The term War for Talent was first coined in the late 90s by Steven Hankin of McKinsey & Company to refer to the increasing competition to recruit and retain talented employees. This concept emphasized the importance of talent to the success of organizations. But it is perhaps even more relevant today, particularly for the E&P sector, as we face an unprecedented shortage of engineering talent.

Numerous studies in the past ten years warn that there are simply too few experienced engineers for the demands of the market. A recent report by Schlumberger Business Consulting 2010 SBC Oil & Gas HR Benchmark, March 2011 claims one of the biggest challenges facing the upstream sector is the Big Crew Change or the transition from an older workforce to a younger one. Although global recruitment of engineering graduates continues to increase, experienced petrotechnical professionals (PTPs) will decrease in the next five years. SBC reports that the labor market for experienced PTPs will be tight and these staffing issues will have serious consequences on projects and production capacity. The survey also states that technology, process improvements and outsourcing will be key to mitigating these staffing issues.

So the major challenge for our industry remains, how do we bridge this gap? Experience takes time to build, and the lack of available talent represents a tremendous challenge for both major and independent companies. In the meantime, unfilled job requisitions cost companies millions in lost revenue, with the stakes of project non-delivery even greater. In this environment companies must compete like never before to recruit from the shrinking pool of experienced professionals. Therefore, organizations with the ability to acquire talent better and faster than their competitors will have a major advantage in the competition for multi-billion dollar projects.

Covelo functions as a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system for engineering labor. More specifically, Covelo works as a catalyst or a centralized hub that all external recruiting activities flow through. Client hiring managers specify the needs of their departments at one end, while an exclusive group of agencies deliver talented candidates on the other end. Covelo combines a proprietary web platform with an Account Manager on-site at each client location. The Account Managers technical background provides quality assurance, while the technology streamlines the process and facilitates a continuous loop of communication to all the necessary parties. This system promotes continuous learning and since every aspect of the workflow is measured, identifying (and rewarding) the top performers becomes systematic.

Continuous Learning: The web platform is used only as a tool, while the constant push and pull of information (and learning) through our proven processes is what adds significant value to Covelos supply chain management model. This is why we believe a technology solution by itself has never been successful in the E&P sector.

Vendor Neutrality: The conflict of interest becomes obvious when an individual or a group that has any role in recruiting is tasked to manage other recruiting sources. This is why programs managed by an agency acting as a master vendor or programs managed by an internal recruiting department who have their own recruiting responsibilities, has rarely (if ever) succeeded in this space. Programs that are not implicitly vendor neutral are simply unable to instill the trust necessary to engage top quality agencies.

Account Manager: Covelo provides a dedicated Account Manager to facilitate the entire staffing process. Each Covelo AM has extensive recruiting and client service experience and is a valuable resource to both hiring managers and agency recruiters. The Account Manager simplifies and accelerates the recruiting process, making sure the hiring manager's valuable time is spent reviewing only qualified candidates. Covelos web platform is used as a tool for streamlining the recruitment process, while the constant human interaction- provided by the Account Manager, is what adds significant value to Covelos supply chain management model.

E&P companies looking to create an effective human resource strategy must complement their internal recruiting efforts with help from the best outside agencies, and must create an environment that enables those agencies to succeed. The utilization of 3rd party agencies remains pivotal as they provide extensive global recruitment reach that would otherwise be cost prohibitive for a company to build or develop internally. However, due to the extremes of market supply and demand, agency recruiters that identify top candidates have a narrow window of time to place those individuals at a client company. This is why good agencies are reluctant to waste their time working with clients who are either slow to respond or have processes they dont trust. Agencies know that their top candidates will get hired- if not by one client, then by the next. Covelo offers that necessary efficiency, so that our clients become the preferred choice to place the best talent for the agencies.

By sharing information openly, creating a level playing field, and applying accountability to everyone involved, Covelo creates an environment where everyone succeeds.

The Covelo solution has significant impact on client companies' recruitment processes. The effect of implementing our program at one of the Top 10 International Design Engineering Firms has led to faster hiring, reduced turnover of new hires, hard cost reductions in administrative personnel and lasting competitive advantages.

Covelo's solution has reduced "time to hire" cycles by as much as 50%, thereby enabling the client to meet project demands more quickly and effectively. In addition, the newly hired employees (and contractors) have had greater retention rates thereby further reducing lost productivity hours. The same client has experienced other significant cost reductions and improved services as well. By offloading agency management activities to Covelo, the streamlined HR team has more time to focus on retention and other core HR issues. Similarly, improved efficiencies in invoicing have yielded labor savings through faster processing and elimination of errors. By automating what was once a complex and labor intensive Accounts Payable process requiring reconciliation of hundreds of timesheets and invoices from multiple vendors, the client now receives one electronic invoice for all agency expenditures.

Efficient billing dramatically shortens the time to pay agencies. In a world where agencies can choose where to send their best talent, ensuring they get paid accurately and quickly provides a strong incentive for them to work through a Covelo-driven program.