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
