Online Journal for E&P Geoscientists

Shrivastava, Chandramani ^*1; Mani, Manisha²
(1) Wireline, Schlumberger, Muscat (MCT), Oman.
²Independent Management Consultant, Lagos (LOS), Nigeria.

Managing young and restless geoscientists can be one of the most challenging jobs for an oil industry human resources (HR) department. The recent downturn in the economy has added to these woes. This study provides a methodology to address the concerns of geoscientists in the upstream oil industry.

The prevalent HR management practices might need some tweaking to extract the best from young geoscientists while keeping them focused. A geoscientist is not only a geoscientist by training, but develops into one by nature as well, perhaps influenced by the immensity of the timescale and spatial size. And, the younger generation at times finds it difficult to focus on the alignment of their aspirations with the business needs. Managing their capabilities and aspirations within the organization’s limitations is of paramount importance.

An ICE theory is being proposed that consists of Intent (I), Content (C) and Execution (E). It advocates a strategy where the intent of the organization is augmented with HR policies to be executed by top management. A three-pronged strategy can be devised to address the issue of managing young geoscientists in the ICE framework.

The first one deals with the students fresh out of University where the efforts start as early as getting involved with them during their internships, or in some cases even in deciding their curricula. Addressing the concerns of mid-career hires is the second cog in the wheel of strategy. This is as important as managing the fresh-outs since they are new to the system. The most important aspect of the strategy is managing the established talent pool of geoscientists, who are potential mid-career hires for other organizations.

The strategy discussed here can be helpful in keeping young geoscientists motivated and dedicated towards achieving goals of mutual benefit for themselves and for their organizations.