Wanted: Top Young Talent for the Energy Sector

The global energy executive search firm, Preng & Associates, is a proud sponsor of the Forty Under 40 program. Hart Energy spoke with John Goodrum, a partner at the firm, about the vital importance of attracting more intelligent, hard-working young leaders to the energy sector.

Hart Energy: Thanks so much for joining us. Please tell me a little bit about Preng and the importance of the Forty Under 40 program.

John Goodrum, partner, Preng & Associates: Thank you. Preng & Associates was founded about 44 years ago. We’re a fully retained executive search firm, exclusively focusing in the energy sector. We say wellhead to the wall socket, covering upstream oil and gas, oilfield services, industrial services, all the way to the power, utility and renewables sector. So, this is a great opportunity for our firm to be able to really understand the true value chain of leadership and talent being developed going into the future for our energy sector.

HE: Obviously, you’re more focused on the executive side, but we wanted to get your take on some of the biggest challenges in recruiting top young people into the energy sector and retaining them. And are the industry’s overall efforts succeeding?

JG: Retention in the energy sector amongst individuals that are first coming into this sector is becoming a very big challenge. It’s something I think every company—private and public—has really started to address and pay attention to and focus upon. Primarily, a lot of this is the negative attention that oil and gas has broadly, without an understanding of really where energy comes from and what it does to help better and advance the lives of people. One of the things I’ve seen is the lack of understanding around technology, particularly around software development, and all the interesting and global experiences that you get to have in this industry.

HE: Admittedly using clichés here, but what about the ongoing, so-called “great crew change” in the industry and the resulting brain drain that’s ensuing?

JG: The brain drain, if you will, or the gap between the talent of senior-level executives who’ve been in the industry for 50 years versus those that are now coming into the industry is something that’s been talked about for the last 10 to 15 years over and over again. Obviously, the various cycles in the last 10 years or so have probably created a little bit more of a challenge.

The divide with some of the more senior individuals who’ve been in this sector for a long time has started to really become more and more visible. We’re seeing a lot of individuals who are potentially interested in moving up in the sector, moving up in advancement in their careers, but maybe being a little bit challenged by some people thinking that they were going to be retiring more quickly and maybe that hasn’t actually occurred. However, we are also seeing a lot more collaboration. There’s been a lot of people and a lot of companies really focused on how to take that knowledge base from more senior leaders and really transfer it down to some of the other individuals within the organization to help to create less of a brain drain. I would also say that there’s a lot of younger employees who have a different perspective and different capabilities of being able to really help bring new ideas to the organization to really help drive it forward. It’s become much more thought about, and it’s become much more addressed recently than it has been in the past.

HE: Do you feel like now we’re kind of smack dab in the middle of the crew change? How do you see that timeline playing out?

JG: You can look at how many petroleum engineers we’ve been graduating over the last 20 years, and you can see that it has dropped off dramatically. So, you can say that we are really going to be challenged. But I think we also have a big unknown within technology. We’re seeing how technology, particularly AI (artificial intelligence) and other software advancements within the energy sector, has really been able to help bridge some of that gap. This is a people-driven, human capital-driven industry. However, there is a lot of technology that plays a part in it, which I think is helping to narrow that gap a little bit. But we still realize how important it is to work together and collaborate so that you get some of that practical experience that some of these individuals have over many years compared to their more junior colleagues.

HE: Is the industry really adjusting adequately to alleviate the evolving workforce and technology needs of the sector?

JG: The younger workforce has been working with technology for many years. They bring a specialized skill set that’s becoming adopted by more seasoned veterans who maybe grew up in the field. That being said, we work in an environment and energy sector that is absolutely committed to working with people. It’s driven by people, and so I think we’re trying to find that divide and close that divide with collaboration, and also being able to use technology. One of the things I know we’ve looked at is a lot of hybrid schedules. During the pandemic, it was realized that there were a lot of roles in the energy sector that were not able to be done remotely, and yet some of these roles could be done remotely. So, how do you manage and lead in those kind of environments? What is fair and what is not fair? I think those conversations continue to evolve.

What we’re seeing, from our perspective, is a lot of companies looking at it and adopting a hybrid methodology to really try to recruit those individuals and bring them to the organization, realizing that maybe that motivation is a little bit different than the motivation of others. I don’t believe that answer has been fully defined yet, but I do think that there’s an aspect between trying to recruit individuals knowing that this is an in-the-office or in-the-field job for five days a week, or if this is a little bit of a hybrid role. I think there’s finding a balance.

HE: What do you see as some of the most innovative and exciting aspects of working in the industry right now?

JG: The energy sector is trying really hard, and they’ve come leaps and bounds in selling what is important to this sector and what really can be exciting. I was with my nephew this past weekend at Georgia Tech. He’s a chemical engineering undergraduate and he had no idea the global reach of the sector. He had no idea of the compensation. But, more importantly, how much technology is driving—AI is driving—the energy sector as a whole. So, he quickly became enamored with learning more. I think one of the things that people don’t understand, unless you grew up in the energy sector, is the global reach and the true technology understanding and software backgrounds that most of these companies have, and how they’ve become the backbone of these organizations. And, on the ESG side of it, it’s really understanding the societal impacts and how energy can and does improve the lives of everyone in the world in a responsible way.

HE: One of the biggest retention problems has obviously been the cyclical aspect of the industry and the layoffs that come at times. Do you see that starting to change and have more stability creep in?

JG: The cyclicality of the oil and gas industry is always going to be a challenge. I believe that companies now, after this most recent cycle, understand the need to not just recruit, but also retain really good employees. I believe that companies are now really focusing on trying to hire those that are going to stay with the organization for a long period of time. The mantra of doing more with less has never been more widely spoken amongst leadership teams as we are hearing it now. I think that’s because it’s a focus on the employees that we have and getting the absolute most out of them. Reward them as much as we can, both in terms of career progression, but also in terms of compensation and knowing that when there are bad cycles, which in a commodity market there always will be, you can realize that your job should be and hopefully will be safe.

HE: Could you elaborate on the role Preng & Associates is playing in the overall effort we’re discussing?

JG: Preng & Associates has been very fortunate to be able to sit with a lot of these senior-level leadership teams to really help them to define and develop their younger talents. We’re constantly looking at individuals that maybe have a 15-, 20-, 30-year runway. Here’s the things that this person can bring to the table. And really having those open conversations and really stretching the minds of those that are looking to hire people that fit within a specific box. Thinking outside that box is what’s going to continue to innovate and lead the energy industry.

HE: Looking forward, how do you see energy jobs continuing to evolve and change?

JG: There will always be a need for energy. I’ve never been more bullish about the energy markets. I believe that we are just scratching the surface of this energy revolution. Traditional oil and gas will not be going away anytime soon. We’re also fortunate enough that we have all sorts of alternative forms of energy, including wind, solar, carbon capture, hydrogen and nuclear. As long as we continue to develop as a world, I think that the employment market has never been stronger. But, it comes back to adaptability, and it comes back to being able to really work within teams and understanding how to truly adapt in these markets.