Human Capital Development for the Offshore Market

Founded in 2004 by Yina Fabiola Muñoz Pineda, Match Personnel does exactly what it says on the tin. The company seeks to overhaul the traditional outsourcing concept by matching companies with personnel that are technically proficient in the exact areas required by the offshore industry. As Director General, Muñoz Pineda believes her firm has developed an integral reputation in the Mexican offshore market for recruiting the best and most qualified talent, which has resulted in it securing contracts with various world-renowned companies. “Our clients trust us because they know our services will reliably provide them with the necessary human capital to ensure their operational productivity and growth,” she adds.

Through its own training center, Match Personnel has the ability to train its human talent in-house, with courses that run the gamut from Industrial Safety, Organizational and Human Development and Workforce Integration. Moreover, the company can certify its employees in offshore operational requirements needed for staff to work with companies operating in this segment. Additionally, Muñoz Pineda explains that Match Personnel has highly specialized programs to train staff for purely technical positions that require extensive engineering knowledge and expertise. Its Project Engineering and Engineering Assistance courses help create highly skilled, analytical engineers to cater to PEMEX’s and other companies’ future demands. According to Muñoz Pineda, her firm is constantly updating itself with the latest certifications in the offshore segment in order to remain a top personnel trainer and produce the best oil and gas technicians out there. “We help companies to reduce their fixed costs and achieve a high utility margin. By being provided with highly trained individuals, a company can focus on operational tasks rather than worry about problems that may arise from a lack of productivity in its workforce.” Despite this well-oiled mechanism, Muñoz Pineda points out that the Energy Reform will change the way the hiring process is undertaken. “Companies’ hiring procedures will be regulated to avoid them evading common operating standards and to ensure they successfully adhere to wellestablished operational practices. This factor will benefit us significantly since we have continuously strived for our clients to trust in outsourcing as we do everything above board. The new legal framework will allow our training efforts to be rewarded,” she says.

Match Personnel also aims to establish close ties with universities in order to broaden its candidate database and increase the visibility of potential employees. At the same time, Muñoz Pineda would enjoy seeing students entering companies through operational internships that can provide them with the necessary tools to become valuable assets. “Demand must be met by supply in order for a truly competitive market to exist.” The evolution of the Mexican oil and gas industry leaves little doubt that supply will find enough demand to cater to. “We will begin seeing an increasing demand for a wide variety of engineers, ranging from those involved in field operations and project analysts, to safety and environmental protection experts,” states Muñoz Pineda.

Match Personnel hopes that technological institutions in Mexico will nurture the creation of human capital equipped with the competencies to succeed in the Mexican offshore market. If so, Muñoz Pineda is hopeful that the generational gap of highly trained but aging engineers and specialists in offshore operations will soon be counterbalanced by an influx of freshly adept candidates. “PEMEX has already begun tackling this through different technology training programs as well as cooperation agreements with institutions around the world. We sincerely expect that more educational institutions will begin to focus on the industry’s needs,” she adds. Muñoz Pineda is a major supporter of specialized training abroad and hopes it becomes better entrenched in the Mexican corporate culture. She is certain that the most successful companies will be those that prioritize human development in their training processes. “Employees will seek these employers, knowing that they will surely provide them with an opportunity to grow in a competitive enterprise. As a result, these companies will experience significant growth, as they will be retaining the most attractive human talent available in the country.” Besides the importance of companies fostering the development of their human capital, she stresses that companies must express interest in their employees’ individual potential as well as in their contributions to a company’s overall goals in order to encourage their productivity. She believes that, by doing this, companies will retain their employees and optimize their skills while boosting the production capacity of the enterprise. “Staff must be taken care of. They must know that they are appreciated and that their role is essential for the success of the group.” But surely if Match Personnel can do so in the outsourcing market, others will be able to as well. Muñoz Pineda dismisses the threat posed by competition. “They do not have a ten-year proven track record in the offshore oil and gas industry, including strict technological qualification procedures and the constant development of new training processes. By being ahead through our tailored offshore training programs and headhunting expertise, we will be able to continue providing the best human talent for the Mexican offshore oil and gas industry.”