Introduction
The Abu Dhabi national oil Company was founded in 1971 as an oil and gas producing company. It has expanded its activities to create other affiliated companies and subsidiaries in the Middle East. It runs its operations in both Middle East and Africa. The company is currently producing an amount of oil estimated to be at 2.7 million barrels per day thus placing it among the ten top oil and gas producing companies globally (Linked in 1). It prides of about 3000 employees and 14 subsidiary companies under its management.
The company is run and managed by the Supreme 0petroleum Council (SPC) which is led by H. H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nanyan, who doubles as the president of United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi (Anon, About ADNOC, 1). The council provides the regulatory framework and also oversees the implementation of those polices. Over the recent years, the company has expanded its operations, increased its competitiveness, and grown to become one of the most formidable companies with significant interests in shipping, transportation, marketing, and distribution.
The company has intensified its efforts in the exploration and production through assessment of potential oil and gas reserves and increasing its hydrocarbon recovery by exercising prudence in the management of reservoirs (Linked in 1). To ensure sustainable development ADNOC has been very keen in ensuring that it strikes a balance between the exploitation of natural resources and improvement of people’s welfare (Al-Azab, El-Shorbagy, & Al-Ghais, 19). ADNOC has succeeded in complying with the codes of conduct spelt out under the HSE thus setting the standards for industrial players in the oil and gas industry. Significant strides have been made in the past to meet the ever growing demand from users in the industry. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of human resource training and development systems in ADNOC and their relevance in the organization.
HRM functions
The HRM is the unit that takes care of the human capital (Anon, HRM function in the organization 1). In another way, it is the act of getting things done through other people (Anon, Human Resource Management 1). The human resource manager takes care of the company’s processes thus helping the company to remain competitive on the market. He also ensures internal efficiency of a firm is maintained. The HRM develops roles of the staff thereby facilitating the addition of value by the human resource in the organization. His core duties range from personal administration, recruitment, and staffing of the organization. This extends further to development of leadership in the employees.
Change is inevitable within any form of organization and thus it has to be managed efficiently in order to achieve the company’s objectives efficiently. A successful business strategy geared towards management of change requires the business to be in possession of the right human capital that is capable of implementing the strategy. The human resource manager is mandated with the task of scouting for the appropriate skills and tasks from the wide pool of job seekers. The labor market is however very competitive and expensive and as such the HRM has to employ that approach of recruiting that optimizes the company’s benefits. On bringing new employees on board, the HRM has to spend some more time in inculcating the organizational culture, ethics and knowledge to ensure smooth dissemination of duties.
ADNOC is currently focusing significant attention towards optimizing its processes which include competent assurance, management of talents, appraising of staff performance, assessments, boosting career progression, rewarding of staff and recognition of good performance. As per the CEO, the company aimed at retaining better workers through the introduction of rewarding programs (AlMatroushi & ADNOC 1). Identification of talent and management of the human resource ought to be conducted through a well coordinated system of recruitment, development and retention of quality staff.
The petroleum institute is expected to inject a sizeable number of technical graduates in oil and gas production. As a result, this calls for the company to prepare itself to develop the new human resource so as to boost their productivity. Besides, a corporate culture boosts performance. Most of the forms that have succeeded have integrated the human resource functions with operations in order to be able to implement human resource strategies.
It has become apparent in the recent past that the long term success of a company is influenced by the rate of graduate retention. Thus, it becomes necessary to retain these new entrants. A high graduate turnover in a company can be detrimental to a company by adding unprecedented costs to the company. These costs are manifested in the cost of replacing departing staff, loss of valuable skills, disruptions to business operations and demoralizing of the workforce. It also weighs down on the human resource managers and the line managers who bear the burden of recruiting and training new staff. The success of an organization can thus be measured by the success with which they are able to retain, motivate and maintain competent graduates.
Difference between Training and development in HRM concept
Training is a process of learning programmed behavior. It helps to boost the performance of the employee in his current assignments and also helps prepare them for an intended task. On the other hand, development goes a step ahead to grow the employees’ personality. The individuals grow their potentials and also become better persons in their careers (Articlesbase 1). Training is thus viewed as an event while development is a continuous process that transforms the thinking, actions and activities of an employee in the day to day work.
Training entails educating and inspiring of individuals by improving their knowledge, skills and performance levels (SKC Consulting Pvt. Ltd, 1). On the other hand, development involves transformation of individual behavior, attitudes and al the systems that related to the performance of the organization and directions. For a development process to be successful it must deliver a significant transformation in individual behavior, attitudes and his actions related to the meeting of the organ organizational goals and also achieving quantifiable results. As a result, most companies focus on individual performance inn their training. This works well if the training is in line with the organizational goals and direction. A company hoping to improve its organizational performance must place more emphasis on enhancement of its organizational processes. On the other hand, organizational development is theoretical ion orientation as opposed to training. Strategic development attempts to transform theory into practical applications which become part and parcel of the organization’s future processes.
Training is a short term process while development is a long term educational process as mentioned earlier. Training focuses on giving instruction on how to deal with both technical and mechanical problems. On the other hand development follows theoretical and philosophical educational concepts that develop into an individual employee. The main target group of training is usually non-managerial personnel as opposed to development which is focused at managerial personnel. Training is also job specific and is meant to inculcate a particular skill to an employee as opposed to development whose purpose is to entrench general knowledge. Development seeks to raise managerial effectiveness through a well structured and deliberate learning process (SKC Consulting Pvt. Ltd, 1). It thus helps to create favorable environment for growth of mangers to enable them to meet the future needs of the organizations. Training on its part is geared towards increasing productivity, quality and improving the organizational climate of the company’s human resource.
HRM practices and policies in training and development to ADNOC employees
One of the most important aspects of training and development to ADNOC employees was the building and implementation of the ADNOC E&P Competence Assurance Management system (CAMS) (Al Matroushi, Kochanczyk, Baba-Ali et al, 1). This was rolled out in 2004 to train graduates. The program currently boasts of 700 participants spread in six ADNOC E&P companies placed under 36 functional disciplines. As a result of the program, over 200 graduates are currently serving under supervisory roles. This taught the company significant lessons which helped it to streamline the original plan.
The success realized in the implementation of the CAMS was made possible through the concerted efforts of the line end users and top management. Another important contributor of this success in implementation was the integration of management Information systems which helped to monitor the monthly individual progress in gaining competence. Key performance indicators (KPI) were used to encourage uptake. The emergency of young employees and dynamic change in Hr necessitated the program implementation. This called for continuous recruitment, training and integrations of the workforce into positions of responsibility. These needs were readily addressed by the ADNOC Competency Assurance Management system which demonstrated its ability to function under complex and diverse industrial and cultural environment (Al Matroushi, Kochanczyk, Baba-Ali et al, 1). Lessons learnt from this program provided a model for companies involved in change of competencies and change management.
Assessment of competence levels at Intervals
To implement employee competent assurance processes, competence levels are reassessed at intervals. The company assessors check for any shortfall in competency and then document them after which they are addressed. Health Safety and Environmental training is conducted on employees both in their offices and in their areas of operations. ADNOC also performs in-house training programs which are incorporated along with job training sessions that are carried out at the departmental levels and also HSE refresher courses which are administered onsite. Besides these HSE training programs are external training programs conducted by professional instructors on site and in other Emirates. All company employees, contractors and subcontractors undergo 6 emergency drills annually to equip them with current HSE skills. ADNOC’s HSE staff also benefit from regular seminars and conferences conducted in UAE on Health Safety and Environment.
Formation of a devoted ADNOC E&P HR department
This department was meant to be a link to the company top management team on matters relating to human resource. This helps to ensure that human resource matters are attended promptly as they arise so as to ensure productivity of employees is not impaired whatsoever. It also gives room for fast response to employee issues thereby leading to their satisfaction. This is due to the availability of an enabling working environment that results.
Initiation of a performance based reward system
The company also initiated a performance based reward system to motivate the graduates. This made sure that they feel appreciated, valued and motivated which in turn helped to boost productivity. Its success was made possible by use of a comprehensive personal development plan, competent based assessment modules, development of coaching standards and monthly progressive reports. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) was also integrated into the human resource management to help evaluate the performance of the human resource. ADNOC in addition undertakes to remind graduates their potential and career expectations. It also attempts to create and maintain a positive and motivating work environment.
Use of the Health Safety and Environmental Management System
The company launched a system called Health Safety and Environmental Management System (HSDEMS) in 1998 to provide along term sustainable solutions to health, safety and environmental management. The company uses the organizational standards alongside the guidelines provided by ISO 14001 and ISO 18001 certification standards. This helps the company to run on the best management practices. The human resource management practices are informed by Abu Dhabi laws and UAE federal regulations. Internal audits are periodically conducted to evaluate compliance to these laws.
Practice in training and development in ADNOC
ADNOC recognizes the importance of maintaining continuous growth and development of its employees. The fruits of this recognition is a well motivated, effective and highly productive workforce. This goal has been achieved through the creation of a suitable learning environment for its employees. For example, the company creates an enabling environment for the employees to further their competencies and skills which helps them and the company to be successful.
The company offers its employees world class training and programs at different stages of their careers. ADNOC employs the best management practices by international standards that are competence based to nurture human resource skills thus enabling them to ensure growth of their employee careers. The training is usually geared towards narrowing the identified gaps in skills thus acting as a compliment to the on the job learning experience.
To illustrate ADNOC’s commitment to continuous professional development, the employees are given plenty of opportunities to achieve their highest possible potential (Anon, Training and Development 1). This is achieved through learning experience on the job, formal training in classes, and transfer of skills within workgroups and sometimes through partnership with other companies. The on going development is informed by the rapidly changing information age and the state of art business environment that characterize the modern careers. The company has thus been trying hard to keep up with the challenges of the ever changing work environments which influence the output of its employees.
Comparison between the ADNOC HRM practices and policies in training and development with thesis & hypotheses of HRM function
ADNOCs’s human resource training and development systems have largely been successful thus bringing huge success to the company. For example, the company has succeeded in recruiting the right workforce with the relevant skills for the right jobs and in the right time. This has enabled the firm to meet its project demands timely and effectively. The human resource managers therefore recognize the huge importance of developing the employee capability. Another important gain of the system was the ability to align the employee career and development of their competency with ADNOC’s organization goals thereby achieving measurable results.
ADNOC has also been successful in developing unique strategies to meet the needs of its human resource. These include Competence Assurance Management Systems among many other approaches. The company has been able to create the right environment for effective implementation and learning besides developing strategies to evaluate the impact of human resource training and development. A recognition and reward system was also put in place to motivate the company staff. This was informed by the knowledge that due recognition and rewarding of employees on performance basis increases the productivity of those workers. This is made possible by elevated motivation to perform and achieve that result. Competition to achieve also emerges among employees which lead to an increase in their total productivity. The reward system arte motivated by the need to attract, retain and motivate workers which is highly emphasized by ADNOC. To ensure that a reward system motivates the desired behavior, the rewarding strategy must be based on performance. To increase its effectiveness, rewards of performance must be a continuous process rather than a one time event (Anon, Performance rewards 2).
Managing change in an organization is a complex processes that calls for patience and tact. This is particularly more difficult in the oil and gas industry whose operating environment is rapidly changing as a result of economic changes. The human resource methodology in place in the company has been tailor made to suite the local working environment of the company in UAE. This has made it possible for the employees to own the strategies since they are internally generated and thus can be identified with.
Conclusion
Since it was founded in 1971 as an oil and gas producing company, ADNOC has diversified its activities to form other companies and subsidiaries and thus forming an integrated system of gas and oil industry in United Arab Emirates. The company currently produces about 2.7 million barrels of oil per day thus placing it the list of the 10 top oil and gas producing companies globally. The company has intensified its efforts in the exploration and production through assessment of potential oil and gas reserves and increasing its hydrocarbon recovery by exercising prudence in the management of reservoirs.
The HRM is the unit that takes care of the human resource capital in an organization (Anon, HRM function in the organization 1). It is also said to be the act of getting things done through other people (Anon, Human Resource Management 1). Among the many duties of human resource manager is taking care of the company’s processes thus helping the company to remain competitive on the market. While training is a process of learning programmed behavior, development goes a step ahead to grow the employees’ personality. Training educates and inspires individuals by improving their knowledge, skills and performance levels while development transforms individual behavior and attitudes organizational performance.
Training is a short term process while development is a long term educational process as mentioned earlier. The training and development of ADNOC employees was enhanced by the introduction of ADNOC E&P Competence Assurance Management system (Al Matroushi, Kochanczyk, Baba-Ali et al, 1). This was facilitated by the integration of management Information systems which helped to monitor the monthly individual progress in gaining the much sought competence. In-house training programs are incorporated along with job training sessions that are carried out by departmental heads and also onsite HSE refresher courses. The company created a dedicated ADNOC E&P human resource department to focus exclusively on human resource matters.
The company also undertook a performance based reward system to motivate the graduates; a move that made sure that they feel appreciated, valued and motivated which in turn helped to boost productivity. ADNOC later launched the Health Safety and Environmental Management System (HSDEMS) in 1998 to provide along term sustainable solutions to health, safety and environmental management. The employees of the company are offered world class training and programs at different stages of their careers to ensure they remain relevant to the current needs of production processes. To develop human resource skills, the company applies internationally acclaimed best management practices through a competence based approach thus enabling them to expand functionality and growth of employee careers.
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