Replacing Human Reserves
Now, you could view the efforts of companies like BP, Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips to branch out into wind, solar and biofuels as the early stages of diversification into the types of energy that must someday replace oil & gas, or you may regard these steps as having a large PR component. Both views are probably correct, today. But I would argue that these companies are also beginning to react to the feedback from their college recruiting efforts. Several former colleagues that still do this have told me that new engineering graduates mainly want to hear what the company is doing in renewables or new energy technology, rather than deepwater drilling or enhanced recovery. The thinner the new energy story, the less likely you are to attract the top graduates. One of the largest oil companies in the world, ExxonMobil, has stated that it won’t invest in alternative energy project until it is profitable to do so. If you’re the biggest and most profitable publicly-traded firm in the sector, you can probably follow that strategy without drying up your sources of new technical talent, or having your experienced scientists and engineers lured away by cleantech startups. Or perhaps Exxon’s partnership with Stanford University sends the necessary signal to new graduates interested in cleantech, but desiring the stability and benefits that Exxon can offer. While these attributes may carry Exxon through this looming HR challenge, there’s no other company in the industry that can be assured of winning the same bet. Rapidly growing renewable energy companies could alter the market for the industry’s human resources faster and more profoundly than they affect the market for its products. That’s an implication that many of these firms haven’t anticipated. Image source: ecst.csuchico.edu. > Continue.
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