AMA Corporate Learning Solutions Success Story:PowerWell Services
The Challenge
Based in Houston, Texas, PowerWell Services, the largest global provider for flow management services, provides oil and gas companies temporary hydrocarbon production and measurement capability—service typically performed when quantifying the size and economic viability of a reservoir.
A multitude of technical specialties, integration of several organizations and operations on six continents provided special challenges for Global Training and Development Manager Steve Woolsey: “The mantra at PowerWell is HSE and Quality Performance at every level. Given the rapid growth of our organization, demand for continuous technical training was expected to be high. But we also knew that there was a great need to ensure that our management, leadership and personal development skills needed to be targeted as well.” Developing a training curriculum with both technical and soft skills was key to PowerWell’s success.
PowerWell’s training requirements were formidable: global delivery, varied delivery formats AND oil and gas industry experience—but AMA met all of the criteria.
AMA On-Site Solution
PowerWell approached AMA with the idea of delivering five-day workshops instead of the two-day programs AMA had proposed. Risks included burnout of participants, course leader fatigue and neglect of business and personal matters for too long. The advantages far outweighed the risks—travel for participants twice instead of six times meant a huge savings in time and money. Plus, there were significant advantages in tightly integrating the content; senior executives visited each session to reinforce the company’s philosophies and expectations.
PowerWell and AMA completed a predesign conference, a business scan and content development, and the “PowerWell Management Enhancement Seminar” was piloted in Houston and Paris, France. After initial Level I evaluation and management interviews, a few modifications were made and the program was rolled out to all personnel in the company holding management and leadership roles.
Real World Results
“We all felt good about the pilot delivery and were fairly confident that the feedback would be positive,” said Mr. Woolsey, “but we were delighted with the effusive feedback from managers and leaders.” Rating the course a 3.98 out of 4.0, participants were most enthusiastic about the quality of the content itself, and a majority commented on the tight integration and high relevance of the material.
Higher level evaluation is continuing, but four conclusions can already be made:
- Longer delivery time proved not only cost and time efficient but also improved effectiveness
- With careful positioning, even experienced managers indicated they gained substantial skills
- Consistency between U.S. and international deliveries greatly enhanced success
- Industry-specific references significantly increased the value
For more details, download the PowerWell Services success story pdf.