It’s no secret that the refining business has a people problem. Like manufacturers in other industries who rely heavily on technology to stay competitive, refiners understand the need to transform their operations by extending the Industrial Internet of Things and other digital innovations across a wider range of possibilities. What many managers struggle with is how to integrate these changes into their workforce while considering the impacts they will have on their broader organizations over time.
While challenges certainly exist, the truth is that only when refiners link their technology and personnel strategies to their business objectives, embed expertise into their work processes, and optimize their operations in every way they can using real-time data does achieving Top Quartile performance become possible.
Managing the skills shortage
As operations become increasingly complex, skill requirements increase, and a generation of seasoned experts retire, millions of manufacturing jobs sit unfilled because of a fundamental mismatch between the available workforce and the skills necessary to fill the jobs. A November 2018 study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute found that 2.4 million open positions currently lie vacant due to skills shortages in the U.S. manufacturing industry.
While many low-skill jobs are being replaced by advances in automation, refiners are short of workers with computer experience, programming skills, and, especially, critical-thinking and problem solving skills with knowledge on running refineries. It should also be noted that the talent shortage, which the industry has seen coming for years now, isn’t just about the number of workers entering retirement; it’s about how much time—studies show about seven years—is required to get their replacements up to speed so they feel able to do their jobs independently and competently.
Upskilling the existing workforce Many refiners are finding out the hard way that if their training methods and operational procedures fail to evolve along with technology, then opportunities to maximize the value of automation investments could be missed. Continual investments in ongoing training and work process renewal will pay dividends in obtaining benefits from the new technologies.
Since many refiners are losing institutional intelligence at a faster rate than they can replace it, it’s simply not enough for a manager to hold a single training session for their crews to learn a new process or procedure. It’s unrealistic to expect students to transfer knowledge gained in a classroom directly to a real-world plant environment without risking safety incidents or production upsets. To ensure knowledge becomes institutionalized, many refiners are utilizing a central support system with subject matter experts who can remotely see and hear what plant personnel are experiencing and provide real-time guidance. Likewise, there is no substitute for hands-on training. The challenge is to find the right blend of
training and to also use technology such as traditional or immersive simulation to bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world, accelerating learning.
Attracting tomorrow’s leaders Today there are millions of tech-savvy men and women preparing to join the workforce, but too few of them see refining as a desirable career path. To ensure that it has access to a stream of qualified, motivated staff now and in the future, the downstream industry must shed its age-old reputation and promote the exciting high-tech aspects of the job effectively. The industry is on the cutting edge in many ways, but it simply isn’t engaging with recruits to show them how their engineering or programming abilities can be translated into a rewarding career.
Change management is in the air As integral as change management is to successful digital transformation, it is often one of the biggest roadblocks. This is because of how hard it can be to rethink how people approach their jobs—especially in an industry like refining which has relied on the same work processes for decades. It’s easy for management to decree a new policy; implementing it successfully throughout all levels of an organization, with all the psychological factors involved, is another prospect altogether. This may evolve as the new generation of “digital natives” enters the workforce, but it is a real problem now and for the transition period.
A path forward So how can refiners meet these challenges to transform into a next-generation digital workforce? By analyzing the organizational behaviors of Top Quartile industry performers, Emerson has identified five essential competencies that are critical to helping workers achieve
digital transformation:
1. Automate workflows by eliminating repetitive tasks and streamlining standard operations.
2. Improve decision support by leveraging analytics and embedded expertise.
3. Increase mobility by ensuring secure, on-demand access to information and expertise.
4. Implement change management by accelerating the adoption of operational best practices.
5. Upskill the workforce by enabling workers to acquire knowledge and experience faster.
To help refiners put these best practices into action,
Emerson consultants work with refiners to identify knowledge gaps and formulate detailed plans for digital workforce enablement by giving personnel the skills they need to turn data into better decision making.
Giving trainees hands-on experience with scaled-down versions of actual plant processes and simulations, including 3D virtual reality renderings of the plant itself, allows them to experience a variety of real-world situations that promote problem solving skills under safe, controlled conditions. When paired with blended learning packages that cater to a wide range of learning styles and hierarchies of experience through in-person workshops, online learning, and live virtual classroom instruction, both employers and employees benefit from a more flexible and budget-friendly training program.
2.4 million open positions currently
lie vacant due to skills shortages in
the U.S. manufacturing industry.
Change management is as difficult as it is essential. The best way to accomplish it is to bring together strategies, tools, and experts who can teach managers how to redefine and implement new procedures based on the criticality of a refinery’s assets, as well as educate personnel on the principles of change management from a behavioral and cultural standpoint. It is also critical to involve plant personnel up front in designing new technology-driven work processes.
Finally, manufacturers and technology suppliers need to be committed to partnering with higher education institutions to build an employment pipeline that will cultivate the industry. Emerson is collaborating with more than 350 engineering and trade schools worldwide, developing classroom instruction, micro-enterprises, and real-world training solutions that use state-of-the-art equipment.
Partnerships between industry and education are critical to delivering the promise of an effective digital workforce and represent an exciting opportunity to upskill personnel to become productive and versatile contributors.
Taking all of these steps towards transforming your workforce will maximize the return on your investments—now and for generations to come.
