The labor shortage in the U.S. is reaching a critical point, and a widening skills gap is making problems even worse.
Experienced workers are retiring, and the succeeding workforce has not kept up. A report by Accenture warns, "We believe the growing workforce deficit will, in fact, be a greater barrier to oil and gas companies' upturn success than any deficits that might exist in capital, equipment or supplies."
Keeping experienced employees is more challenging than ever. Employee expectations have evolved, and organizations need to keep up. An increasing skills gap between experienced employees and the incoming workforce makes it even harder for organizations to achieve their goals.
Employees were once focused on meeting their responsibilities and making the boss happy. Now, people entering the workforce expect to understand all aspects of their jobs and know where their careers are headed.
This shift in expectations can be good. Employees who are looking for career advancement are more open to learning new skills. This attitude is encouraging for organizations, but to take advantage, they must understand and meaningfully address these expectations.
Using experienced instructional designers and subject matter experts in the industrial skills area, HSI has developed training programs and off-the-shelf training to help organizations retain experienced workers and close the skills gap.
Once they have a structured training program, organizations can design employee progression plans to provide a foundation for career development. With the training program as a base, companies develop strong onboarding programs and accurately evaluate the knowledge of their incumbent workforce to identify where additional training is needed.
A strong onboarding program is important because it acclimates employees to their role, their organization's philosophies and training the organization offers to ensure employee success. It also engages employees, creating workers committed to the company's success. HSI training plans provide transparency so employees know what training they need to progress in their career. Using these training plans, organizations can create progression plans and prepare their employees to take on increasingly complex responsibilities. The training and progression plans also help with succession planning by identifying the employees best suited for advancement and preparing for the impact of employee transitions.
HSI helps organizations develop their training programs using a job task analysis to review and update job descriptions and identify the specific skills required to perform each role. HSI then analyzes existing workers' knowledge levels and identifies the gaps.
Once the training gaps are identified, HSI provides resources to close that gap through online, instructor-led or on-the-job training. HSI focuses specifically on the midstream and downstream areas of the oil and gas and petrochemical industries with its Process and Refining Operations program, which covers areas such as refining operations, process tanks and separators, and process sampling and testing. HSI also helps organizations with programs on mechanical maintenance; instrumentation; and control, safety, health and plant science.
An organization's training program should provide its employees the skills and knowledge to be safe and productive on the job. To make sure employees retain the information provided, training should be comprehensive and engaging. If employees are engaged and encouraged to participate during their training, they are more likely to retain the information presented to them and perform successfully on the job.
HSI uses different types of interactions to engage workers. One of the most effective is 3-D animation. This animation dissects large-scale equipment, demonstrating its functionality so workers understand how it operates. They see how components perform so they have a comprehensive understanding of the equipment.
Organizations, particularly in the oil and gas and petrochemical industries, are facing increasing labor shortages. Training and progression plans are the key to retaining employees and closing the skills gap for the upcoming workforce. Companies must make sure their training and progression plans are effective to prepare workers for today's business challenges.
For more information, visit www.hsi.com or call (800) 447-3177.
