Emerson Exchange 365

When the Kuwait Oil Company began mapping its organizational strategy for the next 15 years, it realized that it would soon be on the verge of a talent crisis. An aging workforce combined with a shortage of skilled recruits would likely leave the company struggling to recover for years to come if a solution was not found quickly.

The story of how that solution came to fruition was the subject of a presentation by Abdulla Hadi Al-Ajmi, S. Chandra Sekhar, and Hamed Awadh Al-Mutairi of KOC and Mark Dimmitt of Emerson Process Management, who spoke today at the 2014 Emerson Global Users Exchange in Stuttgart.

KOC's human resources team understood that it faced a very serious challenge in preparing enough new engineers to lead the company in the fields suffering from labor shortages. It began with an internal review of the company's existing training procedures in an effort to single out areas for potential improvement and identify competency gaps on an individual basis.

The results of the review made it clear that major changes were needed immediately, so the team decided to adopt a bold approach.

“KOC brought Emerson on board as single-point-of-contact partner to cover all competency gaps and implement a comprehensive training program,” said Al-Ajmi. “The program consisted of two phases. The first was held over 35 days at Emerson's Marshalltown Training Center in Iowa, where trainees underwent process control and instrumentation training. The second phase, held at Emerson's Austin, Texas, facility over 58 days, covered automation systems. KOC management approved the schedule of classes and held on-location meetings to provide information and instructions for the candidate trainees as the program progressed.”

“Each topic was taught from a theoretical standpoint and then put into practice with hands-on training,” said Chandra Sekhar. “Candidates calibrated and tested all types of field instrumentation and configured them with various process control systems, including the DeltaVTM process automation system and DeltaV SISTM process safety system. Evaluations were administered in the form of both written examinations and workshops.”

Weekly reports with individual scores and instructor feedback were issued, and each of the candidates' feedback was reviewed after each training module. Trainees participated in a three-day final project at the end of the program to assess the breadth of knowledge and skills gained.

A total of 28 courses were taught to 8 students over 19 weeks. During that time the trainees’ competency scores nearly doubled, improving from a pre-test average of 48 percent to a 92 percent average upon completion of the program.

Dimmitt said plans are in the works to improve KOC's future training programs. Ideas include choosing a more cohesive group of candidates with similar backgrounds, limiting the length of the program to eight weeks with longer breaks between sessions, and adding a new eight week program for foremen.

“This customized program greatly expanded our trainees' knowledge of field measurement equipment and instrumentation, but also taught them risk mitigation techniques and how to troubleshoot problems,” said Al-Mutairi.

“On a personal level, it promoted a close sense of community among our trainees and forged life-long relationships with some of the best experts in the field at Emerson. These are lessons that will guide them for the rest of their careers. KOC’s bold approach of working with Emerson Process Management as a partnership rather than a routine contract resulted in mutual trust, respect and cooperation between the companies.”