FEATURE: LARRAINE BOORMAN
outcomes of training programmes. Ownership of competencies must be embedded more deeply for the simple reason that if you have the right skills and competency in place, the safety will naturally follow.
It now looks as if we can place a value on training in the UK as a whole. A recent European research paper, produced by the Institute for the Study of Labour, looked at investment in and time spent on vocational training and showed that for every hour spent on training, the workforce accelerates growth of GDP by 0.55%.
It’s a startling statistic that such a relatively small amount of training time can have such an impact on the wider economy.
A previous report from the CBI also highlighted that a business is 25% more likely to survive a downturn in the economy if it invests in training. In a cyclical industry like oil and gas, investing in future skills needs to be top of the agenda for all presidents, chief executive officers, managing directors and other senior management roles across the energy mix.
These are the people who need to be at the forefront of changing how we manage the skills issue. They are the ones who have the authority to effect change at the highest levels in an organisation and ensure it is cascaded down.
A previous report from the CBI also highlighted that a business is 25% more likely to survive a downturn in the economy if it invests in training.
European data shows that 90% of cross- industry employers in the UK invest in training compared to an EU average of just 60%. Within the oil and gas industry significant amounts of time and money are also invested in growing the skills of our workforce. But if people truly are our best asset, how does the investment we make in their future compare to the infrastructure spend, and are we getting a proportional return on our investment?
Workforce competency and the need to secure skills for the future are inextricably linked, and there is a lot of truth behind the statement that the industry should think about skills in the same way it thinks about safety.
Training is not always converted into more effective skills utilisation as many organisations confuse competency with training: training is providing skills and knowledge, and competence is the measuring of skills and knowledge in the work place.
Undertaking a course does not mean workers are necessarily competent in their role. OPITO’s Tick Safety Not Boxes study found a clear indication that industry needs are changing, and companies are increasingly looking for proof of their contractor’s delivery of workforce compliance and competence.
Certification does not equate to competence and more attention needs to be paid to the
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Safety should never be compromised and I believe the increase in safety measures actually serves to demonstrate even further the need for the sector to find the right people to continue pushing it forward.
While the industry recognises the need to address the skills issue, one of the key challenges for us is in driving a fundamental change, from it being something we do in the good times, to being something we do all the time.
Competency should flow through a business, not just be confined to one department within a company which exists to demonstrate compliance and keep the regulatory bodies at bay.
Communicating the positive benefits the right kind of investment in skills can make is surely the best way to change how the decision makers in our industry view the skills issue and the importance they place on it.
The ability to achieve this goal lies with the industry. It is up to every president, every chief operating office and managing director to break the status quo and look at this issue afresh. It is only by embracing the challenge and committing to skills in the same way we do for safety that we will achieve the step- change we need.
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