Talent Management Practices at United Energy Pakistan

Abstract

As an E&P company in the upstream sector, United Energy Pakistan (UEP) heavily relies on the skills of its employees to produce expected business results. At the group level, UEP is credited for producing / nurturing the best of talent who have continually supported the group in strengthening its footprint in other parts of the world. UEP's success in the past decade (since UEG acquired BP assets) is largely attributed to its people. UEP's focus has always been in hiring the right talent, grooming and nurturing them through the best of ‘on the job (OJT)’ experiential learning and classroom / virtual trainings. In 2019, the TLC framework was established to build the technical competence, leadership ability and to infuse a UEP way framework, of doing things (cultural relativism) in all employees. The application of the TLC framework was backed by data fetched from multiple systems such as the competency management system (CMS) and the performance management system, which led to identifying the right technical / leadership gaps at an individual level and helped in working towards the overall employee and leadership development. The framework also considers the development of emerging leaders. Employees are calibrated on a 9-box grid and review discussions take place from the potential, performance and progression stand point. The talent review forums also incapsulates discussion around development and succession. Without an enabling environment, the best of talent / processes cannot flourish. UEP's core values & leadership behaviors & the code of conduct are the fundamentals on which employee bases his / her overall conduct and day to day doing. These core values & etiquettes of working are termed as the UEP way framework. There is an engagement survey which is conducted once in two years and acts as a check and balance mechanism between management and employees. The paper will discuss in detail how the TLC framework has helped UEP in managing talent by building technical competence, a leadership mindset and to operate with a UEP mindset in a fast-paced dynamic environment.