Training and development

The oil and gas industry has an ageing workforce, growing skills shortages and a lack of new entrants into the market, so we understand the importance and benefits of training and supporting our existing staff to reach their potential and attracting high-calibre people to join the Company.

Training Provision

Cairn is fully committed to enhancing the personal growth of all its employees, recognising that this brings significant benefits to both individuals and the Company as a whole.

With a number of new projects commencing in 2009, our staff have benefited from on-the-job training as well as a variety of internal, external and online courses, seminars and field trips. A total of 434 training days (3,039 hours) were undertaken in Edinburgh, 296 days (764 hours) in Bangladesh and 4,183 days (33,460 hours) in India over the year, covering a range of technical, professional, safety and behavioural subjects. This includes over 400 Cairn India supervisors undertaking training on a range of HSE issues, and 200 managerial and supervisory staff attending sessions on IFC performance standards.

An internal training calendar was issued to all staff at the beginning of the year to allow staff to incorporate relevant training into their plans for the year. The training took into consideration common development areas highlighted in our employees' development reviews. The new 2010 training calendar will similarly ensure that our staff have the necessary skills.

In Edinburgh, as part of our preparations for moving to an operational office, project management training was rolled out across the business. Internal courses offered in 2009 covered a range of topics, including personal effectiveness, business French, wellbeing and work/life balance, giving effective feedback, effective meetings, writing dynamics and an introduction to exploration and production. We also continued to provide education assistance to employees working towards professional qualifications in finance, Master's in Business Administration and industry-specific MScs.

Managing Development and Performance

Enhancing the personal growth of our employees is of great importance to us, and is delivered via our comprehensive performance management system. Annual Development and Performance Reviews are used to assess performance against agreed objectives, set new objectives, identify training needs and align individuals' efforts to our business objectives. In 2009, 100% of staff had an annual review and 94% of staff met our People Development target to meet a minimum of two development objectives (2008: 95%).

To complement the review process and to help staff to set and achieve their career aspirations, a bespoke Personal Growth and Development Workshop was developed in 2009 and will be rolled out in 2010. All staff will be invited to attend the course, which will provide tools and techniques on how to assess career goals and formulate development plans to shape their future careers within Cairn.

Succession Planning

To ensure we have the right people in the right place at the right time to support our overall strategy, we adopt a structured but flexible approach to succession planning. This allows us to maintain the successful continuity of the business in the event of a change – whether planned or not – in leadership or other key positions.

In 2010, a succession plan framework will be developed and rolled out by the Chief Executive's Committee, which will cover risk management, the retention of key staff and communication with external stakeholders.