CASE STUDY
Mapping the Offshore Competition
Client
A leading multinational oil and gas company
Sector
Oil & Gas
Scope
Talent and organisation insights into six key industry competitors
Location
The Gulf of Mexico & Guyana
The Challenge
A leading multinational oil and gas company wished to gain comprehensive talent and organisation insights into the deep water wells operations of six key industry competitors in the Gulf of Mexico.
Highly sought-after talent in this sector receive regular contact from recruiters due to both the advanced technical complexities of their roles, and the changing landscape of ownership and operation of the sector’s largest assets. The regulatory environment of The Gulf of Mexico also makes the area one of the most legislated places, globally. Over the course of the project, companies, contractors and partners began to divest, or invest less, in the Gulf of Mexico and start to move to new deep water areas, such as Guyana. Parkhouse Bell added this region to the project as well.
Significant and rising costs of deepwater offshore activity may also limit current activity as well as restrict future access without long-term investment.
Gaining insight into the current organisation structures, as well as the potential long-term career opportunities, was necessary to create the full picture of experienced employees in this narrow and specialised talent pool.
Our Solution
Parkhouse Bell researched the sector thoroughly, including maintaining industry knowledge of every recent partnership, investment and sale within the offshore oil landscape. Learning industry jargon and understanding technicalities surrounding ownership and operation was necessary before conversations were held. When speaking to current industry talent, we sought to not only confirm their place within the current structure of their organisation, but also confirm where they were in their career journey and whether they would be interested in new opportunities immediately or after a certain amount of time and progression.
As the client was not interested in making immediate hires, we held confidential, conversations with various potential candidates within each organisation to develop a clear picture of organisation structure with high-level detail. We held multiple conversations at multiple levels within each business to verify structure, from function head down three or four levels in order to look at both career and business trajectories. This also required cross-referencing against all published organisation information on secondary sources such as company websites, LinkedIn, annual reports, news reports, and recent sector press releases. The dynamic contractor landscape, and the rate of acquisition were taken into account during conversations and research as well. Staying up to date with how each competitor reacted to recent developments, such as the use of AI, was also crucial when having conversations with the industry talent.
The Outcome
Through talent mapping, we identified 186 individuals spanning the full scope of areas of interest:
- Deepwater Gulf of Mexico talent, or Deepwater Guyana talent
- Global deepwater leadership (to inform a wider understanding of structures supporting the Gulf’s key competitor operations)
- Key digital talent supporting deepwater activity in the Gulf region
From the conversations held with 186 people, 126 individuals were mapped to form the core initial set of wells engineers and those in charge of wells engineering operations. From within that core set, 80 people comprised the Senior Management cohort and 46 made up a more junior level of management.
Parkhouse bell also held further conversations with engaged talent, interested to hear about further opportunities in their field. We found that for the talent cohort currently looking to move, it was easier to gauge interest with concrete opportunities, whether immediate or with a specific timeline in place.
Most respondents did not indicate a strong preference for one well-known company over another within the industry. The top attraction factors for talent considering a new employer were:
- Culture and company values
- Types of work and project opportunities within their role
- Future plans and growth of the organisation
- Learning and career development opportunities
Within the cohort, both “ready now” and “future talent” were identified, which helped to add diverse candidates and female talent to the potential pipeline. Parkhouse Bell were also happy to continue holding conversations within the talent pool after the initial project timeline, due to the nature of the cohort’s limited availability when stationed offshore.
These insights will help the client in the future structure of their own organisation, as well as allow them to make informed decisions about both new hires and new areas of operation.
CASE STUDY
Mapping the Offshore Competition
Client
A leading multinational oil and gas company
Sector
Oil & Gas
Scope
Talent and organisation insights into six key industry competitors
Location
The Gulf of Mexico & Guyana
The Challenge
A leading multinational oil and gas company wished to gain comprehensive talent and organisation insights into the deep water wells operations of six key industry competitors in the Gulf of Mexico.
Highly sought-after talent in this sector receive regular contact from recruiters due to both the advanced technical complexities of their roles, and the changing landscape of ownership and operation of the sector’s largest assets. The regulatory environment of The Gulf of Mexico also makes the area one of the most legislated places, globally. Over the course of the project, companies, contractors and partners began to divest, or invest less, in the Gulf of Mexico and start to move to new deep water areas, such as Guyana. Parkhouse Bell added this region to the project as well.
Significant and rising costs of deepwater offshore activity may also limit current activity as well as restrict future access without long-term investment.
Gaining insight into the current organisation structures, as well as the potential long-term career opportunities, was necessary to create the full picture of experienced employees in this narrow and specialised talent pool.
Our Solution
Parkhouse Bell researched the sector thoroughly, including maintaining industry knowledge of every recent partnership, investment and sale within the offshore oil landscape. Learning industry jargon and understanding technicalities surrounding ownership and operation was necessary before conversations were held. When speaking to current industry talent, we sought to not only confirm their place within the current structure of their organisation, but also confirm where they were in their career journey and whether they would be interested in new opportunities immediately or after a certain amount of time and progression.
As the client was not interested in making immediate hires, we held confidential, conversations with various potential candidates within each organisation to develop a clear picture of organisation structure with high-level detail. We held multiple conversations at multiple levels within each business to verify structure, from function head down three or four levels in order to look at both career and business trajectories. This also required cross-referencing against all published organisation information on secondary sources such as company websites, LinkedIn, annual reports, news reports, and recent sector press releases. The dynamic contractor landscape, and the rate of acquisition were taken into account during conversations and research as well. Staying up to date with how each competitor reacted to recent developments, such as the use of AI, was also crucial when having conversations with the industry talent.
The Outcome
Through talent mapping, we identified 186 individuals spanning the full scope of areas of interest:
- Deepwater Gulf of Mexico talent, or Deepwater Guyana talent
- Global deepwater leadership (to inform a wider understanding of structures supporting the Gulf’s key competitor operations)
- Key digital talent supporting deepwater activity in the Gulf region
From the conversations held with 186 people, 126 individuals were mapped to form the core initial set of wells engineers and those in charge of wells engineering operations. From within that core set, 80 people comprised the Senior Management cohort and 46 made up a more junior level of management.
Parkhouse bell also held further conversations with engaged talent, interested to hear about further opportunities in their field. We found that for the talent cohort currently looking to move, it was easier to gauge interest with concrete opportunities, whether immediate or with a specific timeline in place.
Most respondents did not indicate a strong preference for one well-known company over another within the industry. The top attraction factors for talent considering a new employer were:
- Culture and company values
- Types of work and project opportunities within their role
- Future plans and growth of the organisation
- Learning and career development opportunities
Within the cohort, both “ready now” and “future talent” were identified, which helped to add diverse candidates and female talent to the potential pipeline. Parkhouse Bell were also happy to continue holding conversations within the talent pool after the initial project timeline, due to the nature of the cohort’s limited availability when stationed offshore.
These insights will help the client in the future structure of their own organisation, as well as allow them to make informed decisions about both new hires and new areas of operation.
