Downstream oil and gas companies are constantly looking for ways to reduce operating costs and maximise throughput in their refineries. An increasingly important focus area is workforce planning and optimisation. This approach is not limited to peak turnaround periods, but also extends to the efficient management of personnel during regular operations. 

Downstream facilities require careful workforce planning to ensure smooth product blending, storage operations and consistent product quality. This means ensuring workforce skills and availability for specific product handling. This allows for adequate staffing during regular operations and the ability to deal with unexpected situations. Optimal staffing levels minimise fatigue and ensure that personnel are alert and focused on maintaining a safe working environment.

This is why workforce optimisation and planning play an integral role in downstream oil and gas operations. This article discusses the challenges of workforce optimisation and planning, and approaches to improving them.

Workforce optimisation and planning

Workforce optimisation focuses on maximising the efficiency of the existing workforce through strategies and processes. Workforce planning, on the other hand, involves forecasting the workforce required to meet the organisation’s operational needs and business objectives.

In short, workforce planning matches the supply of labour with the demand for it. A poorly planned or optimised workforce will lead to inefficiencies in the deployment of staff and the allocation of tasks, affecting both operational efficiency and overall performance.

Common issues in workforce optimisation and planning

In Renoir Consulting’s 30 years of experience, we have identified the following common workforce issues that impact operational performance:

• Lack of tools for effective manpower planning and scheduling.
• Lack of metrics to measure performance.
• Lack of reporting processes to guide timely follow-up on work quality.
• Manhours are not planned at 100% capacity, resulting in longer maintenance completion times.
• Unaddressed skills and capabilities.
• Poor and inconsistent communication across functions in an organisation.

Approaches to improvement

A good starting point for assessing workforce optimisation is a qualitative and observational assessment. The assessment provides an understanding of the current state and workload constraints that affect operational performance.

Through these assessments, organisations can develop and implement consistent processes, management planning and control practices, and skills development programmes across facilities.

Organisations have unique challenges and operate in different environments, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution to maximising and properly planning the workforce to ensure overall operational performance. However, here are some industry-tested approaches that Renoir has implemented in a variety of oil and gas organisations:

1. Proper workforce planning and task scheduling to streamline regular operating activities, prioritise critical tasks, and allocate resources effectively without bloated teams.
2. Workforce upskilling and reskilling, as a well-trained and competent workforce is essential for the smooth running of day-to-day operations.
3. Invest in training programmes that improve the skills and knowledge of different teams depending on their functions, such as training in safety protocols and emergency response.
4. Develop and implement tools to improve scheduling and tracking to ensure that operations can properly determine the resources available and fully load personnel with a full day’s work.
5. Design and install a management control system for target calibration and attainment, and a short interval control mechanism to ensure that the workforce is working in the right direction to meet daily, weekly and monthly targets.
6. Conduct a manpower confidence scale/skills flexibility matrix to assign the right task to the right talent, with the right amount of manpower.

The ultimate goals

Implementing strategic workforce optimisation and planning can bring significant improvements not only in operational efficiency and performance, but also in safety. This approach goes beyond increasing headcount to get the job done; it is about strategically deploying the right people with the right skills at the right time.

By addressing common problems and implementing targeted solutions such as improved scheduling and performance tracking, organisations can eliminate idle time and mitigate safety risks.