Directors' Report: Business review
Our people
We introduced the new human resources strategy in 2008 and with a 46% increase in staff numbers in 2008 and 24% in 2009, a lot of work has been undertaken in this area.
Reward & recognition
2009 saw the formation of a Pensions Governance Committee comprising company and staff representatives with new plans being offered in Bangladesh, Ghana and Uganda in 2010. In the UK, presentations on the Spring Budget and Finance Act implications were provided to all staff. A major review of the way we hire contractors during 2009 resulted in a more streamlined, cost-effective contractor engagement process.
Talent development
Our T for Talent programme went from strength to strength in 2009. 231 employees attended an in-house soft skills course, totalling 470 days training in London alone. Some core programmes have been delivered globally, such as effective management, fulfilling our commitment to development opportunities for all. We have also taken the initial step in launching career development frameworks, with the first one being undertaken in the Tullow geosciences community. In April this year we will launch the first leadership development programme, aimed at our top 50 managers.
Performance Management
Our commitment in 2009 was to provide an electronic process through Tullow’s intranet for performance management and this was delivered. We had some good learning on how the systems functioned and the process will be further streamlined for mid-year reviews in 2010. Along with this improvement, a bespoke performance management e-learning package was designed and made available to all staff ensuring that, in even the remotest locations, a consistent approach can be applied to this important line management function.
Culture and Engagement
The HR team led the introduction of ‘Living our Values’, which articulates the four key aspects of Tullow’s culture we feel are essential for us to encourage and develop in new recruits. Our organisation continues to grow rapidly and spread geographically and we know we must not lose sight of the unique characteristics that have supported our success to date. Read more about ‘Living our Values’.
Developing in-country skills
We were delighted to welcome 14 secondees from the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC), one of our partners in the Jubilee development, to Tullow in 2009. We have a strong commitment to developing an Exploration and Production (E&P) skills base in both Ghana and Uganda, and our experience with secondees from GNPC has been positive and rewarding.
This young team included talented graduates from well engineering, EHS, petroleum engineering and geosciences. They participated in a diverse range of industry training, exams and environmental awareness, as well as a broad set of soft skills training to equip them to play a major role in the development of an oil industry in Ghana. All have added value to our business by contributing to real projects with meaningful work experience in various functions. We were delighted with their contribution and the majority of secondees are now completing Tullow sponsored Masters of Science degrees in various disciplines at leading UK educational institutions including Heriot Watt, Imperial College and Universities in Aberdeen and Leeds.
We also trained four production technicians on a 26 week training programme at TTE in Middlesbrough (UK), who are specialists in the training of production and operations technicians. Having completed their offshore survival training, the technicians returned to Ghana to join the Tullow team in Accra.
Tullow engagement survey top line results
Positive
Neither
Negative
GNPC secondee programme
“After graduating with a BSc in Geology from the University of Ghana, I spent three years with GNPC before joining Tullow’s Ghana sub-surface team in London in 2008. During my time there I was able to gain insight into well log interpretation, reservoir characterisation, software training and well development techniques. I also had coaching and mentoring, team building, report writing and presentation skills training. The programme is excellent and has given me sufficient knowledge to fit into a working technical office. The support I have received from experienced Tullow people was fantastic and I would love to work for such a company in the future.”
Mark Prempeh GNPC Secondee
Mark is now undertaking a Tullow sponsored MSc in Petroleum Sciences at Imperial College, London.
Tullow engagement survey top line results
In October 2009, we launched our first global employee and contractor survey called Tullow Talkback. The survey was conducted by a third party to ensure confidentiality and it was distributed electronically to all Tullow locations. Talkback addressed job, career, reward and recognition, leadership and management, team, company and Tullow values through a series of 80 questions. It also included a range of open questions seeking views on how to improve internal communications, what Tullow’s reputation is about or any subject in particular the respondent wanted to convey their views on to the Group’s leadership team.
The results achieved were very positive showing high levels of engagement and enthusiasm across the Group. We set ourselves two benchmarks for a successful survey – a 70% response rate and that 90% of employees would recommend Tullow as an employer to a friend. We achieved an 83% response rate, and 91% of employees would recommend Tullow to a friend.
We will report in full on the results of Tullow Talkback and the progress we have made with our follow-up action plans in the 2009 Corporate Responsibility Report.