Saudi Aramco is spearheading the development of a new research university as part of its long-term vision towards developing human resources and Saudi Arabia’s pool of talent.

“Achieving a commitment to meet the world’s energy needs is possible only through the dedicated efforts of our people,” Saudi Aramco says in its 2006 Annual Review.
“We continue to build on our legacy of success by investing in our people and sharing our expertise with local companies, educational institutions and other domestic stakeholders.”

Facts & Figures
LONG TERM
The report continues: “As our industry grows more complex, as Saudi Aramco branches out into new areas, and as the technologies we employ become more sophisticated, the need increases for well-trained, highly skilled professionals who can develop, deploy, adapt and improve on that technology. Furthermore, the long-term vitality of the Saudi economy depends on cultivation of a highly skilled workforce.”
Saudi Aramco’s approach to the long-term challenge of talent development has a new dimension. Last year, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud entrusted the company with spearheading creation of a new, world-class, research-oriented science and technology university in the kingdom.
Called the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, the institution will not only produce future leaders in scientific and technological fields, but also strengthen the country’s research and technology capabilities.
The university’s charter and an interim organisational structure have been created and the campus is being built on the Red Sea Coast, near Rabigh. Ground was broken on the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology project this spring and the university is scheduled to convene its first classes in the fall semester of 2009.
In today’s business environment, we need not only good engineers and skilled technicians, Saudi Aramco says it also needs people with highly developed “soft” skills, “who can build and lead cross-cultural teams, manage complex initiatives, identify new business opportunities and emerging economic trends, and who are equally at home working in Yokohama or Yanbu”.
“As an enterprise whose operations impact the lives of billions of people around the world, it is imperative that we identify and groom a new generation of leadership,” it adds.

Facts & Figures
PUT TO THE TEST
Each year, managers and division heads apply a rigorous assessment procedure to identify high-potential individuals.
This process complements Saudi Aramco’s corporate, management and supervisor assess-ment centres, run by independent experts, where the leadership potential of candidates is tested through a series of demanding simulations.
More than 2,250 participants have undergone assessment through these centres. The company also conducts a number of leadership development programmes, including the Saudi Aramco manage-ment development seminar. In addition, promising individuals are sent to high-level executive programmes offered by leading universities around the world.
Two new leadership development programmes are the economics of oil and the business acumen programme. In the former, conducted in partnership with Saudi Petroleum Overseas affiliate in London, participants study the fundamental drivers of global crude oil trade and how these forces might impact Saudi Aramco. The latter programme is designed to enhance a broad portfolio of business and financial skills.
Last year, Saudi Aramco’s management and supervisory training programmes attracted more than 9,700 enrolments, including roughly 1,200 enrolments in operational excellence programmes and 500 in competencies development and orientation programmes.
It conducted five Saudi Aramco Leadership Forum (SALF) sessions for approximately 80 participants, and also held 13 SALF learning seminars for 660 participants.
The SALF annual forum attracted 125 SALF alumni and management participants.
Saudi Aramco believes that a key strategy in preparing its workforce for the future is self-development. A prime component of this is e-learning. At the end of 2006, its e-learning site had more than 2,500 courses, nearly double the total in 2005. Approximately 35,300 employees enrolled in at least one e-learning course during the year, an increase of 37 per cent over 2005. More than 4,000 oil and gas operators are benefiting from access to a web-based operator training simulation programme.
Source: 2006 Annual Review