The global energy revolution is in progress. The transition has been happening for decades, but this energy transition is finally picking up its pace, bred by technological innovations and inventions that have lowered the cost of decarbonization. Yet, as the advanced technology is only as useful as the people who operate it, one of the biggest impacts of this change will be the human resource transition.
In this aspect, considering the global sector, the role of Human Resource (HR) leaders will be very crucial. As the organizations adapt to a changing environment and get themselves ready for this energy transition, the HR teams will need to step up their practices to become strategic partners for leadership teams & advisors, hence, the Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Bridging the cultural gap
According to the HR team at Petronas, their approach was simple: to identify, group select the employees who demonstrated higher levels of flexible thinking. Afterwards, this group was encouraged to further develop their creativity in looking for out-of-the-box solutions that will help achieve the company’s sustainability goals & objectives. Cultural gap can be narrowed down once new ideas and solutions are created, however, energy companies face a new hurdle – lack of expertise to build and scale these opportunities into new ventures. HR’s role in this is to tackle these issues & determine where talent gaps are and helping the companies formulate plans – and develop those missing skills internally or to hire external talent for the latter.
HR needs to restructure and reshape their mindset which will act as a holistic cultural shift, which will help accomplish these new goals.
Ensuring balanced transition
The benefits unlocked through the green global transition will far outweigh the negatives of fossil fuels. HR leaders are responsible for ensuring that affected employees whose jobs are affected also reap the benefits of the energy transition. Therefore, HR needs to strategize ways to balance operational excellence of the current workforce and at the same time, build new capabilities to meet the demand of the transition.
Building leaders of the future
One of the most important roles of HR will be to make sure that their employees become the leaders in their respective fields in the future. Energy companies are at the forefront of a global transformation. Therefore, up skilling and motivating the employees; their jobs affected by technological advancement and the ongoing energy transition is not only the call of the hour, but vital to the success of our successful global energy transition. As the HR teas will provide easy access to information and expertise, people at all levels of an organization can make increasingly informed decisions.
Attracting & hiring the right talent
Being aware of the global energy transition but not putting it into action will cause mayhem. So, to avoid this, the HR teams need to make sure that they sort out their messaging, their pre-hiring processes and attract nothing but the best for their specific fields and sectors. Post that, they need to hire the right talent for the right job.
Performance Management
Another important role of HR will be to look at all the organizational systems, incentives, rewards, compensation and bonuses, planning and budgeting, and especially strategic workforce planning.
Post-pandemic, most of the HRs have noticed a sudden shift for a need for Performance Management System (PMS) – up to 30% of employees have assigned for a “transformation” in energy sector jobs. This needs to be addressed and worked upon.
In accordance to all these roles of an HR in the global energy sector, it will be safe to state that there is a need to build an intrinsic pipeline of leaders that are not only skilled at the business level, but across multiple businesses and industries, and not just for the future of our companies, but for the future of our nations.