OVERSEAS RECRUITING IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY — A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Early in 1982 CSR Limited established an Oil and Gas Division. By 1983 this Division had recruited twenty-six overseas technical personnel mainly from Canada and the United Kingdom. The Company needed to recruit overseas because the skills required were not available in Australia.

During 1983 a review of the recruitment and settlement of these personnel and their families was undertaken. The objectives of this review were to:

improve the Company performance in the recruitment, induction and settlement of overseas recruits and their families;increase the likely "length of stay" in Australia of overseas recruits and their families;to address specific problems faced by recruits and their families in settlement in Australia.

In depth interviews were conducted with twenty-one of the twenty-six recruits and their families using a structured interview format.

The analysis of the interviews results revealed that:

on average it took longer for those recruited in the United Kingdom to obtain immigration "approvals" and to physically relocate than those recruited in Canada;families with previous experience in relocating adapted and coped better with the physical move and resettlement than families without previous experience.

The detailed results showed further that:

While there was sufficient information provided about the job and department, there was dissatisfaction with the lack of detailed information about aspects of living in Australia, particularly: taxation; housing; bank mortgage arrangements; cost of living data and medical insurance.There were gaps in the expectations that many- recruits and their families had about living in Australia, such as climate, lifestyle and housing. This was attributed to an "oversell" through glossy brochures and "word pictures".The attention given to staff and their families on arrival was seen as a positive introduction to Australia and CSR's Oil and Gas Division.The provision of initial temporary accommodation in a single apartment complex for all overseas recruits and families in Adelaide assisted greatly in the induction and settlement process. It provided a high level of support especially for wives with young children. The "welcome waggon" group together with the assistance provided by the wives of senior executives were also positive influences in the settlement process.

The most positive features seen in the move to Australia were career and lifestyle opportunities. On the other hand loss of disposable income was seen as a significant negative.

From the results and analysis a detailed set of recommendations and actions were developed to improve company performance in recruitment and settlement. These recommendations were implementated prior to the 1984 recruiting mission to Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The preliminary results from the 1984 recruiting mission have resulted in:

a reduction in recruiting lead time;quicker and more informed decision making by candidates and their families in accepting job offers;more professional preparation of both the recruiting teams and the company's agents overseas.