BACKGROUNDER Schlumberger Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) is the world's leading oilfield services company supplying technology, information solutions

and integrated project management that optimize reservoir performance for customers working in the oil and gas industry. Founded in 1926, today the company employs more than 113,000 people of over 140 nationalities working in approximately 85 countries. The company comprises two business segments: Schlumberger Oilfield Services supplies a wide range of products and services from formation evaluation through directional drilling, well cementing and stimulation, well completions and productivity to consulting, software, information management and IT infrastructure services that support core industry operational processes. WesternGeco is the world's largest seismic company and provides advanced acquisition and data processing services. Schlumberger has principal offices in Houston, Paris and The Hague. Revenue was $39.54 billion in 2011. Schlumberger stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, ticker symbol SLB, on the Euronext Paris, Euronext Amsterdam, London and the SWX Swiss stock exchanges.

Organization Schlumberger manages its business through 35 GeoMarket regions, which are grouped into four geographic areas: North America, Latin America, Europe & Africa, Russia, Middle East and Asia. The GeoMarket structure offers customers a single point of contact at the local level for field operations and brings together geographically focused teams to meet local needs and deliver customized solutions. Working together with the company's technology segments, the GeoMarkets provide a powerful conduit through which information and knowhow flow to the customers, and through which Schlumberger engineers and geoscientists maximize technological synergies over the entire life of the field.

Schlumberger Products, Services and Solutions Schlumberger services and solutions combine domain expertise, best practices, safe and environmentally sound well site operations, innovative technologies, and high-quality support aimed at helping its customers increase oilfield efficiency, lower finding and producing costs, improve productivity, maximize reserve recovery, and increase asset value in a safe, environmentally sound manner. Today, Schlumberger Oilfield Services solutions include open-hole and cased-hole wireline logging; drilling services; well services, such as cementing, coiled tubing, stimulations and sand control; well completion services including well testing and artificial lift; interpretation and consulting services; and integrated project management. Strong technical and operational support to the field is vital to the success of any complex global operation that includes remote locations. The key is to provide real-time linkage with world-class experts and knowledge, delivering the latest and best problem-solving capabilities-anywhere, anytime. The company's InTouchsupport.com knowledge management tool improves field access to Schlumberger technology centers through the most advanced IT tools, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Enhancing core E&P operations to improve production, increase reserves and drill better wells requires the integration of innovative information technology. Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS) offers a unique combination of people and processes, technology and infrastructure, and real-time IT enablers-delivering key value-adding solutions to overcome a myriad of challenges confronting industry operational processes. SIS offers information management, software technology and infrastructure services. Combined with the domain experience available through the Business Consulting group, these enable oil and gas companies to enhance their workflows and achieve their goals. As the industry's focus is moving towards maximizing post-plateau production and ultimate recovery, oil companies have to face more and more resource intensive projects. Integrated Project Management (IPM) is the Schlumberger response to this challenge and a significant growth area for Schlumberger. IPM activity is characterized by long-term relationships between the customer and Schlumberger. It offers a combination of engineering, process management and understanding of Schlumberger segment technologies. As well as providing technology and expertise, Schlumberger often works with local subcontractors to harness local knowledge and experience. Schlumberger has achieved a number of successes in IPM in

particular in Mexico. The Burgos project for example, now in its seventh year, has delivered 237 completed wells, which include the drilling of 2.3 million ft of hole. The benefits to the customer have included accelerated production, reduced capital expenditure and increased efficiency.

HR CHALLENGES IN THE PETROLEUM AND ENERGY SECTOR

HR is a very important function in an organization, not only for its internal activities but also for its growth and expansion. To propel an organization forward, it is necessary to ensure that the motivation levels stay high at work. In the process, HR function faces challenges that are very different depending on the industry. A case in point is the oil extraction and refining industry. In this article, we present the different HR policies of a firm involved in oil exploration and extraction and their implementation. HR is a critical function in an organization, not only for its internal activities but also for its growth and expansion. It plays a defining role in ensuring that motivation levels stay high at work, which is essential for an organization to grow. As these aspects are very closely tied to the nature of work, HR function faces challenges that are very different depending on the industry. A case in point is the oil extraction and refining industry. In this article, we present the different HR policies of Schlumberger and examine their role in keeping up employee motivation in a difficult and often dangerous work environment. We find that some credit is due to the employee centric policies and organisational culture for the success of the firm.

Field Engineer Challenges Field engineers stay in the oil rig, which is in isolated, sometimes hostile locations for extended periods of time. They would also work in night shifts and would have to put up with the poor social life. Other difficulties include adverse terrain, seasickness especially in the case of offshore facilities, bad food, problems with equipments and the inherent risky nature of the job. A field engineer in SLM-China says "It is a tough job, in the sense that sometimes we have to get down to our knees and dirty ourselves to get something working at the well site. At times I am called back from a holiday when the going is tough." Solution Field Engineers are adequately rewarded with fantastic pay packages. After every onsite stint, all FEs are offered one month of vacation with family, completely paid by the company. At work, the employees enjoy flexible working hours. Also, there is a rotation policy to give the Field engineers (FEs) hands on experience on different modules. International exposure and training in all modules across technical details, across geographies, across segments succeed in making each personnel a generalist and a specialist at the same time. HR Viewpoint With respect to Field Engineers, HR policies focus on the following: a. Flexible lateral movements are offered for employees to discover their niche areas in the field. b. Interactive sessions with the employees through contextual databases and company sponsored offsite are facilitated to promote interpersonal effectiveness and bring down the barriers to communication amongst a diverse team of FEs. c. Motivational work groups, discussion forums and close supervision ensure that signs of demotivation are detected early. This helps in beating career blues and promotes a vibrant work place.

OB Viewpoint Interviews with the Field Engineers showed that an overwhelming majority of recruits join because of the financial incentives and exotic travel destinations; but money can motivate one only to an extent, and once the stretch is crossed, employee morale goes down and employees feel disillusioned. HR finds it tough to promote job satisfaction. Employees tend to get disoriented, with no focus structure. Career blues set in the fastest in this segment of the industry, leading to reckless onsite behavior and unprovoked aggressiveness. Employees develop a negative attitude towards work, motivational levels fall and employees start dealing with work as if it is an incumbent obligation in order to continue enjoying their lifestyle. HR and Employees - Difference in viewpoints HR believes that the team is well acquainted with each other through discussion groups. But to the employees, task cohesion and esprit de corps seem to come naturally with no need for special groups for interpersonal exploration. Therefore HR's role is not explicit. Employees feel that the appraisal system is too stringent with feedback seemingly used as a pressurizing tactic. However, HR, with employee's interest in mind; believes that timely feedback can prevent irrevocable mistakes which are unforgivable in their strategic roles. FEs assume responsibility for the work done by the local labourers under them. But the local labourers never take kindly to new FEs and do not cooperate to finish work. FEs believes this to be unfair. HR believes that it's imperative that the young recruit learns to deal with labor unions for without this exposure, the recruit would be isolated from ground realities to make informed decisions once he moves up the hierarchy. Employees believe that 3-4 months of onsite project assignment is not enough to gain experience and accuses the administration of sealing off their chances of shifting to other organizations by stunting and seriously handicapping their learning. HR however believes that constant work and isolation at a remote off shore point can push the employee towards disorientation, career blues and de-motivation.

HR Practices at Schlumberger All the HR practices followed by Schlumberger worldwide are tuned towards promoting and ensuring a few beliefs and principles such as promotion of diversity, meritocracy, employee safety and the right attitude within an employee. This is illustrated here by describing some of the HR practices of the company. Recruitment Campus Selection has been identified by Schlumberger as the most important part of the field recruitment process. Recruiting from campus and developing employees creates loyal employees according to the HR. Maintaining the sex ratio is another challenge that oil and petroleum sector companies face. A brief overview of the process shows the effectiveness with which this philosophy of choosing the most suited has been implemented. In the interview process, interviewees are grilled to test their psychological resilience through stress interviews, their physical stamina, reflexes, reaction time are tested using very unconventional methods. A group interview followed by a panel interview followed by a personal interview all of which are non directive is conducted. According to the HR, the company employs specialized training personnel to train the new recruits and they only look for mental and physical resilience in the candidates. Appraisals & Reward Systems Schlumberger practices a mix of Management by Objectives (MBO) and results based appraisal. The Field Engineer can discuss with his Field Service Manager to set goals for himself. It is the responsibility of the Field Service Manager to organise relevant trainings for the FE. At the appraisal time, the engineer has a meeting with the manager on the objectives (both personal and organizational) that were achieved and those that weren't. The deliverables are measured in the form of how the engineer performed at the rigs, deadlines met at the oil rig and working in a team. The manager gives the feedback and suggestions for improvement to the employee.

Diversity Diversity is one area where we found zero difference in the opinions of HR department and the organization in general. The HR Department's policy of maintaining diversity at rigs has helped strengthen bonds amongst employees. This diversity in a way acts like a soft skill training and prepares them to interact with any client in later part of their career. Schlumberger has done a remarkable job at the diversity front. The kind of acceptance it gets in every nation it operates in is primarily because of its diverse workforce. The company is very flexible in acclimatizing itself to local customs. Training According to a HR manager in SLB-India, "There is a learning curve for both graduates and experienced staff, with as much as seven to ten years training to get to the same proficiency level as the people in the industry now." Schlumberger has training centers located all over the world, offering both theoretical and practical training, executive development programs, ongoing marketing and integrated enterprise learning ,external courses and classroom based programmes with hands on exercises. A training centre, located in Abu Dhabi was designed to accommodate all segments of the oil and gas industry. There is a dummy, tailor-made rig to replicate the real-life working atmosphere. A number of designated high-level executives from Schlumberger are sent as company "ambassadors" to 44 engineering programs around the world including universities such as MIT. This program promotes recruitment and talent identification. HR also invests heavily in safety training. Recruits are given training modules in swimming, safety precautions in case of oil gas leaks, parachuting, high diving and speed driving. Most of the employees surveyed or interviewed by us had immense appreciation of the HR's training initiatives. According to a FE, SLB-China, "The company does not put an employee on the line until he is completely ready... they do not expect us to know everything."

The employees also believe that this extensive training opens up career choices for them. Anyone who quits from Schlumberger is immediately flooded with offers. It is widely recognized that SLB employees have had the best training.

Conclusion It's impossible for any HR practice to gain complete and undisputed acceptance amongst all employees. But the way Schlumberger has implemented its practices is exemplary in itself. After the oil industry crisis during the early 90s, Schlumberger has risen well. HR policies cannot be given the sole credit for its success, but people are the most important assets in this industry and Schlumberger has done well in keeping its people happy. Its policies of global workforce, equality, diversity, meritocracy, employee care has helped it in the long run.

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