The Practical Value of Workplace Diversity and Inclusion in the Oil and GasSector

摘要

Organisations have long recognised the potential for diverse teams to improve overall creativity, innovationand productivity, thereby achieving consistently better business outcomes - the so called ‘diversity bonus’.This is particularly true and relevant to the oil and gas industry, which constantly has to manage technical andeconomic uncertainty, major operating hazards, and continually seek business performance improvementand efficiencies, in order to operate sustainably and meet ever higher stakeholder expectations. However, developing successful diverse teams presents practical questions and challenges, includingwhat type of diversity will really add value to a task, how will a diverse group of people relate to and supportone another, how can major innovation be delivered consistently whilst working within highly structuredmanagement systems and standards which aim to achieve a high degree of consistency and minimise failurefrequency, and what is the most useful role of the manager/leader for such teams? This paper describes diversity and inclusion in its broadest sense, and its benefits and challenges withinthe context of the oil and gas industry, in particular with regard to Petroleum Engineering and subsurfaceteams. A number of common and practical industry situations are considered, and the merits of furtheropportunities are discussed. The fundamental actions and behaviours that help oil and gas companiespromote and establish more diverse and inclusive teams and cultures, in order to deliver outstanding results,are examined.