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SKILLS & TRAINING
By Keith Adam, Managing Director, Polaris Learning
REMOTE TRAINING AND COMPETENCY TECHNOLOGIES FOR A NET-ZERO FUTURE: Finding practical and sustainable solutions Keith Adam
As we move to a net-zero future and push on with the energy transition, the COVID 19 pandemic has forced all of us to accelerate our thinking and focus our efforts when it comes to working remotely across all areas of our businesses. The world of training and competency has, of course, been no different.
The challenges facing all of us since March 2020 are the same challenges that we face in a net-zero future: How do we keep our people trained and competent using remote technologies? How do we do this in a way that engages and motivates them? What do we do to ensure that learning is transferred to the workplace? What strategies work well for developing soft skills and technical skills, and achieving competencies? And how do we do this in a way that is practical and works for each individual’s needs and organisation’s requirements?
However, talking about remote training and online learning is not the whole picture in any industry and certainly not in a high risk industry. Competence is also essential.
We have been working in the world of remote training and competency solutions for many years and we recognise that we need to all work together to provide learning and competence solutions that are fit for purpose, are not over developed or complicated to use but built from proven principles of learning and development.
You can also use these technologies to make sure that the training is genuinely being transferred to the workplace. And you can use the information provided by the technology to identify gaps in competency so that you can circle back and work out what learning and support is needed.
At Polaris Learning, we repeatedly see that to upskill our workforce and achieve our growth strategies using remote training and online learning we must keep learning and development strategies at the heart of everything, and we must understand how people learn and the process that they need to go through if they are really going to absorb, own, apply and use the information when it really matters - that is, on the job.
By Andy Rodden, Energy Transition Programme Director, ETZ Ltd
MAINTAINING A SKILLED WORKFORCE that reflects the changing nature of the industry
This challenge is not only reflected in the nature of how Energy will be generated and used but to the emergence of new technologies and the increase in digitisation that will drive Energy Transition.
A major challenge facing the energy sector is around the need to develop and maintain a skilled workforce that reflects the changing nature of the industry.
www.ogv.energy I August 2021
In addition, we should maximise the opportunities from going online, for example, planning progression and creating solutions to assist with multi-skilling and soft skills development. We can also use online solutions to provide the tools to address more challenging areas of training and competence such as maintaining knowledge of procedures, organisational learning and reassessment.
If we want people to be upskilled for the energy transition, we need to make sure that they are competent. Linking remote training with on-the job training and mixing online assessment with on-the- job assessment are options, and new technologies make this possible.
Not only are you then able to upskill your workforce for the future, but you are able to check that it is working. You may also find that your learning and development strategy has become more effective through your having a much clearer picture on where to focus your time, effort and budget. And we are sure that you will also achieve sustained change, and a more motivated, connected and technically and soft skills upskilled team.
Ultimately a key cornerstone of the successful delivery of skills to the industry is the link between industry, employers and academia to ensure that people entering the sector are equipped with the skills to make them successful and to enhance their employability. Employers will not only look to attracting the best talent but continue to invest in upskilling and reskilling the current workforce to deliver a sustainable Energy Transition and Net-Zero. Some of these competencies will not exist today or may be outside of the Energy Sector and will need to be developed or acquired to meet future demand.
There is a broad recognition of This was a key driver for the the importance of developing decision to facilitate the creation STEM and the need to position There is a massive of the National Energy Skills energy beyond Oil and Gas by potential for knowledge Accelerator (NESA) as part demonstrating the positive transfer to future generations of Energy Transition Zone in impact and key role that the Aberdeen. NESA was created sector will have in delivering but industry bodies and to act as both a focal point to Net-Zero. As we develop employers must continue the work with industry to identify new industries including work underway to ensure that and deliver the competencies the creation of high-value certification should not be a that employers need now and, manufacturing, we need barrier and limit the pool of in the future, to meet the needs our current and future of Energy Transition. available personnel workforce to view this as a long-term sustainable career. There should be a collective effort, NESA is intended to act as both a across government and industry, to point of reference for the energy sector ensure careers are accessible by harnessing but to also collaborate with other skills hubs initiatives like the Young Persons Guarantee, and initiatives, nationally and Internationally, to alongside reinforcing the role for apprenticeships and emulate best practice from other sectors which will degrees to create achievable pathways for anyone be essential to ensure that the workforce is ready wanting to enter the Energy Sector regardless of and available to meet the challenges that delivering gender, background or academic choices. Energy Transition will present.
