Implementing Various Tactics to Overcome the Effects of the Big Crew Change

Abstract

Intelligently said by Albert Einstein, "The only source of knowledge is experience" is the basis of the imminent crisis faced in the industry unless proper steps are taken. Born during 1946-1964, baby boomers make up a major portion of the oil and gas industry who will be retiring in the next 5 years. This will change the entire demographic profile of industry leading to a change in the experience profile. Hence, once again reminding us to equip younger generation with skills from older fleet. At an age where development and advancement of technology such as hydraulic fracturing, casing while drilling and gas hydrates research is going on, technical talent is a treasure. Especially now when there is a threat of losing potentially talented amateurs due to lack of jobs, there is a need of knowledge transfer between these retiring veterans and young professionals in a company, within a restricted amount of time. If harnessed in the right way, the two generations can complement each other in creating the perfect team and work better in a multifaceted approach. As mentioned, in today's scenario of hiring-firing cycles in the industry, the baby boomers might leave the industry facing with the problem of skill set gap. This issue is amalgamated by low representation of mid career employees, again owing to the firing tendencies of the volatile industry. Although the impending doom of Big Crew Change has been known for quite some time, no proper solution has been found. The authors of this paper have identified few effective methods to strategize production and future growth. These strategies are synched with Oil and Gas industry and proposes to help in the following ways: To bridge skill set gapTo scrap outdated and complex technologiesTo transfer knowledge, digitize it and strengthen middle-career crewTo learn, capture and duplicate the knowledge before it is lost Complementing each other's working styles and various kinds of knowledge, together, the various generations can bridge every gap in the long run. The paper will talk about all the steps that can be taken by companies in the next 3-5 years to deal with the big crew change and being a one of a kind industry what we can do to retain the unique and brilliant expertise. Authors provide a "Knowledge Security" triangle which will benefit all companies to solve this issue. The scenario based case study of India and USA has also been discussed.