Human Resource Development Case Analysis: ADNOC Petroleum Company

Current HRD Situation in the Organization

ADNOC Petroleum Company is considered to be one of the world’s primary energy producers and a catalyst for growth and diversification in Abu Dhabi. The company operates in the hydrocarbon value chain through a range of fully-integrated businesses with the percentage rates drawn from the production, exportation, storage, distribution, and refining as well as the development of the various petrochemical products (ADNOC, 2016c). Over the past four decades, the company has played an inherent role in the development of Abu Dhabi region, producing, managing, and preserving the Emirate’s hydrocarbon reserve in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi government. Since, 1971, the company has created thousands of jobs, promoted by the growth of different knowledge-based economic issues, and contributed to Abu-Dhabi’s global expansion (ADNOV Petroleum Company). Nowadays, the company keeps looking for the innovative ways of increasing the value of the resources, promoting those techniques and approaches that can meet the requirements of the constantly changing market, and promoting a positive influence on Abu Dhabi’s economic development.

Overview of Training and Development and Organizational Development in the Company

The company provides employees with the opportunity to constantly advance their professional skills, starting with the on-the-job experience and individual personal monitoring programs and ending with the classroom-based and online learning training. The programs provide them with the encouragement and support to ensure their success. In 2015, the company spent over AED 306 million to cover more than 2.5 million hours of workers’ training (ADNOC, 2016b). There are many programs, activities and lectures delivered to the employees in order to expand their knowledge and promote their experience.

Analysis of Available Training and Development Activities

There is ADNOC Explorer Program initiated by the organization. The program was launched and developed by the UAE Academy in 2013 to provide trainees with valuable skills for them to become high-performing and productive employees (UAE Academy, 2013). Upon useful accomplishment and assessment, ADNOC’s participants gain transcripts and certifications to introduce their proficiency in Team Leading, Dynamic Decision Making, and Conflict Management (UAE Academy, 2013). Finally, the UAE Academy expresses its concerns over the importance of launching such a program, providing all necessary knowledge and experience to the employees.

Mission and Culture of the Organization Support T & D

The company is guided by the support and constant encouragement of wise leadership, which is composed of an expert group of managers and the CEO. The company is committed to increasing the effect and value of gas and oil asset in order to continue being a reliable and trusted global energy supplier for the long-term advantage of its customers and the country. The company is concerned with the goals and mission with reliance on four major aspects: empowering the company’s performance, improving profitability, investing in human capital, and advancing efficiency (ADNOC, 2016a). At this point, the investment in people is one of the advantages, and the training and development department fits perfectly the company’s mission and vision by implementing multiple programs.

The character of T& D in the Organization: Proactive or Reactive

It can be assumed that ADNOC introduces proactive strategies in terms of training of employees and development of the initiatives. Such an approach is realized through the memorandum held in Abu Dhabi on Vocational D\Education and Training opportunities which can meet the needs of ADNOC Company. The agreement is assigned by the director of Human Resources Deparment Mohammed Shleyeih Al Qubaisi who provides students and technical experts with the ability of being more flexible in a constantly changing world of technology and innovation (Abu Dhabi Vocational Educational & Training Institute, 2013). The importance of training and rehabilitation of citizens should be the strategic goal of the company’s wise leadership and vision, whose purpose is to fulfill the objectives of the citizens’ employment, stressing the fact that ADNOC is focused on incredible effort to support the policy by the rehabilitation of the residents (Abu Dhabi Vocational Educational & Training Institute, 2013). Furthermore, the agreement is also focused on the development of new skills and competencies, as well as on the creation of establishments contributing to the process of education and training. In such a manner, it will be possible to predict possible challenges and problems with the staff that is ready to constantly learn and adjust to new circumstances and contingencies.

T& D Activities and Organizational Focus

As it has been seen from the above facts, Training and Development department is more concerned with improving the employee performance. Therefore, all programs, activities, and projects are aimed at investing in the human capital, which in turn can provide a stronger organizational focus. Performance-based learning is aimed at enhancing and retaining values and mission of the organization.

Philosophy of T& D: Performance Driven or Individual Development

It should be underscored that ADNOC is a performance driven company empowered by the workforce of highly qualified men and women. Hence, investing in the human capital can contribute to the ADNOC’s competitive advantage, as well as its affiliation and commitment to the economic and social development of the company in particular and the community in general (ADNOC, 2016a). At the same time, the performance orientation is revealed through an individualized approach to each employee, aimed at meeting his/her needs. The team of expert professionals succeeds as soon as each member of the team is motivated and satisfied with the working conditions.

Training for New Employees

Training for Employees who Are Changing Roles

Since the company is extremely concerned with constant learning, the new employees are also involved in training activities by cooperating with the leading universities inside and outside the country, making the corresponding adjustments to the existing challenges and mission established by the company.

Technical and Skill Training and Development

While ADNOC continues to promote its business and expand its production, it will need a new generation of highly qualified professions. In this respect, ADNOC is concerned with enhancing the Emirati involvement in the workforce, which is an initiative that can provide new career opportunities for field operators and technicians who have recently graduated from ATI (ADNOC Technical Institute, 2016). Established in 1978, the organization has managed to train more than 5000 technicians and operators who occupy major positions at ADNOC (ADNOC Technical Institute, 2016). The facility focuses on the major pilot training plants that contribute to the learning experience of the employees by promoting opportunities for manual in-plant training, along with job-training experiences.

Management Training and Development

According to Arii (2014), “cooperation in training between ADNOC, universities and JCCP coincides with ADNOC aspiration to develop a broad range of personnel, and the Administration Department is responsible for arranging a meeting with top management” (p. 26). It should also be stressed that the company has launched a great number of training programs aimed at improving strategic management frameworks and providing employees with the theoretical knowledge. Additionally, the company has stated that it possesses a specialized study leave system for employees to gain knowledge in the universities both in the UAE and abroad. Due to the fact that university cooperation corresponds fully with the ADNOC’s policy, the company also encourages the initiative of university collaboration.

Employee Development for Reasons beyond Job Requirements

Employee development is an essential requirement for each organization that shows its loyalty and awareness of the importance of providing and expanding knowledge of employees. Employees are not just a working power bringing in profit and revenues. Therefore, training programs and organizational development are definitely an investment in the company’s development, which is fully realized by ADHOC’s managerial staff.

Organizational Development Efforts in the Organization

Organizational development is premised on the training and development reforms, activities, and programs aimed at creating a powerful educational framework within the company by cooperating with the leading educational establishments and technical institutions. The emphasis is placed on the technical development, along with the need to integrate theoretical knowledge in a practical environment (ADNOC, 2016). Importantly, the current approach to management is associated with the use of technological advancements, such as online learning, to ensure that each individual is promoted to the highest levels of promotion.

Organization’s Progress in Organizational Learning

There is definitely advancement in the sphere of organizational learning. As it can be seen from the above information, the company makes incredible efforts to integrate new learning and knowledge spreading techniques. Furthermore, organizational learning is revealed through a holistic approach to training and growth of employees. The latter are perceived as valuable assets of the company in which money and resources should be implemented by improving their performance, which in turn can contribute to the company’s profitability.

Organization’s Progress in Career Development

ADNOC is in constant search of new, talented professionals in the sphere of technology. It can also provide an extensive evaluation of specific approaches, methods, and activities delivered to the personnel, as well as the potential candidates for the technician position. Career development is revealed through sophisticated frameworks developed by the ADNOC technical institute and other educational programs and establishments that seek for new talents and fresh blood which can contribute to the sustainability and productivity of oil and gas business.

Organization’s System Thinking

It should be stressed that Abu Dhabi National Oil Company operates in the sphere of oil and gas discovery and production through the optimization of technologies and innovative techniques. The gas and oil industry undertakes projects associated with non-petroleum based projects, and ADNOC is the leader in implementing policies in terms of exploration, production, processing, and marketing activities. More importantly, the Abu Dhabi authorities admit the importance of improving human capital, increasing employee productivity, as achieving economic vision and productivity. It also recognizes the core of productivity through national workforce, proposing to increase its working population to ensure economic growth and diversification. Therefore, ADNOC has a sophisticated network and organizational framework allowing the company to work in various dimensions of sustainability. The aspect of sustainability is also possible to achieve through active programs and lectures on training and development.

The T& D Needs in the Organization

The review of the policies and missions of ADNOC in the sphere of training and development has revealed some gaps in terms of the absence of practical activities and simulations essential for the employees to immediately respond to critical situations in case of emergency. Furthermore, the theoretical knowledge is not always effective for approaching the problem, as well as for solving empirical issues. In this respect, Westley (2012) has concluded that simulation training is essential, and additional research is required for determining the dimensions and degrees of simulation to enhance learning. A comparative analysis has to be conducted to define how practices and activities in the ADNOC groups could be compared with those presented in the review. Additionally, the simulation effectiveness within the ADNOC Company should be evaluated in the light of the commonly accepted principles and practices. After all, the comprehensive and clear nomenclature of the training simulation should promote research on the effectiveness and impact of different features and criteria contributing to the learning process. In such a way, it is possible to define the ideal network of safety training in gas and oil field. The findings of the ADNOC research should promote an understanding of how and where the advanced safety simulations can be beneficial for the group.

OD Processes that Need to Be Adjusted

Regardless of the evident improvements and advancements in the training and development activities, there are still a number of problems and challenges to be discussed. To solve the issue, ADNOC focuses on massive challenges in terms of the increasing demand on gas, electricity and production of goods. As a result, there is a significant conflict between the use of gas and the currently existing oil areas for power generation (Victor, Hults, & Thurber, 2011). The company fails to reconsider its organizational structure to focus on the problem of production process. Additionally, due to the industry production gaps, the company can be involved in the trend of reducing the number of professionals who would be willing to work with the organization. The search for new talents and professionals prevents ADNOC’s manager to value the human capital which was already hired and which acquired valuable experience in managing specific critical situations. The task of the company is to create a bridge between experienced employees and the constantly incoming personnel to enhance the retention culture within an organization. To be more exact, the current training programs should pay attention to promoting a higher level of cost-effectiveness among the employees who will be more willing to operate in a cost-controlling environment.

Possible Solutions

In order to solve the issues, a range of alternative solutions could be proposed. First of all, it is essential to make a shift to the digital oil field development, relying on new technologies. For instance, it is possible to incorporate 4D seismic imaging in intelligence initiatives. Investments, however, should be made both in the sphere of digital oil field and a new technical program that will work on the project in which both new and existing employees would be involved. Second, modular approaches could also be propagated to improve an engineering-dominating industry. In fact, modular standardization is presented as the major precursor of success in oil and gas industry. If applied efficiently, modular methods would contribute to the decline of project costs by 15%, facilitating the project delivery up to 20%. Indeed, modularization spread the gamut and can embrace new designs specification to reconsider similar projects, as well as relying on the new state-of-the-art technologies and networks to advance work efforts.

Evaluation of the Proposed Solutions – Pros and Cons

Evidently, the proposal for advancing training and development through the technological integration and management of budget issues could create certain concerns in terms of the necessity to promote these types of recommendations. Nonetheless, the ADNOC Company can be involved in a win-win initiative, where a holistic emphasis can provide a valuable advantage for business and production development. The point is that when introducing purely theoretical part of the training and development program, the employees and potential candidates for technical positions will not be adjusted to a real-life situation, in which coordinating technical operations would be impossible without gaining empirical experience. Therefore, the task of the ADNOC manager is to provide a holistic analysis and framework for integrating both theoretical and practical dimensions to achieve consistency and sustainability.

Recommendations

The recommendations will be limited to three major aspects, such as the theoretical integration, project management, performance evaluation, and practical activities. To begin with, the theoretical integration implies the spread of knowledge and information regarding the new technological advances, which should be combined with the practical activities, such as the development of project management. The latter is possible to introduce through the development of competition between the two teams which may consist of both experienced and new employees.

Despite the fact that capital spending could fall off in the nearest future, the megaprojects are still required to adhere to the long-term global energy demands. To avoid the time and cost overruns that could be characteristic of these projects; the organizations could explore a variety of strategies, involving the pre-project planning, improving project delivery, modularization, and training development. The organization could also invest in the sphere of advanced analytics to promote agile evaluation and monitoring. Evolving dynamics, therefore, is the key to ensuring a transition to the new level of advancement and success within the organization.

Action Plans

Managerial staff should develop a simulation project that should be split between the two groups of employees. The action plan should be developed for the period of three months with three stages for each month. The first month should involve the theoretical level of implementation and provide new information for the employees to be ready for changes. The second stage should involve the development of two major projects in which each team should implement the newest technological advancements in producing oil and gas products. The final stage implies the analysis of performance and testing of the final products. The essence of the competition is to look at the work of two teams, such as brainstorming activities, discussions, and regular meetings. The manager should evaluate the performance in terms of these criteria to be able to highlight gaps, as well as define possible adjustments and solutions that should be introduced. As soon as these changes are introduced, it will be possible for the personnel to become more aware of the changes and the need to constantly advance according to those changes. The approach to management could also be advanced through understanding of financial issues, as well as research and development mechanisms implemented by the staff. In such a manner, it will be possible to expand knowledge and link the financial and practical part of the production process.

Conclusion

ADNOC is an oil and gas company whose primary orientation is the exploration, diversification, and promotion of the latest technological advances. In terms of training and development, ADNOC is one of the pioneering companies that have succeeded in organizing educational and training programs for experienced workers, as well as for students who plan to work in the sphere of gas and oil production in the Gulf region. The major purpose of the report is to provide an analysis of the needs in terms of training and development. It has been reported that the company has managed to establish a holistic network in which the personnel will constantly upgrade their knowledge. ADNOC makes persuasive steps in educating the personnel and searching for new technical experts. However, the programs lack practical applicability, which prevents the employees to adjust to the constantly changing environment. Additionally, the program should also presuppose cost-effective mechanisms of carrying out all stages of preparations. The action plan will focus on filling the gap between the experienced staff working for the company and the potential candidates involved in the educational process. The projects will be split between the two groups with the equal distribution of experienced and new workers. The program will teach employees to coordinate their efforts and cooperate as a team, advancing communication skills, and enhancing interaction for the purpose of achieving mutual goals. Additionally, the managers should persuade their employees that the given program can contribute to the company’s sustainability and improve its reputation in order to create a firm ground for partnerships at the international level.