At a time when economic growth and high oil prices are driving a massive growth in industrial development throughout the Middle East and North Africa, ‘Shell in the Middle East' talks to Jules Croonen, Shell's Vice President for Human Resources for Shell Exploration & Production's Business in the Middle East, to find out what Shell is doing to recruit, train and retain regional staff. We also talk to three graduate recruits who have joined Shell to find out how they were recruited and what sort of training they have received to date ...

“There is an important talent pool in the Arab World of both young graduates entering the employment market and more experienced people working across the Middle East. Shell is keen to tap into this valuable resource to grow and sustain its business and build a talent pipeline,” says Jules Croonen, Vice President for Human Resources for Shell's Exploration & Production Business in the Middle East.

"Shell had been operating in the Middle East since the late 19th Century and has seen many staff from the Middle East contributing to its business throughout the years.

“To have Arab people representing the company in its business activities in the region has been very beneficial for Shell, providing us with a competitive edge and today Shell is represented by regional staff at every level of the organisation. To sustain this achievement Shell runs an ongoing recruitment campaign to bring in Arab staff at all levels,” he says.

Many years ago Shell recognised the need to have a continuous recruitment programme in order to develop and grow its business. Today Shell and its joint ventures employ around 15,000 staff across the region. Of these, some 3,000 are working directly for Shell and 35 per cent of these are Arabs.

Globally Shell recruits around 6,000 people every year to meet the needs of the company's growth in business and, again, to replace staff attrition from staff retiring and leaving for other career moves..

Says Jules, In the Middle East Shell is keen to recruit more Arab staff so that as expatriates move on we can replace them with permanent staff from the region.

There are several recruitment tools we use to attract staff, one of which is the Shell Gourami Challenge. This is a selection and attraction tool in the form of a one-week business simulation exercise, during which successful participants are selected by Shell for further employment.

“Other routes for employment into the company include our recruitment pages on the company's website at www.shell.com/careers and direct contact with universities through the Campus Ambassador programme.”

He goes on to explain, "It is important to develop the competencies of graduate staff in order to make sure that they are up to the job and can start work immediately. The development of new staff is undertaken through a programme called Develop. This is a structured process in which graduates undergo a series of training courses, which in Shell's Exploration & Production Business begins with a range of Technical Foundation courses then plots a continuous programme of training and development for the first five years of the graduate's time with the company.

"The vast majority of Shell programmes are based on a blended learning approach which combines formal learning in the class with informal peer coaching and on-line assessments.

"The Develop programme provides a combination of coaching and mentoring by senior staff, on-the-job training and technical and targeted learning to improve staff know-how and widen graduates' experience and knowledge base.

"In the Middle East Shell has two Learning Hubs, one in Qatar and one in Oman. These Learning Hubs are Shell's centres of expertise in specific areas of technology and knowledge that contribute to meeting the business challenges in the region.

"These include such topics as EOR [Enhanced Oil Recovery], GTL [Gas to Liquids] technology, HSE [Health, Safety & Environmental] issues and Leadership.

"Shell delivers these programmes in Oman in partnership with its joint venture partner Petroleum Development Oman, offering both Omani and Shell staff in the Middle East the opportunity to build their competence and skills and contribute to the business. The Learning Hubs also offer the opportunity to transfer knowledge from the more experienced staff to the younger professionals.

"As staff move forward through the company, Shell provides a series of Leadership Development programmes to ensure that staff are provided with the necessary skills to help them become good managers and leaders.

"As part of staff development Shell recognises that, in order to retain staff, it is important for staff to have interesting and challenging jobs and to offer them internal job opportunities to counteract the increased mobility of staff from job to job and from company to company.

“A major issue in the region, facing not just Shell but most companies, is that there is such an enormous amount of growth across all sectors that employers sometimes have to go outside the region to recruit. It is therefore important that Arab countries and international companies work together to provide training and development opportunities to meet the growing demand for Arab human resources within the region for the future,” he concludes.

Abdulrahim Turkistani is originally from Turkistan but was born in Saudi Arabia and brought up and educated in the United States and the United Kingdom. He went to Birmingham University, where he studied for a Degree in Engineering, specialising in Computer System Engineering. This was followed up with a Master's Degree from Bristol University in Communications Systems and Signal Processing.

Whilst at Bristol University he started looking for a job and decided to go into the oil and gas industry because of the industry's attractive career development opportunities.

Abdulrahim says, “In 2006 I was approached by Shell and was selected to participate in the Shell Gourami Business Challenge. Because I spoke Arabic I was chosen to take part in the first Shell Gourami Business Challenge in the Middle East, which took place in Bahrain in November 2006.”

The Shell Gourami Business Challenge is a five-day recruitment event, where some 50 participants are divided into teams to create a business plan for the development of the oil and gas resources of a fictitious country called Gourami.

He goes on to say, "During the five days of the event all participants are assessed and interviewed and, if successful, they are offered jobs with the Shell Group.

"I was successful and was accepted by Shell and posted to work for Shell International Exploration & Production, with my home country being assigned to me as the UK.

“For my first posting I was offered the choice of working as a Business Analyst in Dubai or as a Production Engineer at the Obaiyed gas plant in Egypt's Western Desert.”

The Obaiyed plant is a part of BAPETCO [Badr El-Din Petroleum Company], which is a 50-50 joint venture between Shell and EGPC [Egyptian General Petroleum Company].

"Many people thought I would have chosen Dubai over the Western Desert but I am glad that I chose BAPETCO and a field job with hands-on practical experience as I have learned a tremendous amount so far.

"I have been working as a Production Engineer for the last one and a half years, working a 14-day rotation, which means 14 days in the Western Desert and 14 days back home in the UK.

"When my assignment at the Obaiyed plant finishes I will have a further six months' training at the Badr El-Din oil processing plant, also in Egypt's Western Desert.

“My next move will then be to spend a year working at Shell Egypt's offices in the Production Technology Department. I will also spend some time working at BAPETCO's Cairo offices, where I will gain experience by working in an operational support role,” he says.

At the Obaiyed plant, Abdulrahim has worked in several different areas, including instrumentation and turbine maintenance. In maintenance, he has been involved with much of the plant's electrical and mechanical equipment. He has also worked in the Technical Integrity and Planning Department.

"In addition to my on-job training, Shell has sent me on three courses, including an SPE [Society of Petroleum Engineers] Young Professionals Workshop, designed for future leaders in the oil and gas industry.

"I have also attended a one-week leadership course in Qatar, called Shell Life, and before that I participated in a one-month course called EP00, a five-week introduction to Shell's Exploration & Production Business.

"So far," Abdulrahim concludes, "I have found Shell to be a great employer with regard to career development when it comes to kicking off a career in the oil and gas industry. I have received a great deal of training, and have found that my time spent with Shell to date has been very challenging but also very rewarding. So I hope I can look forward to a great career ahead of me with Shell in the oil and gas business."

Paul Janssen, Seismic Interpreter and Exploration Geologist, is based at Rijswijk in The Netherlands and is at present a full-time member of Syria Shell's Exploration Team.

Whilst in Syria Paul spoke to ‘Shell in the Middle East’ about his career to date with Shell.

"During my time at university I heard about the Shell Gourami Business Challenge which students could apply to join, so I applied and in December 2005 spent a week on the course," he said.

"During the course we were separated into multi-disciplinary teams, for human resources, geology, engineering, legal, and so forth. We were then presented with a case study on the fictitious country of Gourami, which had a certain oil and gas asset that we had to find and develop during the course of the week. It was great fun and gave me a taste of what I thought life would be like at Shell.

"Following the course I was informed by Shell that the company was interested in offering me a job and from that point on the people at Shell kept in touch with me as I progressed through my university career.

"So in July 2007, coming straight from Utrecht University from which I graduated with a Master's Degree in Geology, I joined Shell."

Paul's first posting was to Rijswijk, home to Shell's centre of excellence for its exploration and production activities around the world. Still based at Rijswijk, Paul was then assigned to Syria Shell's new exploration venture and began by interpreting legacy seismic data, which had been acquired in Blocks 13 and 15 in Syria's southern desert during the course of the last 30 years.

He said, "Evaluating this data, as well as data from the surrounding region, has given us an overall view of the sub-surface geology in this area. However, the old data was of relatively poor quality so it was decided to conduct a new 2D seismic campaign [see pages 42 to 47] of the concession. So I am currently on a field visit in Syria to see for myself how seismic operations are conducted and what it is like to be in the field.

"This is my first time in the field, my first time in Syria and, indeed, in the Middle East. I have been here for ten days so far and have found it to be very interesting. The main purpose of my visit was to see and experience seismic operations first-hand and the way they are conducted. I have also looked at quality issues and the different factors that can affect the quality of data during seismic acquisition, such as high winds and snow – and how these can stop operations.

"Another reason for coming here was to see how HSE [Health, Safety and Environment] standards are implemented and monitored in the field. When you are working in an office it is difficult to get a real feel for the potential hazards during operations.

"My HSE awareness has grown enormously during the last ten days and all the HSE consultants, both from Shell and the seismic contractor, have helped me enormously

"I have been able to look at the main HSE issues and to take note of the main areas of sensitivity, both cultural and social, and also to look at health issues, regarding hygiene, food, waste disposal, water supplies and so on," he said.

Paul's trip to the field was not strictly time-tabled and it was left up to him to decide on which areas he should focus and to apportion how much time to give to each. He spent time with the Quality Controller, the HSE consultants and a lot of time with the crew responsible for acquiring and recording the seismic data, as well as studying the way in which the seismic lines are laid out in front of the vibroseis trucks and the way back-up crews pick up the seismic lines and move them forward.

"It has also been very interesting to interact with the Syrian crew, a few of whom speak good English," said Paul, "and to find out from them how they feel about the operations, the food, the accommodation – and their HSE training.

"As I come to the end of my field trip in Syria I can say that it has been a marvellous experience and has put so much into perspective for me. When I see the data coming in now I will be able to visualise the terrain and the environment from which it was acquired, which will enable me to appreciate it much better. I can now also understand more about the extent of the operation required to collect the data and relate it to the land structures from where the data originated.

"So far the Shell experience has been really good. I like the way that even junior staff, like myself, are given a good deal of responsibility right from the start. In my case I was given a small research project and told to get on with it, but I had really helpful mentoring and guidance when and if I asked for it.

"I have also been on two training courses and found them both to be excellent. When I get back from this trip I will start another course on the geophysical background of seismic and, following that, a second course on the interpretation of 3D seismic.

"So there is plenty of training to be gained from Shell, along with a very acceptable pay and benefits package, a good pension – and lots of days off! So I would say that, yes, Shell is a good career choice for a university graduate like me," Paul concluded.

Alya Al Saleh was born in Bahrain and educated in Canada, at the University of Ottawa, from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce. In 2006 Alya went to Warwick University in the United Kingdom to study for a Master's Degree in Marketing and Strategy.

"In my last few months at Warwick University I wanted to obtain some work experience with a multinational company, and I applied to Shell. I did this online and was contacted a few weeks later for a one-hour telephone interview, which I completed successfully.

Alya returned to Bahrain, after graduating with her Master's Degree, and was pleased to be called soon after by Shell to be told that the company would like her to attend a Shell Recruitment Day in Dubai.

"Naturally I agreed to attend the event. The Shell Recruitment Day was very good. I was extremely impressed with the way in which the Recruitment Day was managed and with the emphasis made on learning and development.

"Ten days later I was offered a job by Shell in Dubai, which I readily accepted, as New Business Development Analyst, currently working for Dr Zara Khatib, Shell's Technology Marketing Manager for the Middle East.

"Within one month of joining I was sent on the Shell EP00 course in Muscat in Oman.

"I was one of 27 delegates from the region. The purpose of the course was to provide an introduction to the exploration and production business, covering everything from technical and economic aspects to project development. During my time there I went on geology field trips and various site visits, all of which helped me better understand the E&P business.

"The course lasted five weeks and was very interesting and rewarding. It was also good to meet with the other course participants who were all at the same stage of development as myself and who I might meet and work with during the course of my career.

"Today I have been with Shell for just a few months and so far, so good. I am learning a lot. I am already applying the lessons I learned from the EP00 course in my current job and I look forward to further developing myself during the coming years," Alya concludes.