train to retain

As the recession bites, competition becomes tougher and profits, if there are any, shrink, many employers will be considering one of the most obvious ways of reducing costs – cutting staff.

For some there may be no option but for many a more productive course of action might be the reverse - to invest in staff.

Those businesses which follow the philosophy that a company is nothing but its people and retain and train them may reap rich rewards when the upturn comes.

It is a view which many in the North-east subscribe to including the hugely successful international energy services company Production Services Network (PSN) and Prospect Flow Solutions, the engineering design and analysis provider which won last year’s Northern Star Award for "Commitment to People Development."

David Doig, the chief executive of Opito, has warned how vital it is for the oil and gas industry to continue to develop a skilled work force throughout the credit crunch, a message echoed by Fiona Fernie, the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber’s Commercial Training Service Manager.

Bob Keiller, the chief executive of PSN who led the buy-out of the company from KBR Halliburton less than four years ago, told business bulletin how vital he believes it is to recruit and retain top quality staff even during a period of economic difficulty.

PSN is not immune to the combined weight of the recession and the plunge in the oil price but Mr Keiller still believes there are great opportunities for PSN which has joined the top ten largest private Scottish companies with a turnover forecast at over $1 billion, an order book worth more than $2billion and work secured to 2013.

"PSN is continuing to grow and the nature our business means we are continuing to run our business internationally," he said.

"We are bidding for lots of contracts and we have a combination of long and short term projects we need to execute so over the next 12 months we will still be hiring many hundreds of people.

"We are looking to expand our share of the markets we can provide services in. It is a global market and we have a very small part of it so there is ample room for us to grow. It is challenging and tough and it is just as well it is or everyone would be doing it!"

Mr Keiller said PSN was receiving lots of requests from customers to try to find ways of helping them to try to reduce their costs.

"That is taking a lot of time energy and imagination but ultimately it also allows us to get into conversation about what else we might be able to do with customers.

"Of course one of the answers we give to the question ‘How do I reduce my costs?’ is ‘Use us to do more things for you.’

"It is a double edged sword when customers ask use to help reduce costs. Obviously it has a direct potential impact on our revenues but conversely if we can persuade them to use us to support two platforms instead of just one we can offer them cost savings two times over.

"Our company is built on seven core values and the one which represents the heart of our corporate logo is our people core value. People are not just at the heart of our business, they are our business. Without the ability to attract and retain good quality people we have nothing to offer our clients. Our success is going to be determined by our ability to attract and retain the best quality people and do that in a competitive market place."

It is a view shared by Dr Matt Straw, UK business director for Prospect Flow Solutions, who said: "Prospect's engineering design and analysis business continues to grow and we are still actively recruiting, despite the current economic climate. While external situations change, our fundamental belief does not; the foundation of any sustainable business is the people who work within it. Prospect's significant investment in staff development continues with the aim that everyone has the opportunity to realise their personal ambitions while understanding how these fit with the overall aim of the business."

David Doig chief executive of Opito, the North Sea's main training organisation, has also been pressing home the dangers of failing to continue to recruit and train.

"As a mature basin, the UK continental shelf is facing immense technological challenges and the need for operational and capital efficiency to maximise resource recovery from the North Sea and make the sector competitive in the global market has never been greater," he said.

"People hold the key to achieving this. The recent job losses in the sector are shaking the strong foundations we have built up in the climate of sustained high oil prices.

"But we cannot afford to let our focus on skills diminish or we will end up in the same situation we were in 18 months ago when the acute skills shortages were constraining our industry both operationally and through costs inflation."

Fiona Fernie of the Chamber said that companies which did not develop during the recession would be left behind by their competitors as things improve.

"Investing in your staff now will pay dividends," she said.

"It is a vital time to have employees who are absolutely 100% clued up on the business, the economic environment and how they can be the most productive in their own job."

She said it is equally important for companies to look for cost effective training and to look locally before sending someone on an expensive course in London or even overseas.

The Chamber is one of the biggest providers of skills in the North-east.

"We have expertise in all the soft skills - communications, sales, HR - but we also work on a referral basis with a lot of companies which provide us with support on finance and IT and on health and safety."

"We can organise training courses in house for up to 12 people for around the same price as some companies spend sending just one employee on a course in another part of the country. We can also organise events like bite sized 'lunch and learns' where you can have 20, 30 or 40 people sitting in a room for perhaps two hours which is lot more cost effective than putting an individual through a £1000 course."

In addition to the extensive short course calendar, the Chamber of Commerce also provides a year long management development programme, management plus, and a quality selection of Vocational Qualifications (VQ’s) targeting topics such as Management, Business Administration and Customer Service. VQ’s minimise time out of the office and focus the theory highlighted by learning outcomes on practical work based examples in your own workplace. Flexible learning timescales allow for candidates to prioritise work and learning; a key advantage in uncertain times.

"We have training suit to suit all budgets and I would urge people to think more strategically about maximising budgets and making their money go further."

The Urquhart Partnership (UP), is rolling out a suite of e-learning packages over the next two years which has the potential to save clients thousands of pounds a year on training.

Interactive modules, developed by the human resources, recruitment and training consultancy, along with Atlas Interactive, can be accessed on the internet or intranet.

"Delivering excellent presentations" has already been produced and several others are in development or under consideration.

Campbell Urquhart, managing director of UP, said: "This flexible approach offers e-learning for people, wherever they are, as long as they have an internet connection.

"It’s a real departure from traditional delivery methods. These packages will allow people to study the theory behind a specific topic and, where appropriate, develop practical skills afterwards at a short, focused workshop or coaching session."

"We believe that many of our clients will find this an extremely useful format as it means training will be much more efficient. Given the current economic climate, it also represents significant cost savings, particularly in terms of workshop fees, cancellation costs, travel and accommodation."