The technical track of African Energy Week 2023 (www.AECWeek.com) kicked off in Cape Town on Monday with a presentation hosted by International Human Resources Development Corporation (IHRDC) on establishing workforce competency as a key pillar of safety and productivity.

Under the theme, “How to Build a Competent and Safe Local Workforce,” the session outlined the key benefits of building core competencies and how to establish effective frameworks and reporting systems, with a view to retaining in-country value and minimizing the use of a costly and unsustainable expatriate workforce.

Key benefits include improving efficiency and productivity, reducing costs, aligning the local workforce to international standards, identifying skills gaps, targeting training resources to where they are most needed, managing efficient and effective recruitment processes, and providing successive planning solutions, among others.

“For growing organizations, competency sets a critical foundation for growth. It’s a way of working that not only builds upon the workforce, but also builds your operations,” stated Andrew Burr, Director, NES Africa at IHRDC.

A central component of workforce competency is building an optimized framework that includes a comprehensive assessment process, spanning project planning and process design; job analysis and competency model development; competency assessment; identifying gaps and building a learning plan; and learning and development. 

“An optimized competency framework means that models and competency management is aligned to a talent strategy and that there is a blended learning and development approach using digital resources, formal assessment process approved by an international authority, and tracking and reporting that uses CMS software and is integrated with other software systems,” he continued. 

According to Burr, best practices for implementing this framework include limiting the number of competencies within each competency model, streamlining the assessment process, integrating competency solutions across the company, involving all stakeholders up front, making management support visible across an organization and ensuring effective communication.

IHRDC serves as a global leader in training and competency development for the oil and gas industry, offering instructional programs, e-Learning solutions and competency management services. 

The AEW strategic program is set to commence on Tuesday, November 17th, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, marking the start of a comprehensive and structured series of activities, sessions and discussions dedicated to various aspects of the energy sector across the African continent.