PM Network - December 2014

to get more creative about recruiting, pulling experts from other industries, like shipbuilding and construction. “It’s a very competitive marketplace,” he says.

To fill the talent gap in the long term, energy companies need to do more than borrow workers from other industries, Dr. Allman-Ward says. They have to invest in better talent development so they can build experts and keep them onboard. His company, Dana Gas, is implementing more mentoring programs and partnering young workers with more experienced staffers to strengthen their skill sets.

“We need to start focusing on using our baby boomer workers as mentors and not just to fill immediate project needs,” he says. “It’s a hard choice when you have projects that need leadership today, but it is the best way to secure our pipeline of talent for tomorrow.”

IT

Given the breakneck pace of tech innovations, organizations face the daunting challenge of finding skilled team members who can keep up. IT positions are the eighth hardest jobs to fill worldwide, according to ManpowerGroup.

“IT staff are in huge demand because of the rapid
change in technology,” says Mr. Costello of Experis
North America. “All kinds of companies need IT
experts to help them remain competitive.”
The IT talent shortage is having an especially
hard impact on the healthcare sector. As health-
care organizations race to roll out electronic
medical records systems and other up-to-date
technology, they are scrambling to find the talent
they need. More than three-fifths of healthcare
CEOs are concerned about the availability of key
the Middle East’s largest private-sector natural gas
exploration and production companies, in Shar-
jah, United Arab Emirates. Those laid-off workers
moved to other industries, and for years no new
workers took their place, he says. “So currently,
there are very few workers in the 35- to 45-year-old
age bracket.” That demographic of workers should
now be moving into leadership roles as their men-
tors retire.

The industry has been concerned about its talent gap for years, but according to Dr. Allman-Ward, who spent 30 years working at Shell Oil Company before moving to Dana in 2012, the situation didn’t get as bad as initially predicted because the global economic slowdown led many people to put off retirement. As more of them approach 70 years of age, the cushion of talent is disappearing.

Unfortunately, most oil companies failed to use these experts to mentor the next generation, says Dr. Allman-Ward. “We had a window of opportunity to make use of those senior team members to mentor the younger folks, but instead we used them to get the short-term work done,” he says.

The shortage of experienced project practitioners, engineers and skilled labor is putting pressure on capital projects, says Van Zorbas, principal, Deloitte Consulting, a PMI Global Executive Council member, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Companies are being forced to pay more to attract top talent, which is impacting cost estimates, and they are seeing a lot more risk in terms of meeting deadlines, maintaining productivity and avoiding errors due to inexperience. “The costs aren’t just related to higher salaries,” he says.