"Inspiring Night" held by gender balance group "Axis network"

“Welcoming”, “inspiring” and “eye-opening” said participants at the AXIS network’s second member’s event of 2019, sponsored by Oceaneering and held at the Sandman Signature Hotel on Thursday night. In the week of International Women in Engineering day, almost 100 men and women from across Aberdeen’s oil and gas sector joined to share research findings, hear personal journeys and develop their networking skills.

AXIS chair Karen Blanc launched the event, arguing that better balance is simply better business. With the war for talent raging once more, she laid out the case for why a diverse workforce is critical to the future success of the Energy sector.  Karen went on to highlight the actions proven to be effective in creating modern inclusive workplaces where diverse talent thrives, before closing with a call to action.

Oceaneering’s ‘Kola Akintayo then shared her personal journey from student to HR Manager, interspersed with nuggets of wisdom on the importance of ambition, determination, making professional connections and mentoring.   She encouraged all present to double down on their networking efforts by adopting her “1:1” rule of making one new connection each month in spite of institutional, practical and cultural barriers to women networking.  ‘Kola also proudly described the steps Oceaneering have adopted to attract, recruit, develop and retain diverse talent, in parallel with transforming processes and structures to make them inclusive. For example sponsoring STEM in schools outreach programmes, holding professional development events, running unconscious bias training for managers and revising Oceaneering’s compensation scheme.  

Paul de Leeuw set out to surprise as he presented insights from the UKCS Workforce Dynamics Skills Landscape 2019-2025 survey. Thanks to analysis by Sumin Kim, those present were the first to ever see the data disaggregated by gender.  Paul began by describing the significant changes originating from out with oil and gas, which included the energy transition,  new technologies and new ways of working – beyond the “norm” of a full-time 40 hour week at the worksite.  

Paul went on to show how these will change both what we do and how we learn. Overwhelmingly, survey participants expected to spend less time on administrative tasks 6 years from now, and no less of their learning through experience and more through gamified technology.  Men and women were broadly aligned on how critical they felt particular skills are in 2019 and will be in 2025, with the notable exception of risk handling, mastery of social media and proficiency with virtual working.  

The analysis predicts a modest drop in the total number of jobs in our sector (circa 10,000 from 165,000) but a radical shift in the Job Families into which people are employed. Paul noted that most women in our sector currently work in support, finance or communications roles: the very roles most likely to reduce in number from 2019-2025 due to external changes. This clearly presents a real challenge for achieving gender balance in our sector.

A lively and engaging panel discussion followed the presentations, deftly facilitated by Campbell Urquhart of White Cube Consulting, with Sarah Clark joining the presenters to take questions submitted in advance via Slido and live on the night.

The night was widely considered a huge success by all of the participants and Axis Network continues to draw larger and larger numbers to its events as its membership increases and Energy companies tell each other how they have brought Axis Network into their organisation to help affect change and most importantly improve diversity of thought and business performance.

To find our more about Axis Network or become a volunteer, please go to: www.axisnetwork.co.uk