Speakers and PESA’s I&D Business Champion program participants met October 20 for a session discussing talent pipeline and retention.
The session, facilitated by Keri Macaluso, Senior Business Strategy Manager, Accenture, opened with remarks on what the employee lifecycle looks like today by PESA Advisory Board Member, Dave Warnick, VP HR Division, Weir Oil & Gas.
Keynote speaker, Erin Clark, Deloitte, welcomed questions during a live Q&A session centered around the six signature traits she discussed in her pre-recorded remarks, which were shared with participants before the seminar as part of their pre-work. The traits include cognizance of bias, courage, commitment, curiosity, cultural intelligence and collaboration.
“It comes down to leadership,” Clark said. “If leadership isn’t backing up the programs and policies that have been put in place to cultivate the concept of belonging with their own behaviors and actions, that opportunity can be easily missed.”
Participants asked how to get their company leaders to a place of inclusive leadership and “leading from the center.” Clark replied that companies need to have conversations on diversity topics, and participants should emphasize the critical importance from a business standpoint.
“From a tactical level, we need to create some toeholds for leaders at all levels to recognize what it looks like to be inclusive in your organization,” she said. “Create experiential learning opportunities that are anchored in the business and where we work. For instance, where does bias factor in? What does it look like to be culturally intelligent? Just talking about the concepts isn’t enough. We have to bring it into the reality of our work.”
Another question came about highlighting the idea of cultural intelligence.
“The idea of cultural intelligence comes from a place of embracing a mindset that starts with how I see the world,” Clark said. “We have to accept that there are other ways of seeing the world, and that’s because people come from different perspectives and bring different experiences to bear. We all benefit as a result.”
Participants also joined in a live Q&A with a panel of subject experts, which included Sam Kaldau, Baker Hughes, Angela Knight, Chevron, and Laura Preng, Preng & Associates.
Kaldau emphasized the importance of storytelling to attract talent to the industry.
“The new generation doesn’t want to just read an article about Baker Hughes,” he said. “People want to be engaged around stories. How we present ourselves and promote ourselves through storytelling is becoming the number one tool to attract talent.”
Preng focused on creating a strong diversity and inclusion atmosphere.
“If leadership isn’t championing this and doesn’t see the significance of a strong D&I program, elaborate on the reasons why it’s so important,” she said. “Hit the bottom line to see what resonates. If employees are happy, they stay longer and are more engaged.”
Knight discussed corporate responsibility and making sure the narrative is clear for college students.
“Some of our students don’t understand how innovation is driven in the oil and gas environment,” she said. “They don’t understand the technologies we’re bringing forward. The idea of driving innovation, technology and social corporate responsibilities is just as important as the inclusion and diversity piece.”
Participants broke into small groups to discuss both the keynote and panel. The subject experts joined these groups to provide their own resources and facilitate a more in-depth conversation. Resources shared by subject experts were made available to participants after their seminars.
The seminar concluded with participants being grouped by company to consider how they could incorporate what they learned into their organization’s action plan. They were able to discuss specifics of their company and how the seminar’s learnings could be applied moving forward to implement real change.
The group meets next in a virtual networking event, which will allow participants to continue the conversation and discuss progress on planning and implementation.
PESA is a resource in the inclusion and diversity sphere and continues to expand on this important initiative. The next seminar, Sustain/Continue to Build, will be November 10.
For additional information on registering for the 2021 program, contact Director Member Services Carolynn Henriquez.
