The paper Enhancing Your Leadership Reserves is based on Hay Group's annual Best Companies for Leadership database – compiled from a survey of more than 18,000 employees worldwide.
This includes data collected from 33 oil and gas organisations, which Hay Group supplemented with interviews of 20 organisational leaders in the sector. The recent report compares figures from the sector to averages from across all industries.
It suggests only around half (53%) of employees are encouraged to develop into other areas by their managers.
The report also reveals that leaders in oil and gas are more effective at running businesses profitably and smoothly than their counterparts across other sectors. Eight in 10 (81%) senior managers have a strong focus on this – compared to an average of 75%.
This focus on immediate results leads to a more direct management style, according to the research. More than half (53%) of managers in oil and gas take this approach to leadership – compared to 37% across other sectors.
Subsequently, this can lead to employees being less engaged. Almost two-thirds (64%) of workers report experiencing a de-motivating environment at work – compared to a cross-sector benchmark of 55%.
Hay Group director and co-author of the report Sherief Hammady told HR magazine the nature of the sector means leaders have difficult decisions to make between short-term and long-term goals.
"It's a very technical sector – so getting that operational side of things right is very important," he said. "Sometimes companies are tempted to focus on this instead of the leadership side when promoting people."
Hammady added that companies are now starting to take the issue of leadership more seriously – but it isn't an easy journey.
"The pressure of hitting profit targets means people face a conundrum," he said. "But especially in the large companies we are seeing encouraging signs that leadership pipelines are being developed to safeguard for the future."
