Human resource professionals in oil and gas organizations were yesterday taken through a coaching session to enable them develop all round skills in handling the complex work environment in the nascent industry.
UCMP chairman Elly Karuhanga
Guest speaker Emma Bishop, services manager from Petrofac, an oil and gas facilities provider with an 18,000 global workforce challenged HR practitioners to be accountable and lead by example by not abdicating their roles.
“Powerful accountable behavior owns the problem, find solutions,” said Bishop.
The training was conducted by consultea, a professional development consultancy in partnership with the Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP).
The human resource sub-committee of the UCMP narrated how the high expectations of the country require them to hire local talent even when the skills are still largely lacking.
The committee has decided to take the industry information to schools by educating students on what they need to do in the early years to enter the oil and gas industry.
Earlier, UCMP chairman Elly Karuhanga said Uganda is no longer going to be the slow animal of Africa especially with the high well testing success rate. He saluted Total and CNOOC for buttressing the efforts of Tullow by taking Uganda to the forefront compared to the early exploration days when investors bypassed Uganda.
He recounted the human resource challenge for the industry urging the practitioners to balance the delicate act of expectation of local content with the foreign expertise that will be required time and again.
“It is a new sector and it has got specific dangers, you (HR) are the heartbeat of the company,” said Karuhanga.
By David Mugabe, The New Vision
