involved and training required?  If the answer is yes, your company is better prepared to locate, compete for, and train the personnel necessary to achieve that goal.  Even when the pool is filled with smaller fish, the HR departments that know and understand the goals are able to select better qualified candidates faster. 

Executive leadership can effectively bring HR into the game by:

 •   Giving them a seat at the strategic table.  View your HR department as a profitability contributor.  Demand that they work synergistically with other departments to improve core competencies and competitive advantages.

 •    Challenge them to provide answers to strategic challenges from an HR standpoint.  How can they help improve revenue streams, increase cash, and decrease costs?

•     Help your HR department establish a vision that speaks to their value to the organization.  Keep them focused on activities that directly help the company achieve its broad business objectives. 

As you continue and even grow operations with less experienced personnel, you must use every resource at your disposal to gain the advantage.  Mentoring and training of hires is important, but ensuring that you make the right hire is even more important.   At Collarini Energy Staffing, we are backed by the full experience and technical knowledge of personnel with more than 30 years in the oil and gas industry.  We stand by ready to assist your in-house staffing professionals or be your outsourced staffing professionals.       

Talent Pool

Project Engineer with a master's degree in mechanical engineering and 11 years of experience working for major and large independent oil and gas companies and engineering and construction firms. Experienced in coordinating engineering design activities, setting up construction support functions, and defining the scope, quality, cost, and schedule controls for FPSO facilities, gas gathering and compression facilities, and offshore production platforms. Additionally experienced in tankage and fluid transport systems, refinery, petrochemical, and chemical process facilities. Geographic areas worked include California, Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska, and Nigeria.  Ask for F1512.

Generation Y employees are currently in the building phase of their careers.  Compared to their parents, baby boomers, Generation Y employees are expected to switch jobs on average 6 – 10 times throughout their careers whereas many baby boomers worked for one company throughout their entire careers.  Generation Y is preparing and very concerned about the future.

According to a study by AchieveGlobal, 37% of Generation Y employees stated that career advancement was their number one goal: the factor that most motivated them in the workplace.  And the most motivating factor for baby boomers who are now close to the end of their careers, according to this study, was flexibility in schedule/time off to do things outside of work, which came in at 37% also.

Generation Y employees present an attitude of maturity and forethought.  Work life balance is a factor, but Generation Y employees are thinking long-term.  They are being trained to take full control of their professional future in order to make sure they are progressing every step of the way.

Opportunities for recent graduates to advance early in their careers and in their organizations come from the following strategies.

Ask for more work

 •    this shows an interest and desire in what you are doing

 •    volunteer on committees whether it's within the organization or outside as part of a networking group; this gives valuable experience and broadens your skill sets for future opportunities

Find a mentor

•    either inside or outside your company

 •    mentors are known to have influence on promotions

Talk to your boss

•    share your career goals with him or her

•    displays maturity and confidence

•    share that you want the company to reach its goals as well as you reaching your goals

Be innovative

•    find a way to think outside of the box and to present new ideas

•    don't wait to be told what to do

Continue learning

•    educate yourself to keep your skills very up to date

•    find ways to continue to acquire new knowledge

Dress to impress

•    always dress professionally

•    when you look good, you feel good

•    as you dress excellently, you must remember to perform excellently

Ask for feedback

•    ask for advice on how you can achieve your individual goals of career advancement

•    find out if you are contributing to the achievement of the company's goals

Always make sure to identify your possible career advancement opportunities and don't be afraid to speak your mind.  It is each individual professional's responsibility to find avenues for growth.  When it comes to career opportunities, there is only one individual who can create them, and that person is you! 

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About Us

Connecting the Industry's Experts...

Collarini Energy Staffing Inc. is a full-service agency specializing in the placement of energy and EPC personnel and including the disciplines listed below (other supporting personnel are managed upon request):

Accountants and finance personnel Administrative and clerical personnel Business analysts Civil and architectural engineers Drilling engineers Drilling operations supervisors Executives Geologists, geophysicists, and petrophysicists Health, safety, and environmental personnel Human resources personnel Instrument and electrical engineers IT professionals Land, legal, and supporting personnel Materials and corrosion engineers

Naval architects Operations supervisors Pipeline, riser, and subsea engineers Process engineers Procurement engineers Production engineers Project managers and support personnel Quality control and inspection personnel Reservoir engineers Sales and marketing professionals Technical writers Technicians, drafting and graphic Technicians, engineering and geoscience

Guiding Careers to the Next Level...

Collarini Career Management applies its deep understanding of the career paths of technical professionals in the E&P and EPC communities to help companies and professionals build successful organizations and careers. We leverage Collarini's unique combination of industry knowledge and technical expertise to guide companies and individuals during transition, training existing employees for high performance, and designing customized technical training plans for companies and individuals.

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Contact Us
10497 Town and Country Way, Suite 950 Houston, Texas 77024 832.251.0553

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