Skills Shortage Issue in ExxonMobil - Research Paper Example

The paper 'Skills Shortage Issue in ExxonMobil' is a perfect example of a management research paper. Skills shortage is one of the main problems facing the oil and gas industry. The number of skilled workers in the industry has been in decline. At the moment, the most valued employees are a major target for the competitors. Within the oil and gas industry, research shows that the main concern has been on how to retain and promote their best-performing employees. This is due to the high competition for the best talent in the industry with some firms losing their best talent to competitors.

Career development holds great opportunities for the oil and gas industry (Parry et al., 2006). This is especially with the improvement in the ability to attract and retain the best talent. Also, there is a positive relationship between career development and workforce motivation. According to Cichello et al., (2009), this is all manifested in the Human Resource (HR) practices of the high performing organizations. The oil and gas industry has been characterized by a talent shortage, falling oil prices, and poor career progression in some firms (Figgis and Standen, 2005).

The costs of retaining and developing the right talent have also been high. The demand for skills exceeds the current market supply for graduates (Orr and McVerry, 2007). At the moment, the industry faces a shortage of workers in the industry particularly engineers which points to the importance of HR identifying the right talent, developing it, and promoting it. ExxonMobil is one of the leading corporations in the oil and gas industry with operations globally. The corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas.

Other business activities by ExxonMobil include the manufacture of petroleum products, transportation, and sale (ExxonMobil, 2016). This is an organization with a lot of employees hence human resource management is vital (Figgis and Standen, 2005). The most important roles of human resource management are recruitment, selection, training, and employee retention and career development. Training and career development play a major role in employees’ promotion. This includes leadership skills training which is vital in promotions.