Job performance standards

The business must have employees who can do their jobs at a level that meets basic quality and quantity standards.

The performance standards can also be used if the position is to be fulfilled by a contractor. Job performance standards describe or clarify the level of employee performance that is acceptable to the business. They may be expressed as minimum performance levels or as desired performance levels. They also must include measurements on what the performance level is. Performance standards should be established for every task on the task list.

 

Performance standards are tools to help improve employee performance throughout the employee’s career. In addition to being used for developing learning programmes, they can also be used on an ongoing basis to evaluate the employee’s performance on the job. These standards should be made available to all appropriate managers as a Minimum Requirement document.

 

Once task lists, job plans and job performance standards have been created, it is possible to produce a job description and job competency profile which can be used to assess how employees measure up to each of the standards. The results of this assessment will reveal the tasks in which employees need training. The tools can also act as a blueprint to develop the necessary learning.

 

Job descriptions

The task list is the basis for producing a job description, the purpose of which is to document the duties and responsibilities of the position. It should include:

■ the job title

■ the department

■ the grade

■ work relationships - to whom the post-holder reports and for whom the post-holder is responsible

■a brief summary of job function or main purpose of the job

■main duties and responsibilities with indication of percentage of time spent

■occasional duties with indication of percentage of time spent

■any special working conditions, e.g. shift or weekend working, call out arrangements, periods when leave cannot be taken, etc.

■the purpose and frequency of contact with others.

 

The job description should be agreed by both the manager and post-holder and this should be signed and dated.

 

Job competency profiles

Whilst job descriptions describe what should be done, a job competency profile (JCP) describes the knowledge, skills and abilities required by a person to carry out that job successfully. Similar knowledge, skills and abilities are likely to be appropriate across a number of jobs. It is usual, therefore,

to set up a competence framework containing a repository

of competencies which can be used to develop different job profiles.

 

These competencies can be applied to individuals in order to create personal competency profiles (PCP) which describe what they are currently capable of doing.

 

Learning plans

JCPs and PCPs should be compared to determine the gap required in capability. Learning plans can then be determined to close the gap.

 

Tasks, job descriptions and competency profiles should be reviewed regularly to take account of changes in strategy and technology and to continue with efforts to in continuous improvement. A capability review should be repeated on an annual basis to determine the capability gaps for all individuals, disciplines and Regions against theses revised requirements.

 

Evidence of competence

As part of the gap analysis, it will be necessary to provide appropriate examples of evidence of competence. Evidence can be of two types; direct evidence or indirect evidence.

 

Direct evidence - evidence of output or performance demonstrated by the candidate and witnessed first-hand by an authorised assessor.

Indirect evidence - evidence of output or performance reported ‘second-hand’ to authorised assessors from original materials or documentation provided by the candidate and endorsed and/or supported by their line manager, colleagues, clients, customers, etc.

 

Examples of both types of evidence include:

■ written reports with detailed descriptions

■ delivery of technical presentations

■satisfactory responses in a question and answer session

■support testimonials from other qualified sources

■other appropriate documentation and/or outputs

■confirmed deliverables against assigned projects and other tasks

■successful completion of learning

■courses where assessment has been carried out as part of the course.

 

It is imperative that all HSSE critical, Asset Integrity and process safety staff, including contract positions, are demonstrably competent and all necessary licences and certificates have been obtained, are current and technical competencies are externally verified or accredited. Their competence should be assessed at a frequency based on the criticality of the position. There should be no proficiency gaps in HSSE critical positions and individuals should be working towards the proficiency level above that required for their current position.

 

All temporary appointments, or ‘stand-ins’, must also be demonstrably competent to do the job. These appointments should be documented, be approved by the line manager and are auditable. In field locations, the number of ‘stand-ins’ for HSSE critical positions at any one time should be risk assessed.

 

INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The formalisation of a learning plan should be done through the Individual Development Plan (IDP).

 

An IDP is an employee’s personal strategy for developing the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to perform well in their current position and help them to achieve their career aspirations. It provides a framework for discussion with relevant people in the organisation and their respective discipline. The short-term development needs should be based on the gap that has been identified between the job competency profile and the personal competency profile.

Longer-term development needs should take long-term aspirations into account and seek to provide timely interventions to build skills and competencies to ensure that the individual remains competitive.

 

IDPs are also used by the business for aligning expectations and identifying suitable assignments and postings. This is a key document in which individuals can express their career aspirations to both the Operating company and global discipline management. It is important that it is kept up-to-date, particularly if the individual intends to apply for an international assignment as it captures their current development needs, career interests, agreed availability window and mobility.

 

Building and refreshing the plan should encourage self-reflection, and provide new insights about the employee. The plan itself should be completed jointly by the individual employee and the Company, reflecting the joint commitment to continuous learning and development. Progress against the plan should be regularly reviewed and closure of the gaps should be tracked. Ownership of the IDP is, however, vested clearly with the employee and appropriate activities should be captured in the goals, performance and appraisal document. It is the employee who is expected to drive the development identified in the plan.

 

Staff should discuss and agree with their supervisor a learning plan, which includes the individual’s learning needs that they will undertake as well as the desired outcome of the learning activity.

 

Following the IDP exercise, the business can roll up the IDPs into a master learning grid, such as the example shown in Figure 1.

 

NAME	PTW	OFFSHORE SURVIVAL	FIRST AID	FIRE FIGHTING	EP00	P180	P153	MAINTENANCE OF ROTATING EQUIPMENT	ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Fred
Claire
Jemal
Oke
Monique
Jaap
Ian
Chris
Rashid
Learning required  Learning scheduled  Learning completed

Figure 1: Master learning grid

 

The following should be taken into consideration in planning how to deliver learning to close these gaps.

■Priorities for learning - some skills or knowledge may be required sooner than others or may be more critical to the business than others.

■Economies of scale - there may be several people requiring the same learning.

■Pre-requisite knowledge - some skills may require the learner to have a certain amount of knowledge prior to attending a learning event.

■Opportunity and availability - there may be times when learners have more time or availability and these should be exploited.

 

A master learning plan can then be developed, detailing what learning will be carried out and when. However, equipment and processes are not fixed and are always changing. It is necessary, therefore, that the master learning plans are reviewed and kept up-to-date with the whole process, from identifying skills to planning the learning, being undertaken at least once a year or when there have been major changes to equipment or processes.

 

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Upstream Learning, Leadership and Development (LLD) provides a complete spectrum of learning opportunities, ranging from traditional classroom delivered courses to blended on-the-job work-based assignments. These are professionally designed to encourage the creativity and collaboration needed in the workplace. Each learning event focuses on both the acquisition and retention of knowledge, along with the development of skills and behaviours that demonstrate competence.

 

All learning should be selected, reviewed and assessed to ensure it accurately meets the needs identified from the capability reviews and learning plans. It is important that there are suitable learning events to close all the gaps but with as little overlap with existing competencies as possible. If necessary, new learning content should be created.

 

On average, each Upstream Production person should spend a minimum of 70 hours a year on learning and ideally at least 100 hours. It is important that sufficient budget is put aside for this learning, both for the time needed and the cost of the training. Ideally, the learning budget should be at least 5% of the payroll cost.

 

Creating a workplace that supports learning starts with changing the belief that learning only happens in a classroom. Formal learning, that is classroom learning, can take place at a precise time and place but learning can also happen on a daily basis at the workplace. Blending formal and informal learning, as demonstrated in Figure 2, has proved to be the most effective method of learning.

 

A practical and concise handbook entitled, “Workplace Learning, How-to-Kit” is available from Upstream LLD, that provides easy to use proven tools and techniques, templates and instruments for implementing workplace learning in your business. There are many opportunities for learning including:

 ■ formal learning

■ informal learning

■ coaching and mentoring

■ knowledge management and knowledge sharing

■ conferences and workshops

■ job shadowing

■ peer interactions and/or peer assists

■ After Action Reviews (AARs).

 

There is a brief description of each of these overl

 

 

 

 

Figure 2: Workplace learning

Formal learning

Most of Upstream formal learning is provided at the Shell Learning, Leadership and Development Centre in The Netherlands. Contents of courses, duration, timing and other particulars are described in the annual Shell Upstream Learning Guide, which is accessible through the Shell Open University (SOU) website.

 

The SOU is the main portal for all learning opportunities.

In addition to the centrally provided learning opportunities, details of local and regional learning opportunities can also be found in SOU.

 

Formal learning includes classroom-based work, e-learning and distance learning. Most of the Upstream learning events now use the workplace learning (WPL) format, including work-based activities and assignments in a blended course.

 

Informal learning

Participants learn in real work situations at the same time as doing their own job. Learning happens through experience, problem solving, interaction with colleagues and the building and sharing of ideas.

 

Coaching and mentoring

Coaching is a task-focused relationship helping people do their work better by providing them with the tools, knowledge and opportunities they need to discover solutions for themselves. This should be based on the model for coaching, as shown in Figure 3. Supervisors and senior staff should have sufficient coaching experience and skill to address the job coaching required by staff. Supervisors should spend approximately 25% of their time coaching others.

 

Mentoring is about developing long-term relationships aimed at helping people develop themselves. All senior staff should have a mentee to whom they regularly offer support for their personal development.

 

Knowledge management

Knowledge management (KM) in Shell Upstream refers to the systematic approach employed to make the best use possible of the skills and knowledge of staff in pursuit of business objectives. KM provides tools and techniques to make finding and sharing knowledge easy and useful for staff. Examples include the SharePoint, Wiki and Shell International Global Networks and Practices Worth Replicating (PWR).

 

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