Accelerating_Technical_Competency_in_Oil_&_Gas

PROCEEDINGS, INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION Thirtieth Annual Convention & Exhibition, May 2007 Title : Accelerating Technical Professionals Development; Technical Competency Development Program in PT Medco E&P Indonesia Author/Presenter Co-author : Tia N. Ardianto : Salmar Ngadikan PT Medco E&P Indonesia Accelerating Technical ProfessionalsProfessional Development Through; Technical Competency Development Program in at PT Medco E&P Indonesia In responding to the great crew change in the oil and gas industry, over hiring fresh graduates engineers/geoscientists has become one of the solutions for many companies. Medco E&P, is an Indonesian independent Indonesian oil and gas company, has been doing thetaken similar steps similar approach by recruiting almost 200 fresh graduate engineers and geoscientist in the last 3 years. Beside After one year of intensive acceleration accelerated training program for fresh graduates, the company has follow up program to develop the technical competency for all technical professional staffs. In 2005, the company had established the a competency development program assisted by external consultants. This is a customized technical competency model based on the The uniqueness of theuniqueness of the organization, operation and the future technical capabilities required. were the base in customizing the technical competency model. After establishing the competency model, 80 young engineers and geoscientist were assessed to identify the organizational technical competency gaps & strength. We had also developed the internal capability to assess competency by appointing and training senior level technical professionals to be internal assessors. The assessment process starts with self assessment then interview with experts in related discipline to validate the result. To support this process the a web based self assessment tool was implemented to ensure engineers and geoscientists have access to the system. Mentoring program was put in place as a critical part of the technical competency development program to customize tailor different approaches to meet individual’s development needs. The main challenge is the scarcity of the senior/middle technical professionals to be assigned as assessors or mentors, while the need to accelerate the development of young engineers and geoscientist is increasing. In conclusion, the technical competency development program provides the company a structured way to enhance and accelerate the competency development of technical professionals and encourage interaction between senior andto juniors which supports the knowledge and technology and knowledge transfer within various disciplines in the company. Introduction PT Medco E&P Indonesia, an independent oil & gas company with average production of 80,000BOEPD and 21 blocks (producing, development and exploration blocks) across Indonesia is currently facing common problems that are now common in the oil and gas industry, such as a great big crew change, technical challenges associated with managingin mature fields and blocks at different stages of the stages asset life cycles of the blocks acquired. Back toIn the 1990s the company had stopped the recruitment activities for ten years which resulted in a big gap in mid level professionals (fig.1) therefore we need to prepare the successor by over hiring fresh graduates engineers/geoscientists. Medco E&P has been recruitingrecruited almost 200 fresh graduate engineers and geoscientist since 2002 . The company moved from functional based organization to hybrid asset based organization in 2004, instead of full asset based organization it is part of the corporate strategy that the company has to utilize resources more efficiently to anticipate the scarcity of resources in the industry. Therefore aside from fresh graduate recruitment and development program the company has to manage the technical competency development of all technical professionals including the mid level and senior professionals. Referring to the company’s organization structure the technical capabilities development is being handled by Capability & Services Management (CSM) Division under Technical Shared Services Director which also includes responsible for managing acceleration program and facilitating technical competency development program 1. Graduate Engineer Trainee & Graduate Geoscientist Trainee With the increasing demand of technical manpower to support the number of assets and the aging workforce of our key personnel we need to prepare the successors to ensure the business continuity of the company. The objectives of the program are:    To prepare future leaders & high flyers To maintain organization’s capability by recruiting and developing highly qualified candidates To support the organizational competency by reinforcing the knowledge, skills and best practice sharing (from seniors to juniors) The critical factor of both programs is the recruitment process there are five stages of selection process applied: Paper/administrative Aptitude Test Interview Psychological Test Medical Test The first batch of Graduate Engineer Trainee(GET) Program was launched in 2002, each batch we recruited 40-47 fresh graduates from various engineering background to be developed as engineers working various disciplines of engineering. In this program, we balanced the technical and non-technical competency as part of the curriculum to ensure that the graduates meet the requirement to be highly qualified technical professionals and leaders. The methodology applied for this program is the combination of: - Six (6) months of classroom, field trip - Six (6) months on the job assignment - On going mentoring During this program there are two (2) stages of evaluation, after the first six months they have to present paper on topic of interest to be one of the consideration for the committee to decide on their on the job assignment. After the second six months the final evaluation for the GET participants where they have to present their paper based on second six(6) months on the job assignment. The panel of experts will evaluate the paper presentation and decide whether the participants can be hired as an Associate Engineer and ensure that they are being assigned on the right place. This program hasd proved to accelerate the development of engineers to be independent competent engineers in 2-3 years which in average normally takes 5 years to become only 2-3 years. Some of the GET batch-1 participants haved been appointed as department head in the field after 3 years of working experience thatwhich used to beis normally designated for engineers with at least 5 years experience, only after 3 years of working experience.. Graduate Geoscientist Trainee (GGT) program is an acceleration program to develop fresh graduate geologists and geophysicists. The company started the program in 2006 to anticipate the technical manpower scarcity in exploration area. With one year of classroom training, field orientation, on the job assignment and mentoring the participants are expected to acquire skills and knowledge equal to three (3) years of working experience in similar field. The methodology applied for this program is similar with GET program mixed ofthat includes classroom training, field orientation, on the job assignment and mentorship. The difference is for GGT they will be based in head quarters in Jakarta while for GET most of them will be assigned to operation areas. 2. Technical Competency Development In 2005, the company had established the competency development program assisted by external consultants. The uniqueness of the organization, operation and the future technical capabilities required were the basise in customizing the technical competency model. After establishing the competency model, 80 young engineers and geoscientist were assessed to identify the organizational technical competency gaps & strength. We had also developed the internal capability to assess by appointing and training senior level technical professionals to be internal assessors. 2.1. Technical Competency Model Medco E&P has to establish its own technical competency model as the reference to develop competency of technical professionals. The technical competency model had been developed based on company’s unique characteristic and also the nature of the organization. The most important stage of establishing the competency model is identifying technical core competences of the company which based on the analysis of production data and asset profile to ensure the development really focus on the most critical needs. The technical competency model can be reviewed if there is any change in the organization and the increasing demand to apply new technology/science. 2.2. Technical Competency Assessment Technical competency assessment is a process to assess the proficiency level of technical professional based on the technical competency model of discipline related. Capabilities & Services Management division facilitates the process starting from administer the self assessment invitation, arranging the assessment interview and compiling the assessment result. The assessment process starts with self assessment, engineers/geologists/geophysicists will receive invitation by email to do self assessment by accessing Medco Competency Interface/MCI (a web based self assessment tools). After they complete the self assessment then continue with interview assessment to validate and confirm the proficiency level based on the self assessment data. The result of assessment process will be the individual technical proficiency, the strength and areas of improvement compare to the required level for the incumbent’s position. This result can also be used to identify the strength and gap in the technical competency of the overall department/division. The individual development plan prepared by the assessors for each individual they assessed. 2.3. Blended Learning Model To ensure the effectiveness of technical competency development program the company implementing the blended learning model which refer to IDP. The blended learning model is the combination of different people development methods (fig.3): Independent learning Courses (in-house & public courses) Applied project work Mentorship Mentorship was put in place as a critical part of the technical competency development program to customize different approaches to meet individual’s development needs. The main challenge is the scarcity of the senior/middle technical professionals to be assigned as assessors or mentors, while the need to accelerate the development of young engineers and geoscientist is also increasing. 3. Conclusion The technical competency development program being implemented in Medco E&P provides a structured way to enhance and accelerate the competency development of technical professionals and encourage interaction between senior andto junior staffs which supports the knowledge and technology transfer.. In the future soft competency model will be established to complete the technical competency model to ensure that the company has clear competency models which can support overall improvement in employees’ skills, career opportunities and performance. WORKFORCE DISTRIBUTION 56 50-55 40-49 30-39