Volume 1 , Number 1
2007
Welcome to Talent & Technology
Last year at this time, I began to think seriously about what my message would be during my year as SPE President. I realized that SPE always has been associated with technology, be it in meetings or publications. This is a core competency around which we should continue to build SPE’s strength.
At the same time, the industry is facing high oil and gas demand and an unprecedented surge of activities in new frontiers that require game-changing technologies. These technologies can be developed only by a cadre of talented experts who are fully engaged and sincerely dedicated. The practice of talent poaching among key players in the industry has become obvious. Ironically, when SPE scheduled a session on human resources during the 2005 International Petroleum Technology Conference in Doha, we received only 15 abstracts compared with more than 900 received on technical subjects. While SPE workshops and forums have addressed “the big crew change,” they have never focused on human resources as a theme of interest. On the industry side, upstream line organizations used to rely on human resources organizations to recruit talent. Hence, human resources and talent development were not core interests of our petroleum engineering community. This was clearly a gap that deserved immediate attention. I knew, therefore, that my message had to focus on talent.
As I had been a manager for more than 10 years, this subject was very close to my heart. The phrase “people first” came to mind. This phrase continued to resonate with me for several months. I then realized that there is great merit in marrying talent and technology in one message. This developed into my final message: “Talent & Technology: Shaping the Future.”
I then started to search SPE’s domain to find where and how to focus industry attention on talent. Meetings and workshops on human resources and talent issues are lacking. Then a few SPE colleagues got interested in conducting a human resources workshop for the first time. That workshop was held in Cyprus in 2006, and I had the pleasure of taking part. The discussion and interest level of both petroleum engineering and human resources communities were lively and engaging, and the decision was made to repeat the workshop in 2007. I presented a proposal to the SPE Board of Directors in June 2006 to sponsor a new publication on this subject. The SPE Board endorsed the proposal, and the new publication was approved. Obviously, the title, Talent & Technology, is appropriate and timely. I am therefore sincerely thankful and grateful to the SPE Board for its support. SPE staff ideas and insightful thoughts were extremely useful in polishing the shape and direction of this publication.
Our industry has been very receptive to this publication. Indeed, the Talent & Technology Editorial Advisory Board is a great testimony to this tremendous support. We scheduled several conference calls to decide the strategic focus and major areas of content of this publication. My expressions of thanks and appreciation cannot fully convey my sincere gratitude for the genuine interest and tremendous support of the editorial board.
What is the future of Talent & Technology? Much will depend on you. I personally hope that you and other valued members of our industry start participating in this publication. Success stories of talent development, leadership styles, and technology applications are all a fit and can be included. Such articles can start a dialogue across the industry on how to promote new paradigms of culture change. For example, the time is ripe for a “People First” paradigm to sweep the industry. I hope Talent & Technology can include many ideas and initiatives in this direction.
This publication can host all articles that have an interplay of talent and technology. I envision this publication, currently a companion to JPT, will develop full autonomy in the near future. We are going to monitor the interest level and decide accordingly. Let me stress that this is a golden opportunity for our members to publish their thoughts on this critical and important subject. I am very confident that more and more articles will flood the editorial board in the near future.
Thank you,
Abdul-Jaleel Al-Khalifa
2007 SPE President
Topic Ideas?
Please send article proposals or ideas to the Talent & Technology Editorial Advisory Board by contacting editor John Donnelly at jdonnelly@spe.org.