Human Resource Management at RasGas - Assignment Example

Human Resource Management Case Study: RasGas Company By Summary RasGas Company RasGas is a subsidiary of Qatar Petroluem and was founded in 2000 (Bloomberg Business Week, 2014). Rasgas is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company in Qatar. RasGas extracts, stores processes and exports LNG to clients located in Korea, Italy, Taiwan, Spain, India, the US, Belgium, throughout Asia and the Americas (Bloomberg Business Week, 2014; RasGas, 2001-2013). The company also operates ‘oversees and manages all the operations associated with seven LNG trains,’ two ‘gas production facilities’ and two helium ‘production facilities’ (RasGas, 2001-2013). RasGas also supplies LNG at home and in addition to producing LNG for export markets in the amount of 37 million tonnnes each year, RasGas also supplies about 2.0 billion cubic feet of LNG at home. RasGas also ‘manages and operates’ the ‘Hellim 1 and Hellim 2 facilities’ which together produces 1.96 billion cubic feet of liquid hellim annually. RasGas is committed to increase production with a view to meeting energy demands both at home and abroad (RasGas, 2001-2013). Strategy RasGas’ vision is to achieve ‘world class’ status as a ‘global energy supplier for excellence’ (RasGas, 2001-2013A). The mission of the company is to: …develop, produce and sell hydrocarbaons from the world’s largest non-associated gas field in a safe and environmentally responsible manner for the welfare of the State of Qatar and the satisfaction of our customers while maximizing shareholder value (RasGas, 2001-2013A). RasGas also states that its strategy is to achieve a winning position which is characterized by: ...The safe and reliable production and delivery of products to a worldwide portfolio of customers and the superior execution of projects and technical services for our shareholders and stakeholders (RasGas, 2001-2013A). Thus, the overall strategy of RasGas as an organization is to provide high quantity, and high quality LNG in a manner that is environmentally friendly. RasGas also emphasizes efficiency and excellence in customer service, profit maximization for shareholders and satisfaction for a wider class of stakeholders. Sustainability is at the heart of RasGas’ strategy. According to RasGas, sustainability is the key to ‘business success’ (RasGas, 2001-2013B). Sustainability is therefore built on four pillars: performance improvement through competitiveness and innovation, improving relationships with stakeholders and shareholders, maintaining integrity through high operational and business standards and sustainable practices (see Figure 1) (RasGas, 2001-2013B). Figure 1: RasGas Sustainability Strategy Source: RasGas 2001-2013C. External and Internal Labour Market External RasGas’ external labour market consists of operating a ‘fleet of 27 LNG carriers under long term charter agreements with ship owners’ (RasGas, 2001-2013). This fleet of carriers include ‘conventional, Q-Flex and Q-Max ships’ which deliver LNG to several terminals internationally (RasGas, 2001-2013). One of the main terminals is the receiving terminal, Qatar Terminal Company LNG located in the Adriatic Sea off Italy’s coast (RasGas, 2001-2013). Altogether RasGas employs individuals from over 67 countries (RasGas, 2001-2013). RasGas also has a number of other contractors hired for installations and construction projects related to the production and storage facilities (RasGas, 2001-2013B). RasGas also employs a number of contractors with the number reaching 225 in 2012 (RasGas, 2001-2013B). Internal Altogether, RasGas employs 3,200 persons which are made up of full-time workers and contractors. As of 2012, 3036 were fulltime employees and 225 were contractors. Both numbers represent significant growth as employees and contractors have increased significantly from 2007-2012 although there were some lean years in-between (See Figure 2). Figure 2: RasGas’ Workforce from 2007-2012 Source: RasGas (2001-2013B). The ratio of male to female employees is especially uneven with males significantly outnumbering females (See Figure 3). Figure 3: Male/Female Ratio at RasGas from 2007-2012 Source: RasGas (2001-2013B). The labour market for the skills required to produce, store, supply and export LNG is technical, in high demand and in ‘short supply’ (RasGas, 2001-2013B). Thus in addition to recruiting talent from the highly competitive labour market, RasGas also recruits students by ‘offering scholarships’ so that students can pursue the academic and technical skills needed by RasGas at both domestic and foreign universities (RasGas, 2001-2013B). Human resource management is characterized by providing employees with ‘challenging and rewarding careers,’ with the opportunity to ‘develop their profession and personal skills’ (RasGas, 2001-2013B). According to RasGas (2001-2013B): We are committed to creating a supportive and motivating work environment where everyone has the freedom to learn, develop and contribute. In this regard, RasGas (2001-2013B) provides continuous opportunities for ‘development’ and ‘training courses’. These strategies appear to be working as the retention rate at RasGas has improved from a 7.1% attrition rate in 2011 to a 5.9% attrition rate in 2012 (RasGas, 2001-2013B). Although RasGas aims to hire nationals of Qatar, it has settled for a diverse employee culture based on available talent. As a result, RasGas employs nationals from 67 countries. RasGas seeks to gain from the multicultural environment in the workplace and welcomes the ‘variety of perspectives, ideas and backgrounds’ that comes with a multinational and multicultural workforce (RasGas, 2001-2013B). At the same time, RasGas attempts to emphsise a single organizational culture which is founded on the values of ‘people, integrity, safety, excellence and general interest’ (RasGas, 2001-2013B). General interest is particularly important and refers to ‘being partners in the common interest we share: the success of the company’ (RasGas, 2001-2013B). RasGas maintains an employee training and development policy which dictates that 80% of training and development occurs on-the-job, 10% occurs through ‘mentoring’ and 10% occurs through ‘classroom training’ (RasGas, 2001-2013). However, employees are responsible for their own training and development which is not on-the job-learning. In this regard, RasGas provides employees with information relative to job training. The on-the-job learning consists of training at the RasGas Vocational Training Centre and the College of the North Atlantic in Qatar. Training includes higher engineering degrees and diplomas for select candidates and maintenance and on-the-job training programmes for other employees not selected for higher education (RasGas, 2001-2013B). On average, national staff received 28.8 hours of training and international staff received 17.6 hours of training in 2012 (RasGas, 2001-2013B). Employee engagement is a key initiative of human resource management at RasGas. Employee engagement is accomplished via listening to employees and through training and development. In order to further the goal of employee engagement, employees are parties to meetings where they are apprised of important issues and are also involved in department and team meetings. Newsletters and electronic communications, DVDs and a company intranet is used to establish information sharing with employees. Employees have a forum for raising issues with supervisors and management. A survey is conducted annually to determine employees’ perspective on the organization and to test employee engagement. The survey was last taken in 2013 representing the latest since 2011 (RasGas, 2001-2013B). Human Resources Management of RasGas: Critical Analysis The External Labour Market RasGas’ external workforce consists primarily of contractors. The number of contractors involved in the shipping agreements are 27 and as of 2012. However, these are described as charter agreements and are outside of the human resources management control as they are subject to charters. Of particular interest are the 225 contractors employed in 2012. It appears that RasGas regularly employs contractors. This can be due to a number of reasons. The main reason for hiring contractors is to provide flexibility for responding to specific demands brought on by changes that require temporary attention and specialized talent outside of the firm’s human resources (Connell and Burgess, 2002). For example, a company such as RasGas which specializes in the production, supply, storage and export of LNG, will need infrastructure development in a way that is consistent with its expansion ambitions. As a result, contractors with expertise in constructing operations will be necessary but not on a permanent basis. Likewise, the company will need technology transfers such as the installation of computer software and training. Since this is different from the LNG work carried out by RasGas and not a permanent job, contractors are the best solution. Firms also hire contractors as contingent labour in instances where competition for talent is high. This practice is observed in ‘an increasing number of well-established companies’ who are ‘developing radically new staffing policies’ for the purpose of reducing cost in the ‘face of growing competition’ (Purcell and Purcell, 1998, p. 40). A study conducted by Allan and Sienko (1998) sheds some light on why RasGas regularly hires contractors. The study was conducted using a Job Diagnostic Survey administered to contractors and full-time employees at a telecommunications company in the US. The results of the survey found that contractors were usually profession and technical personnel. The results of the survey also found that contractors were also more motivated than fulltime employees (Allan and Seinko, 1998). Thus it is quite possible that in addition to needing external professionals and technical knowledge not within the business, RasGas needs contractors since they are more motivated to perform the tasks for which they are hired. Contingency theory of human resource management is also helpful for shedding light on why RasGas regularly hires contractors. According to contingency theory of human resources management, human resources management is strategic and is about ‘the need to achieve fit between that the organization is, and wants to become’ and thus involves the organization’s ‘strategy, culture, goals, technology, the people it employs and its external environment’ (Armstrong, 2007, p. 24). Contingency theory is also concerned with how the organization is structures, its processes, practices and procedures and putting them into operation (Armstrong, 2007). In this regard, hiring contractors regularly can be seen as a means of obtaining the necessary resources outside of the firm for ensuring the practices, procedures and processes necessary for obtaining the firm’s sustainability goals are achieved without having to overburden staff with highly specialized tasks particularly since the staff’s skills are rare in a highly competitive market. Internal Labour Market RasGas description of its recruitment, training and development, multiculturalism and engagement policies are consistent with definitions of human resource management. In particular, RasGas’ strategy is consistent with a human resource management definition in which human resource management is conceptualized as: …distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic development of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques (Claydon and Beardwell, 2007, p. 5). RasGas’s approach to talent recruitment can be described as talent management which has been described as a ‘value added activity’ that is directly linked to organizational effectiveness (Lockwood, 2006, p. In this regard, talent is defined as a resource that is ‘valuable, rare, hard to imitate and difficult to find’ (Waheed, Zaim, and Zaim, 2012, p. 130). It is commonly believed that in order for an organization to gain an advantage, it is required to invest in talent management. This means departing from conventional approaches to human resource management which typically focuses on managing and coping with the ‘organization’s manpower’ (Waheed, et al., 2012, p. 130). Talent management is defined as a process which ‘spans the entire life cycle from entry to exit, from placement to promotion’ (Waheed, et al., 2012, p. 131). RasGas therefore has a talent management system which deals with recruitment and placement throughout the job’s life cycle. To begin with, RasGas recruits talent directly from the labour market, but at the same time develops talent in its recruitment process by offering scholarships to students. After recruitment, potential talent is developed further through training toward diplomas. In addition, employees undergo on-the-job training and are also encouraged to obtain classroom training and development. RasGas utilizes what is referred to as strategic talent management which involves: …activities and process that involve the systematic identification of key positions which differentially contribute to the organization’s sustainable competitive advantage, the development of a talent pool of high potential and high performing incumbents to fill these roles and the development of a differentiated human resource architecture to facilitate filling these positions with a competent incumbents and to ensure their continued commitment to the organization (Collings and Mellahi, 2009, p. 305). RasGas’ approach to talent management is consistent with strategic talent management in that the company deliberately selects incumbent staff for diploma progammes. This indicates that potential talent is harnessed and training and development is geared toward harnessing and developing differentiated talent. While this practice might be motivational for selected candidates it might have a negative impact on employees who are not selected for the diploma programmes and who are told that employee development is their own responsibility. According to Schuler and Jackson (1989) differentiation strategies should not be conducted in a way that alienates employees and impacts staff morale as this has a negative impact on innovation and thus organizational performance. In this regard, differentiation strategies should be handled carefully and there should be a criteria that permits other employees to aspire toward inclusion in the differentiated group (Schuler and Jackson, 1989). While RasGas claims that it is committed to creating a supportive and motivating work environment where everyone is free to learn, develop and contribute, this does not appear to be the case. On-the-job training involves a maximum of roughly 29 hours for the year and hardly appears to be significant training aside from the workers who are offered diploma and degree programmes. Moreover, employees are informed that they are responsible for facilitating their own training outside of the on-the-job training. Although mentoring is said to be a part of the on-the-job training, RasGas’ website does not offer any additional information. Nevertheless, RasGas’ attrition rates have decreased, indicating that employees have increasingly demonstrated loyalty to the organization. Retention as an objective of human resource management is important for the organization’s performance. As AlDamoe, Yazam and Ahmid, 2011) argue, employee retention is a key outcome of human resource management practices linked to positive organizational performance. This is because retention is a good indicator of employee engagement, loyalty and motivation, all prerequisites for organizational performance (AlDamoe, et al., 2011). Engagement, loyalty and motivation are usually achieved through compensation, rewards, recognition, training and development and participation. However, there is no explanation by RasGas as to whether or not it offers rewards and what or how compensation is measured. It can therefore be assumed that since the attrition rate for 2012 is just under 6%, down more than 1% over the previous year, RasGas’ compensation, recognition, and rewards programmes are satisfactory. However, it does appear that participation is problematic. The participation described by RasGas appears to involve one-way communications with employees attending meetings where they are apprised of issues and developments. There is no indication that employees are invited to contribute to the meetings and it appears that employees are merely passive listeners. Strategic human resource management theory assumes that participation is linked to employee engagement and thus motivation to perform at an optimal level and generate employee loyalty which are all directly linked to positive organizational performance. Participation in human resource management literature is conceptualized as performance management and as such can be either instrumental or non-instrumental. Instrumental participation refers to strategies and policies that allow employees to exercise some degree of control over ‘processes and decisions’ (Brown and Lim, 2010, p. 199). Employees tend to value instrumental participation as it provides a method by which they are at liberty to display their ‘accomplishments’ (Brown and Lim, 2010, p. 199). Thus, if employees see instrumental participation as a means by which to display their accomplishments, they are motivated to accomplish more so that they have accomplishments to display. Although RasGas has performed well in both global and domestic markets, the provision of two-way and instrumental participation could strengthen RasGas’ performance by empowering employees and motivating them through instrumental participation mechanism. Meetings should therefore be designed to invite employee participation rather than reducing them to mere passive listeners. Non-instrumental participation contemplates allowing employees to express their opinions without the promise that the opinion would influence organizational decisions and activities (Brown and Lim, 2010). Still, employees ‘value non-instrumental participation’ because it ‘satisfies the desire to have one’s opinions considered’ (Brown and Lim, 2010, p. 199). Non-instrumental participation is facilitated at RasGas, but it appears to be via an online forum set-up through the company’s intranet system. Via this mechanism employees are permitted to raise issues and there is no guarantee that their opinions or complaints are actually read or considered. In face-to-face systems, employees would at the very least perceive that they are being heard and perhaps considered. Face-to-face and two-way communications are very important to human resource management because, human resource management refers to managing people. By facilitating face-to-face and two-way communications, employees are distinguished from the management of other company resources such as finances, office supplies and other company assets (de Silva, 1997). Although RasGas claims to listen and care, the lines of communication within the firm appears to be one-sided with employees listening in meetings and with supervisors and managers collecting communications from employees on issues and concerns. Feedback from the employees via a survey on employee engagement is an important step toward ensuring organizational performance is at its highest. Employees’ satisfaction is linked to consumer satisfaction since employees have more contact with customers than management usually does (Hong, Hao, Kumar, Ramandran, and Kadiresan, 2012). However, a survey conducted every two years when considered together with briefings and meetings where the employee does not have a voice, is not a significant source of participation and involvement. As with the complaints and issues forum, employees are denied an opportunity to participate in person. The survey rates the organization and how the employee’s view the organizations’ strengths and weaknesses as a means of ascertaining employee engagement. Regardless of the intent, Dietz, Wilkinson and Redman (2010) argue that participation and engagement require that more than one person is involved. RasGas’ participation involves one-way communications which does not involve multiple communications. It is either the organization speaking or the employee individually filling out a survey or typing out an issue. As Dietz, et al., (2010) note, participation and involvement is conceptualized as a voice and as such, a voice is: …any vehicle through which an individual has increased impact on some element of the organization…without voice, there can be no enactment of participation (p. 247). When an employee has a participatory voice, the employee has a ‘credible and active input into decision-making’ (Dietz, et al., 2010). Briefings, newsletters and surveys are not considered to be credible and active input into decision-making(Dietz, et al., 2010). The survey measures perspectives and may not even be a credible source of information about employee perspectives nor employee engagement. There are no guarantees that the surveys are read and interpreted. There are also no guarantees that the company responds to the survey data. The fact that the survey is only conduct4ed every two years might indicate to employees that the survey is not important to RasGas. RasGas also indicates that it seeks to capitalize on its multi-cultural workforce in terms of obtaining perspectives and ideas from a variety of nationalities. However, the participation of employees which is based on passive listening, surveys and complaints management via a forum does not enable this strategy. Therefore, while RasGas has a sound strategic intention, the current participation model is not conducive to achieving the goals of the strategic intention. HRM Practices and RasGas’ Strategies RasGas’ strategies are built around the goal of sustainable production and development with a view of excellence and setting a world class standard. This means that the focus for the company in terms of its strategies is the ‘triple bottom line’ which means focusing attention on obtaining positive outcomes for ‘people,’ the ‘planet’ and profits (Cohen, Taylor, and Muller-Camen, 2012, p. 8). This means incorporating environmentally friendly practices, protecting human rights, being a good and responsible corporate citizen and at the same time focusing on making profits (Cohen, et al., 2012). This explains why RasGas emphasizes high quality and standard setting and targets the recruitment, retention and development of top talent. Human resource management has a significant role to play in the sustainability strategies of RasGas as sustainability can only be accomplished through whole organization involvement. Human resources enables and facilitates organizational processes and output (Cohen, et al., 2012). One of the main ways that human resource management facilitates sustainable development and achieving the triple bottom line is through employee training and development. This is because employees carry out the day to day operations of the business and will be responsible for sustainable production and development, both immediately and in the long term (Ehnert, 2006). The current practice of training and development at RasGas appears to be inadequate given that LNG alone is a highly technical field. The 29 hours of training each year is not enough to receive training in the technical aspects of LNG as well as sustainable development. Offering scholarships to students as a means of complimenting the talent recruitment process is consistent with the company’s sustainable development strategies. This is because, offering scholarships contributes to human capital development and is therefore a service to the community that RasGas serves. Moreover: …the accurate project of human capital needs, and employee selection and development, will lead to superior workforce performance. If a firm is able to excel at creating a highly productive workforce through effective HR management programs they will gain a competitive advantage (Dosaju, Sujlana and Gupta, 2011, p. 2). By taking this approach, RasGas will more likely achieve a level of production and competitiveness that is very difficult for its competitors to duplicate and this leads to a larger share of the market and higher profits (Dosaju, et al., 2011). Thus, RasGas can continue to achieve the triple bottom line. The difficulty for RasGas however, is its reluctance to provide more in-depth training and development of its employees. Although, RasGas most likely recruits top talent, there is still a need for in-depth employee training in relation to environmental protection practices and human resource development in general. RasGas acknowledges that the market for talent is highly competitive and that talent is difficult to recruit. It would therefore be practical for human resource management to target potential talent and invest in the training and development of this talent. This would increase employee engagement and loyalty and thus ensure that RasGas meets its sustainable development strategies. One of the underlying strategies within the overall strategies of RasGas is employee engagement. However, the practice of briefings, meetings, electronic communications, surveys and newsletters is inconsistent with the concept of employee engagement. Employees do not have an active voice within the organization and this needs to change in order to meet the company’s objective of employee engagement. The human resource strategy should be such that it promotes employee participation and involvement as a means of achieving employee engagement. Employee engagement refers to promoting ‘extra-role behaviour’ and ‘discrtionary effort that promotes the effective functioning of the organization’ (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2012, p. 4). Human resources management seeking to achieve employee engagement aim to generate commitment to the extent that employees are determined to remain with the organization for an indefinite period (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2012). While RasGas articulates its aims and objectives and its human resource management strategies in a way that supports its sustainable development strategies, the human resource management practices are inadequate. The human resource management strategies are inadequate because they fail to take account of the impact of participation and involvement in employee engagement. RasGas obviously recognizes that employee engagement is important for achieving the triple bottom line. However, employee training and development, together with participation strategies are unacceptable. Employee training is too short to accomplish anything of substance although, RasGas has invested in a training programme in coordination with a local college and it is at a remote location. In other words, RasGas has the facilities to offer more in-depth training for its employees, but fails to use it satisfactorily. In other words, RasGas is fully aware of the importance of employee development and employee engagement for achieving its sustainability development strategies. However, despite this knowledge, RasGas has failed to take full advantage of the opportunity to effectively develop its employees and accomplish employee engagement. Conclusion and Recommendations RasGas has taken significant steps toward human resource management for sustainable development strategies. The significant steps taken is the creation of a training and development programme, and articulation of a desire to achieve employee engagement and to promote innovation. However, RasGas has not effectively implemented these strategies since training and development is limited to just under 30 hours annually and employee engagement is compromised by a lack of employee participation and involvement. Thus the following recommendations are made for improving the current human resource management practices: Training and development: Training and development should be increased. Employees should be required to attend the training facilities for much more than 30 hours a year. Training should also include behavioural aspects that support environmentally friendly practices. Recruitment: RasGas is aware that the talent it requires in the LNG sector is rare. Therefore in addition to offering scholarships to students, RasGas should identify and recruit potential talent and train and develop the potential talent recruited. Retention Strategies: In order to retain talent, diploma and degree programmes should be offered in a way that encourages employees who are not selected initially to expect to be recruited if they satisfy specific qualifications. Self-help Strategies: Employees should not be expected to obtain class-room training on their own. RasGas will benefit from employee training and should take charge of the training. It is not clear whether or not RasGas pays for the training. However, since, the employee training is meant to benefit RasGas, it is only fair that RasGas funds any training that employees obtain for the purpose of their job requirements or for use as an employee of RasGas. Employee Participation: Employees should have a more active voice in the company’s decision-making process. While it is not necessary that employees make decisions for and on behalf of the company, their input should be received and evaluated. Bibliography AlDamoe, F.M.A.; Yazam, M. and Ahmid, K.B. 2011. The Mediating Effect of HRM Outcomes (Employee Retention) On the Relationship Between HRM Practice and Organizational Performance. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, Vol. 2 (1): 75-88. Allan, P. and Sienko, S. December 1998. Job Motivations of Professional and Technical Contingent Workers: Are They Different From Permanent Workers? Journal of Employment Counseling, Vol. 35(4): 169-178. Armstrong, M. 2007. Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 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