Employee competency development

Employee development is a driver of major cultural changes. Both ‘best practices’ – leadership and talent development – and ‘next practices’ - complex competency development programs for wider target groups – are utilised in MOL Group.

Complex competency development is a unique method which reinforces the adaptability to a fast moving business environment, where efficiency is crucial. The purpose of development is to have a workforce that is not only capable of solving problems independently but one that is also capable of sharing their knowledge with others at an integrated and on local level.

The complexity of these developments comes from their structure:

• Organisational and individual developments operates parallel, in a harmonized way,
• Actual development can happen within the organisation and at a cross-organisational/ integrated level as well,
• The role of the managers is special – they are the sponsors of the process, and also act as co-trainers. Their responsibility covers not only giving inputs, but also following-up the developments,
• Last but not least, we are increasingly focusing on extending target groups.

Complex Development Programs in MOL Group in 2010

Upstream Division (Research and Production)

In the Upstream Division, great emphasis has been put on investing in young people in terms of managerial skills development to maintain the efficiency of our activities. The one year-long Upstream Talent Programme 1 (UTP 1) is aimed at measuring and identifying those employees that can be successfully prepared for leadership and expert leadership tasks. The mission of the Upstream Talent Programme 2 (UTP 2) was to find those employees that are capable of performing outstandingly in an intercultural environment in the case of acquisitions. Upstream Talent Programme 3 (UTP3) was prepared in 2010. The programme is planned to be conducted at the MOL Group level within the framework of an international project. Modern technology such as video conferencing and the Internet will be employed. Furthermore, special attention will be given to the topics of cooperation between different cultures, and the use of advanced English.

The results of the Upstream Talent programmes:

A new concept for shift leader/front line leader training was designed and implemented in Upstream in 2009 to strengthen formal and informal managerial skills such as labour code, feedback methods and performance evaluation. This programme was continued in 2010. A total of 130 leaders participated in the workshops and analysed the results. The workshop outcomes resulted in several actions reflected in the results of the survey.

Refining and Marketing

In the Downstream Division (Refining), the Refining Vision Statement was defined in 2008 and will stay in effect until 2011. This document aims to establish the values, objectives and operational models of the refinery. The vision statement concentrates on organisational and human values in order to maintain flexible and successful adaptation to current and future challenges. Furthermore, it specifies the path of business processes specific to the Downstream Division.

We believe that success can be achieved through our Navigátor Development Programme, which was initiated in 2009. Leaders and experts are seen as the focal points and facilitators of change in the realisation of the vision statement. The learning process is founded on real-life situations derived from MOL’s everyday operations and best practices. Navigator continued in 2010 with the participation of 60 employees focusing on new target groups. For those who have already participated in the programme, special training days were organised to keep their knowledge up-to-date.

A new programme started in 2010 at the Slovnaft Refinery. Master Academy involves 55 shift leaders in three groups, and deals with the following topics: “get to know your organisation”, “the role of a shift leader in the organisation”, “appraisal”, “development of an employee”, “selection of employees” and “establishing good working relationships.” Due to its success, the programme is planned to be continued in 2011 with 4 new groups of employees.

Another Downstream training is the Logistics’ Dynamism Programme, which is based on common values and goals. Competency development is designed globally but conducted locally according to local needs. In 2010, the programme focused on the managerial succession pool and on 71 employees who recently joined MOL.

The Commercial Department manages a Leadership Reinforcement Programme based on the results of previous competency assessments. Among the most important goals of the programme are the combination of individual competencies and organisational culture. The Leadership Reinforcement Programme aims to develop talents, leadership competencies like business and professional, personality, methodological and social competencies as well as a leadership toolkit. Implementation occurs through on- and off-the-job strategies supported by mentoring, goal setting and feedback discussions. There are also methodological elements such as the Mirror Workshop, the Big Picture, the Best Practice Forum and case studies. These multifaceted methodologies ensure that competencies are embedded into the organisational strategy and functions. The programme is backed up by top management sponsors and Human Resources Management, in the form of managerial coaches. The Leadership Reinforcement Programme is continuing in 2011 within the framework of the expansion of the managerial succession pool.

Petrochemicals

Following the success of the Staféta Programme in 2010, the Petrochemicals Division promoted shift leader development involving 11 employees. The Staféta Basic and Advanced Programmes (lasting 2 years) in 2010 developed experts, engineers, plant leaders and mid-line managers in order to achieve a wide set of employee and leadership competencies, foster cross-unit cooperation and share knowledge with the 62 participants.

Functional units

In 2010, skill mapping and training was undertaken by 20 employees from MOL Plc.’s IT Department. The IT Development Programme, a continuation and completion phase of the previously organised Development Centre, ensures both a perspective for the company to increase its competitiveness and motivation for its employees in planning their career paths. The programme focuses mainly on strengthening competencies employees will have necessity for in the near future, and thus results in better individual and overall performance. Several learning methods were integrated to form the IT Development Programme, including trainings, mentoring, workshops, learning groups, rotation and on-the-job development. In 2011, we will focus on the managerial and expert level, contributing to the enlargement of the succession pool.