rights of companies like Husky Energy
and the complex web of national,
provincial and local laws. Social skills
are needed to work in a constructive
manner not only with leaders, but with
entire communities across a range of valid
concerns from community development
to environmental matters.
This can require teams of people with
technical expertise in economics, geology,
anthropology, land and treaty rights, and
negotiation. Husky Energy needs to keep a
close eye on its staff for those who, through
interest or expertise, may show a hidden
talent for this type of engagement beyond
the technical skills they may have been
hired for.
Mr Duvall says they look for, “the ability
to listen, deal with many personalities,
show a willingness to learn and understand
the challenges they are experiencing. The
roles will evolve and there will likely always
be some people who need to do more
harder-edged negotiation as well as those
who are better at the softer skills, like
building relationships.”
If hearts can’t be won, all the brainpower
and brawn that can be mustered will be for
naught. But community backing for a big
project can clear the way for not only easy
implementation, but also new ideas and the
development of a better community.
BRAINS, BRAWN AND BIG HEARTS
Building relationships allows companies
to develop successful projects that may
supply a global market, but also strengthen
local communities. Many jobs in the new
economy will need big hearts that robots
won’t have for many decades to come.
Likewise, the body corporate has to keep
its muscles strong and its diet clean to
keep its energy up! New ways of thinking
will mean that the brains of business will
require new types of people working in
novel job types to keep a firm competitive.
Leaders with experience need to look
around and see how many people they
have working for them in roles, new or
evolved, that didn’t exist in 1999. If there
are many, that tells them they’re ready for
a healthy 21st century!
OUR EVOLVING WORKPLACE
>>
SPHERE
#42
2017
18
A little refrigerator art can go a
long way.
HEARTS OVER HARDWARE
Sometimes, the heart has to be engaged
before the muscle can make things happen.
Companies find that geniuses and technical
experts can find themselves stymied
when a community turns against them.
While Mr Sadler is addressing community
concerns regarding global warming, his
colleague Tom Bell, Head of Social Strategy,
is dealing with other issues that need their
constituents to get their hearts behind
gassy issues.
These issues include fuel poverty and
carbon monoxide awareness. They can
strike hard against a group which Northern
Gas Networks particularly cares about:
vulnerable customers – the elderly, the poor,
and mobility-, vision- and hearing-impaired,
as well as those living in remote areas.
Community engagement staff are a new
category of worker striving to not only
project messages to the community, but
actively listen to discover the challenges
customers face in their daily lives so that
Northern Gas Networks can address those
challenges. The staff often share what they
learn internally so the company can better
help vulnerable customers in conjunction
with the government and the UK energy
regulator, the Office of Gas and Electricity
Markets, “a non-ministerial government
department and an independent National
Regulatory Authority, recognised by
EU Directives”.
Working with these customers means more
than simply ensuring that gas gets delivered
to homes and businesses safely. Mr Bell
explains, “It means making sure that we
understand their needs more; making sure
that we engage them correctly; making sure
that our channels of communication are
correct; and making sure that the language
that we use is right – so we have the
appropriate level of caring in place.”
New types of workers include local
community artists, who work with citizens,
in particular children, to get messages
into households. Northern Gas Networks
delivers creative workshops to help explain
why the renewal of gas pipes is important
in a neighbourhood. A little refrigerator art
can go a long way to bringing the message
into many homes and reducing resistance
down the pipe.
A new job title – Social Strategy Project
Manager – was first introduced in January
of this year. The company has recognised
that traditional skills aren’t always
appropriate in dealing with people who
may be passionate, self-taught volunteers
leading their communities – not paid
technocrats. As Mr Bell explains, “We
need people who are non-judgemental;
we need people to respect and consider
things from different perspectives; and we
need them to have empathy without being
condescending. They need to be socially
aware, both ethically and technically.”
Neither these skills nor qualities were on
the radar of engineering schools even a
decade ago, so new ways of hiring have
to be accommodated. Aside from being
“Northern”, Husky Energy also has this
in common with their colleagues across
the Atlantic.
IT’S ABOUT RESPECT
In Canada, the resolution of land treaty
rights with First Nations (also known as
Aboriginal) peoples and an increasing
respect for their traditional and legal rights
has inspired Husky Energy to work more
closely with these communities, to ensure
that projects benefit all people as the
company works to develop energy sources
across Western Canada.
As Mr Duvall of Husky Energy explains,
this is much more than a simple public
relations exercise. Deep expertise in legal
matters relating to a broad range of rights
issues is needed to address the treaty
rights of First Nations people, the lease
