Learnings From the Emerging Leaders Alliance Conference

Abstract

Talent & Technology SPE has actively participated in the Emerging Leaders Alliance (ELA) since its inception. The alliance allows partnering societies to nominate delegates who come together to expand their leadership skills through a multiday event using direct teaching, group work, and self-study exercises. Attendees are primarily early career professional society leaders from the eight engineering partner societies who are currently interested in improving their management skills. More than 80 SPE young professional members have had the opportunity to attend the event so far. The 2016 ELA conference focused on a variety of topics, including performance management, emotional quotient, and technical-to-management transitions. The interviewees featured in this article span a range of experience levels: a young professional, an experienced professional in a technical position, and an experienced professional in a management position. Each illustrates the relevance and application of the event’s chosen leadership topics despite one’s career path. Performance Management The performance management discussions emphasized the importance of communication, active listening, and observation to optimize performance management. Industry professionals should actively participate in performance management to enhance employee productivity, placement, morale, and evaluations, whether they are providing evaluations or receiving them. When team members provide their inputs on whether the appraisal steps accurately reflect their periodic performance, both parties establish a necessary discourse that ultimately improves their organization. Evaluators should take into account the reviewee’s background and experience when conducting formal performance reviews. This can help customize appraisals to the reviewee’s needs. Susan Howes, vice president of SCA Consulting, who has been involved with recruiting petrotechnical talent and performance management of industry professionals throughout her career, said “Based on the principle that every individual is responsible for their own career management, a personalized view is best. However, it is important that your SMART [specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-limited] goals should be aligned with the annual goals of your department and your business unit. Applying a similar approach or stream-lined workflow will provide consistency for supervisors with multiple direct reports, but each individual contributor should set their own goals and measure their progress toward achieving them.”