Global energy giant was looking to improve diversity and inclusion and leverage the benefits that greater diversity brings. KGC was appointed to build and implement a diversity and inclusion strategy, starting with a leadership development training program for female employees.

Currently, only 20% of the global workforce in the oil and gas industry is female. Leadership of the Saudi Oil and Gas Company knew it had a low number of female leaders and high female staff turnover. The organization wanted to become an industry leader in diversity and planned to first increase its female workforce.

This they planned to achieve by attracting more female talent to work in the oil and gas industry in specific areas, and in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in general. The leadership team understood that to attract and retain more female leaders, the organization had to grow its reputation as an inclusive place to work. It also needed to provide specific support to retain and grow existing and emerging female leaders.

Working with Saudi oil and gas company and partner GP Strategies, KGC developed the Emerging Women in Leadership program. This program takes female talent on a leadership journey based on core leadership competencies to enhance their leadership skills.

First, we learned what a diverse workforce meant to Saudi oil and gas company, and how success could be measured. Next, we developed the competency framework by identifying what skills female leaders needed, alongside potential female career paths. A leadership training needs analysis and learning plan followed. We then delivered a program that focused on:

• Authentic leadership
• Effective communication
• Coaching and delegating
• Accountability and influencing up

A key feature of this learning intervention was an extended train the trainer (TTT) program, giving Saudi oil and gas company’s employees the tools to roll it out to the whole organization.