In the March/April issue of Drilling Contractor (DC) magazine, IADC Chairman and Enterprise Offshore Drilling President & CEO Brad James discusses the importance of putting people first. According to James, “The drilling industry’s greatest resource and most invaluable investment is its people.” Enterprise has cultivated a “people first” culture rooted in care, collaboration, and respect.
James states,
“When employees feel valued, they don’t just show up to collect a paycheck; they actively look out for each other’s safety and identify ways to improve operations.”
He highlights the shift towards a collaborative approach in QHSE (Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment), moving away from a policing organization. “There is a new paradigm for QHSE in the industry. It has shifted from being a policing organization to a collaborative one. According to James, this shift “… has led to buy-in, enhanced teamwork and personal responsibility for safety.”
Enterprise’s PeopleSafe program, which James discusses, empowers employees to identify and report at-risk behaviors and conditions through STAR (See, Talk, Agree, Record) Observation Cards.
James writes,
“We want our people to know that we acknowledge and appreciate their efforts; they’re not reporting these behaviors and conditions in a void, just for the sake of reporting.”
He emphasizes the importance of visible and accessible senior leadership, fostering trust and teamwork. The article mentions, “Since we have a flat organizational structure, senior leadership is very visible and accessible to our employees.”
James also highlights how the company prioritizes employee recognition and engagement through events like picnics and leadership meetings, acknowledging that “people just want to be valued and appreciated.”
He concludes,
“Our collective competitive advantage and path to success as an industry lies in empowering our most valuable resources — our people.”
