Multinational Energy Company

The Research Project

A multinational energy company approached Mackman Research following our work with EEEGR. The purpose of the research was to assess the employee engagement of those situated on two North Sea platforms and a regional office. Across the three locations, the company employed around 1,000 people in a diverse range of roles from platform managers to external contractors. Mackman Research was commissioned to conduct an employee survey on behalf of the multinational energy company to provide in-depth insight into the satisfaction, engagement and motivation of employees.

The Research Outcomes

The survey provided on-shore platform managers with clear research outcomes, including:

• Pain points
• Levels of engagement
• Team dynamics
• Brand affinity 
• Overall perception of brand

The Client

The multinational oil and gas company has been in production for over 100 years. As both an established and well recognised brand, they operate North Sea platforms close to their regional offices in East Anglia.

Research Aims

The primary aim of this piece of employee research was to gather feedback relating to organisational and cultural perception, pay, conditions and staff morale on behalf of Shell.

The Research Challenge

This was an unusual project for the research team. It required data to be gathered from employees 'off-shore' and on shift. Here our sampling models had to be adjusted as we attempted to make contact with as many staff members as possible. To accommodate rotational shift patterns we staggered our collection. In addition, we contacted staff via email in order to capture data from those absent. However, the data collection stage did not run entirely smoothly, as our Research Director commented:

"Despite our careful planning the weather, and other factors, interrupted our schedule. To overcome this we built extra time into to the data collection phase to act as a contingency measure. This meant that we were able to re-assign call times and make contact with as many staff members as possible."

Dr. Gemma Mackman

The Research Design & Methodology

Mackman Research designed an employee survey and employees were selected at random as part of a stratified sample to take part. Employees based on the platforms called in to the Mackman office to complete the survey over the phone with a Mackman researcher. Those based in the regional office were asked to schedule an interview time slot for a Mackman researcher to call them. The telephone interviews lasted between 15 minutes and 1 hour, depending on how much information the employee had to comment.

The Research Results & Findings 

192 employees took part in the survey which achieved a confidence level of 95% and a confidence interval of +/-4.6%. The results were split by the three locations and employing company. For verbatim, results were further grouped by either seniority (supervisor or individual contributor) or how long the employee had worked with the company. After evaluating the findings data from the survey, Mackman Research created a detailed report summing up the key findings. The comprehensive report has provided the client with a deeper level of understanding of employee satisfaction, motivation, and engagement and will help the multinational company establish strengths and weaknesses to implement a thorough internal strategy for change and motivation among the workforce.