Leadership 4.0

The oil and gas industry is finding it hard to access needed talent. There are many reasons for this, and it’s only going to get worse. This report from the BBC is about the GETI (Global Energy Talent Index) survey [Link] that found the oil and gas sector is suffering from a talent shortage and an inability to attract graduates.

The survey said:

“possible recruits are attracted to the ‘technology’ sector rather than oil and gas.”

It did not elaborate on why that might be. My guess is that its to do with the old-fashioned approach our industry takes to adopting new ways of working coupled with young people’s expectations for the way they want to engage with the world. The idea that they want to work “in tech” may be read as they want to work “with tech”, and perhaps they equate “tech” with innovation and creativity.

This report on CNBC [Link] sets out to explain why people want to work in tech instead of finance. It’s findings include: “High-potential grads want to work at tech companies like Google and Facebook because they are more innovative in nature, give employees a deeper sense of purpose and offer flexibility”

The GETI report also found that

“young people were less attracted to big salaries than in the past – and instead wanted roles which offered promotion opportunities.”

What do you think that they meant by a promotion?  Perhaps that’s a desire for autonomy, self-direction, control and flexibility. Perhaps the new generation don’t appreciate being told what to do by an old bloke (and it normally is a bloke) who can’t use his email, who can’t be bothered with these guys who constantly have their face down using “twitbook” or “facesnap” on smarty phones.

The BBC quoted Hannah Peet from Energy Jobline saying

“Leaders and hiring managers recognise that the world has changed and the desires of young people are different, with only 30% of those aged under 25 believing that higher pay effectively attracts talent.  The trick now is to respond by working to provide individuals with more opportunities to grow their careers, travel and work with new technologies.”

What do you think she meant by the word “trick”, surely this language conveys an underlying lack of buy-in to the fundamental change that is required. Trick seems like a quick fix. Perhaps a deception. What I hear when I read it is: “We’re doing it right, we’re not going to change, we need young people to come into our industry – let’s trick them and they’ll come. Then we can show them what the world is really like which is not innovative, or tech led nor does it embrace change and discovery – by then it’ll be too late”.

Well I’m sorry: they’re right and you’re wrong. There isn’t a trick. We need to change – and the young recruits are going to show us how.

Leadership in the fourth industrial revolution is crucial, luckily the WEF (Davos) just published this a guide on how  to lead in the Fourth industrial Revolution.

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Leading_through_the_Fourth_Industrial_Revolution.pdf

This quote is from there:

Googling the phrase “Every business is a digital business” reveals a list of today’s leaders attributed to that phrase. Yet, 44% of leaders say a lack of digital skills in their organization is delaying business transformation. Executives believe only one-fourth of their workforce is ready to work with intelligent technology. Less than half of executives believe they possess the skills and abilities to lead in the digital economy.
In his book, Dreams & Details, Jim Hagemann Snabe, Chairman of Siemens, wrote: “The new digital reality requires a new kind of leadership, one that understands the rules of the digital season, reinvents business from a position of strength, thinks exponentially rather than linearly and develops people to unleash their full potential.”