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By Cindy Bigner
Director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives, Halliburton
Halliburton Finds
The Best Talent in Every
Country and Culture
www. diversi t yj our nal . com MAy/ j une 2 0 11
47
H
ALLIBURTON IS A leading en-
ergy services company with 60,000
employees working in 80 countries.
Our employees speak more than
200 languages, and they range from field opera-
tors to engineers, scientists and managers. This
variety creates great opportunities for us to build
diversity and inclusion into all aspects of our
business.
Each country and region presents a unique
business challenge. Halliburtons customers are oil
and gas operators, and these can be international
oil companies (IOCs), independents, or national
oil companies (NOCs). Each customer type has
an interest in our diversity practices, but NOCs
in particular have complex needs
that offer opportunities to foster
diversity.
NOCs goals reflect the gov-
ernments long-range desires
for their countries, and offering
promising careers to their citizens
is typically at the top of the list.
Halliburtons workforce, includ-
ing managers, is overwhelmingly
made up of citizens of the host
country. To further this trend,
Halliburton has formed alliances with local lead-
ing universities to help prepare graduates for
careers in the oilfield. In addition, Halliburton
has established regional training centers where
employees in early or mid career can broaden
their skills and increase their opportunities. And
we often work closely with our NOC customers
to develop local training opportunities and help
build local education programs.
NOCs are also interested in developing their
economic infrastructure and look to us to help
nurture local businesses. We take special pride in
working with local firms that can supply services
and materials. This is a diversity goal, and it is a
business imperative as we diversify and decentral-
ize our supply chain to create robust and flexible
sources.
Similarly, Halliburton is decentralizing technol-
ogy and manufacturing. We have recently estab-
lished research centers in Pune, India and Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil that will be staffed by regional
scientists to develop solutions for the technical
challenges characteristic of those areas. There is
no better way for Halliburton to produce the
constant innovation that keeps us at the top of the
industry. In manufacturing, we
have also created regional centers,
for example, in Mexico and in
Singapore, to employ local work-
ers to make products and tools
for regional needs.
This year, Halliburton cre-
ated my position Director
of Diversity and Inclusion
Initiatives. My job is to drive
our global diversity and inclusion
strategy, including culture, talent,
workplace and marketplace initiatives. Our senior
management is solidly behind this effort, and we
hold our leaders accountable for support and own-
ership of our diversity targets.
The work in energy services can be hard, and
demanding, and it is often done in harsh and
remote environments. It takes special people to
do this work well, and we are committed to find-
ing and developing them from every country and
every culture. PDJ
My job is to drive
our global diversity
and inclusion strategy,
including culture,
talent, workplace
and marketplace
initiatives.