March

March has been a bittersweet month as while there were a lot of exciting things going on, my direct supervisor had announced her resignation from her position. She was a great mentor and had become my confidante in the short two months that I was here. Before leaving, she had given me some honest pointers, suggestions of things that I could work on, topics that I should be reflecting on, as well as a list of contacts to speak to.

I took advantage of this time of transition where the decision of whom my next supervisor would be was still up in the air, to utilize the career portal on our intranet and explored their theories of success, of net working, of career management, etc. I also attended a workshop seminar entitled “Strategies for Career Success” and reached out to people within my department to hear about their stories and thoughts and views of the industry, of life. While I still have not yet truly found what I am passionate about and understand where my greatest strengths and weaknesses lie, I have become more conscious about it all. I have begun to ask the right questions and have an idea of the general direction of where these answers may lie.

I was very happy when I was approached by Alanna, a Talent Management Specialist contractor of Talisman to help out with her Women’s Initiative project at Talisman. This was a brand new initiative where the company is attempting to create more developing and networking opportunities for women within the workplace.  Due to the fact that the program is still in its early stages, I was involved in the fundamental frameworks figuring out the scope of the program. Currently, I am involved in brainstorming ideas for organizing and creating potential networking events in the future, analyzing the results of a leadership survey to determine whether or not women and men’s needs are different, and also analyzing existing policies and suggesting changes or additions to them in order to promote more flexibility for women in the workplace.

A great opportunity had fallen on my lap when a seat was vacant for the WXN Gala: Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Awards Ceremony for Canada’s highest achieving female leaders in the private, public, and not for profit sectors. Not only was I provided with a three course meal, I had the opportunity to network with women that were very successful. The highlight of the night was the inspirational surprise key note speaker Amanda Lindhout, the journalist that was taken captive in Somalia. It was an unforgettable night and I was absolutely grateful for the opportunity.

February

Global Talent Management attempts to ensure that employees have enough support to achieve their best work, accomplishing both personal and company goals. In order to help employees with reaching their maximum potential, Talisman has both a Learning & Development team as well as a Leadership Development team. While the Learning & Development team is responsible for enhancing individual employee abilities and skills to support their career goals through skill based courses (experience, exposure, education), the Leadership Development team attempts to further develop both emerging leaders and existing leaders to ensure that strategic leadership talent is aligned with succession management and diversity within the company (promotions + moves).

Working with the Leadership Development team I am responsible for supporting the development of our emerging leaders and existing leaders through different programs. During my second month, I was assigned with the task of manually updating data spreadsheets of individuals that are in the emerging leadership program and the leadership program, as well as compiling monthly updates of the department. It is very interesting to note that despite such a large company, Talisman’s information structure is largely fragmented due to the global nature of the organization as it lacks consistency in the way that data is managed. While in the midst of going through structural reconstruction, a lot of effort is required when attempting to compile accurate and consistent data.

Aside from administrative tasks, I have also had the opportunity to do work that is quite important and visible to Talisman’s top executives. The first big project that I was asked to work on consisted of analyzing a survey that attempted to better understand the retention risks of some of our emerging leaders. After compiling all the statistics and summarizing the story behind all the data, recommendations for mitigating risks were generated and communicated to respective leaders for follow-up. A lot of attention to detail, analytical skills, as well as thought was put into the project in order to ensure that the data was compiled accurately and is presented in a way that made most sense to our audience. When presenting information to higher management, it is important that the content you wish to sell is clear, concise and able to capture the attention of your audience.

This month, I also had the opportunity to take part in a lot of interesting and fun workshops/training that were run by both the students and the company. This includes a tour of Canada’s only Real Time Operations Centre at Talisman where top of the line technology is utilized to create visualizations and real time support for planning and drilling wells at maximum efficiency. Other workshops included a discussion of the upcoming Transcanada Pipelines hearing, an informational session of Talisman in PNG and the challenges the company faces, a documentary about the development oil sands, as well as a presentation about water sanitation and hygiene in the world by CWST, Talisman’s first International NGO Partner. The development opportunity at Talisman is fantastic; I am thrilled with both the ability to develop my skills through my work and the opportunity to venture out and explore the world of oil gas.

First month at Talisman!

After recently completing an 8 month term at a mine site with Teck Coal, I was thrilled to accept an oil and gas opportunity at Talisman’s head office. At Teck, I was entrusted with the duties of an HR Generalist; responsible for administrative work, recruitment, benefits, training, and even employee relations on site. At Talisman, my sole responsibility as a Talent Management Specialist was to provide administrative support to the Global Talent Management, Leadership Development team at head office. Equipped with a fairly broad based experience background, I am curious to survey the differences between the two industries as well as the differences between working at a head office downtown versus on site in a small town. I am eager to explore and discover both skills and opportunities that would potentially mold me into a more competitive and well rounded candidate for the future. 

As a member of the Talent Management Department, my sole concentration resides in employees that are considered to be either potentially or currently leaders/emerging leaders within the organization. Playing a supporting role, I am responsible for the tracking, collection, as well as compilation of the group’s Performance Management, Learning and Development, Competencies, Leadership Development, Diversity, Employee Engagement, as well as Workforce Planning, Talent Acquisition, Succession Management/Talent Review, and Organization Design and Effectiveness.

During my first few weeks at Talisman, I have been frantically striving to familiarize myself with both the company and the Industry. As an international company with multiple prospects, Talisman’s portfolio is both widespread and diverse. In order to properly address the needs of the people and of the business, human resource structures and global policies must be practical and all encompassing.  

I have also been getting acquainted with the department’s projects as well as new softwares/programs that I will require the access of. They include Peoplesoft, DM, SuccessFactors, Business Objects and Sharepoint.   

The main highlight of the month was the opportunity to meet and network with a large number of other co-op students. Talisman recruited about 60 students this term as they organized events such as the meet & greet as well as the oil and gas game day to get us to all mingle. The oil and gas game was a great icebreaker to the industry as professors were invited in to give us a crash course about the geography and exploration process behind the oil and gas industry. A simulation of the game then followed to test our knowledge as we were divided into teams and mocked the exploration process. The game was remodeled to simulate the upstream parts of the oil industry in western Canada as we practiced conducting seismic studies, posting crown land for sale, bid on posted acreage, purchase freehold acreage, obtain surface rights, drill, test and complete exploratory and development wells, as well as build and operate gas plants and pipelines. Not only were we tested to develop successful corporate exploration and development strategies, we were expected to estimate risk and return. It was both an exciting and educational experience.