AXIS Network Virtual Catch Up - 17.04.2020

In April 2020, AXIS Network hosted our first virtual networking session.  With 20 attendees we shared out physical distancing situations and our top tips for staying positive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gender balance is a leadership issue - 15.11.2019

In collaboration with Shell, AXIS Network hekld an "In conversation with Caroine Criado-Perez; OBE, Campaigner, Write, Consultant" https://www.carolinecriadoperez.com/ 

This was followed by a Panel Discussion with Steve Phimister; Vice President Upstream (Shell UK) & Craig Shanaghey; President Operations Services Europe (Wood) and recently appointed as OGUK Diversity & Inclusion Focus Group Lean, and Caroline Criado-Perez; Author of bestselling book "Invisible Women" - exposing data bias in a world designed for men. 

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Event video can be seen here - https://youtu.be/Ui7hs4O6xV0

Delivering a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce in a Transitioning Industry 05.09.2019

Delivering a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce in a Transitioning Industry

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Fostering a diverse and inclusive working culture is a moral and business imperative that is key to ensuring a competitive and sustainable oil and gas industry that supports the UK's transition to a net zero economy - and delivers Vision 2035.

Over the years, this sector has thrived and survived because of our talented and pioneering colleagues. However, if our industry is to remain relevant in a changing and challenging environment, it will need to attract and retain a diversity of talent, skills, experience and thought as well as ensure inclusive and collaborative ways of working.

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To consider what is working well and what more could and should be done in our industry, AXIS, the OGTC, OGUK and POWERful Women hosted a key lunch at Offshore Europe on Thursday, September 5.

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Serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Green & Blacks, Jo Fairley, will present a thought-provoking address that acknowledges the challenges and opportunities of thriving as a female leader, while sharing the lessons she has learned as her career has developed. Jo will also provide insights as to what more needs to be done to move the agenda forward to achieve a sustainable, diverse and inclusive working environment.

An exciting line-up of leading industry figures will then discuss some of the key issues during a panel session that will be moderated by Colette Cohen CEO at OGTC and includes:

• Jo Coleman OBE, UK Energy Transition Manager Shell

• Ariel Flores, Regional President for BP North Sea

• Gretchen Haskins, CEO HeliOffshore

• David Isaac, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Partner, Pinsent Masons LLP

• John Pearson, COO Petrofac

The event will be opened by Deirdre Michie OBE and chief executive of OGUK.

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At the close, AXIS made a specific request of all attendees in terms of committing to attract, retain and develop a diverse workforce.

Benefits of a Diverse Workforce - Retention & Networking, 20.06.2019

Kindly sponsored by Oceaneering, we were delighted to host our 3rd event of the year at the Sandman Signature Aberdeen hotel.

The AXIS Network joined Director of the Oil and Gas Institute, Professor Paul de Leeuw and Business Analyst Sumin Kim for a fascinating insight into the data behind the UKCS Workforce Dynamics Skills Landscape report. Professor de Leeuw discussed the importance of maximising the talent pool and retaining a diverse workforce with particular focus on the gender disaggregated data from their research and what this tells us about where the industry is in relation to diversity and where we are likely to be by 2025.

This was followed with a panel question and answer session before we move into the second part of our evening where Campbell Urquhart of White Cube Consulting will facilitate speed networking amongst our delegates drawing on our evening’s theme of the benefits of a diverse workforce.

Men as Change Agents 28.03.2019

Recognising that men have a pivotal role to play in changing our industry’s culture, this event focused on the male perspective on gender balance.

Our sponsor Deidre Michie set the scene, making the business case for attracting, retaining and developing talented women to our industry  in the context of Oil and Gas UK’s Vision 2035.  Stuart Payne then shared his aspirations for Inclusion 2.0: making workplaces awesome for everyone, and building line manager competence in critical conversations.   Claire Scott explained why some men are reticent to mentor women in the post #MeToo world, and what organisations and women themselves must do to increase the number of male gender balance advocates.  The theme of becoming an ally was further developed by Neil McCulloch, who highlighted a number of practical things male leaders can do to drive change: intervene when colleagues make sexist remarks; support men taking shared parental leave; take a lead in showcasing our dynamic and innovative industry to the next generation of women engineers.  Our final speaker of the evening, Mike Adams, rejected the notion that success in the 21st century is linked to stereotypical masculine traits, asserting compassion and competition are of equal importance for all leaders, regardless of their gender.  The panel discussion covered a wide range of topics including targets, transparency (gender pay gap reporting), staying humble, hold leaders to a higher standard and role models.  The evening closed with a commitment to action via a pledge card, plus a poll on who should be driving change  - organisations (52%) - government(18%) - younger men(1%8) - all men (10%) - women (2%).

Wood & AXIS Network D & I Collaborative Event, 21.02.2019

Our invite only event for energy sector D&I leaders, to come together for a collaboration session so that we could all share best practice and be able to move further forward on our D&I goals in 2019.

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Sponsored by WOOD.

The Oil Industry's Best Kept Secret, 02.11.2018

Brunch and book launch, joint event with O&GUK, sponsored by Spirit 

Speed Networking, 20.09.2018

"What I wish I knew earlier" Sponsored by Shell Woodbank

Glass Ceiling or Choice? 07.06.2018

The AXIS Network, which promotes gender balance in the Oil and Gas Industry in Aberdeen, combined forces with ICAS, the professional body for Chartered Accountants, for this thought provoking event. 

Gender Pay Gap - One Year On, 25.04.2018

As the name suggests, this event was a follow on from our 2017 Gender Pay Gap event and analysis what this all means to us, employees and companies!As the name suggests, this event was a follow on from our 2017 Gender Pay Gap event and analysis what this all means to us, employees and companies!

A Man's World, 16.11. 2017

As a gender diversity organisation, AXIS Network are committed to our tag line ‘better balance/ better business’. We recognise that focussing solely on women can be detrimental to achieving a balance and in recognising International Men’s Day on Sunday 19th November, we wanted to bring a male perspective to the discussion – ‘A man’s world’.

Topics included dual parenting, should we stop stereotyping men and let's talk mental health.

Tackling the Gender Pay Gap, 06.04.2017

Discussion on the upcoming requirements of Gender Pay Gap reporting.

Bring a Network to a Network, 24.11.2016

On the 24th November AXIS hosted our final event of 2016 - Bring a Network to a Network!

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Networking is a big part of our industry, all industries in fact. What better way to expand your network, make new connections than bring your network to our network!

We were delighted to announce Deirdre Michie, OGUK CEO, as our group sponsor! Deirdre attended our event on Thursday along with our event sponsor Keith Murphy, Operations & Engineering Manager of ENGIE E&P UK Limited. 

This event was the coming together of networks. AXIS joined with some other key networks in Aberdeen for this event to give our members a great opportunity to network with a diverse group of people and hear about their networks.

“Why network? Other than making new friends, there are several other advantages.

You can raise your own professional profile, open up new advice avenues, become aware of potential market opportunities and build new business connections. All of which can result in a higher profile in your chosen sector leading, potentially, to increased market networks.”

Gavin Brown from Speaking with Impact presented on “How to Network Effectively” during the course of the evening which opened our informal networking session.

This event was free to attend, which is something we always strive to achieve for our members.

Retain Yourself! 22.09.2016

The AXIS Network and Centrica invited our member to join us for our Retain Yourself event.

At a time in Aberdeen when employers are finding it difficult to focus on employee retention, we offered a panel discussion on how you can make yourself competitive in the current environment and “retain yourself.”  Industry leaders including Myrtle Dawes, Centrica, Thor Holt, Thor Holt Ltd and Paul Goodfellow, Shell discussed ways to build confidence in what you have achieved, find unique ways to comfortably promote yourself, and what you can offer to those making decisions on retention choices.

The event was a sold out affair and we received great feedback on the night and post event. Thank you to all our attendees!

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Speed Networking with a Difference, 30.06.2016

After two years of successful speed networking events, our event is back but this time with a twist! Held at Woodbank and sponsored by Shell UK Ltd our topics will include:

• Building your own brand – how to ‘market’ yourself in the current low oil price?

• How to use social media to your benefit – both for the work environment and own personal ‘gain’

• Cyber security, how can we protect ourselves?

• Impact on the European Union Referendum

• How to have a healthy work/ life balance?

• Light at the end of the tunnel, how do we keep positive in this environment?

• How have other industries survived the downturn?

We are still in the process of confirming our table hosts for the evening, but we will be contacting some new faces as well as some of our speakers from our previous speed networking events.

This is an opportunity to ‘expand your network’, therefore each table will have a different topic.

As the event was going to be a Shell event, and they have kindly allowed us to collaborate with them, we are asking attendees to pay a £5 donation to Cornerstone to attend the event, we will have a donation box on the evening to allow members to make a donation.

Change Management, 21.04.2016

Thank you to those who attended our "Change Management" event, the presentations and speakers were very interesting and topical!

Our event took place at Bridge View, sponsored by Petrofac, and comprised of a number of talks followed by a Q&A session and a networking opportunity at the end of the session.

If you have any questions regarding any of our events please do not hesitate to get in touch; info@axisnetwork.com

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Speed Networking Event, 19.11.2015

The AXIS (Aberdeen X-Industry Support) Network in conjunction with SPE Aberdeen hosted our latest Speed Networking event on Thursday 19th November at the Park Cafe Hazelhead Park. The theme of the evening was “How to survive in a difficult economic climate”. The topic was chosen based on the tough climate that was being experienced in Aberdeen, for some of the AXIS and SPE members this could be the first time they have experienced a downturn in the industry.  

Our “Speed-Networking” event comprised of Senior Industry Leaders rotating around small tables of 6-7 people, giving individuals the opportunity for discussion with others outside of their normal network. Bios of each Senior Leader were distributed in advance to allow attendees the opportunity to prepare their thoughts and questions to ask on the night.

The event comprised of informal networking sessions before and after the formal speed networking. Our first Speed-Networking evening took place in November 2014 and it was a successful and fun evening.

AXIS at Offshore Europe 2015, 9.09.2015

On Thursday 9th September 10am to 4pm our AXIS Committee members can be found at the Halliburton stand (Location 5C21).  Please come along and see us, to find out more on what we’ve got in store for the network in the coming months. Charlie, Jenny, Nick, Caroline and Alex will all be there and hoping to be doing some live tweeting – follow our Twitter feed @AXISAberdeen.

We are holding a game-changing event with a select audience of key industry leaders. Their support and commitment to a step-change in gender balance in the industry will be instrumental in the success of our strategy. The event will offer an opportunity for the key industry leaders to hear the case for change, share views, and support the way forward. We hope to use this to make some changes in the Industry and will keep you updated in due course. This event has been sponsored by Shell.

WISE: Feeding the Pipeline of Female Talent in STEM - Friday 11 September 0730 – 0930Working with WISE and Centrica, AXIS has sponsored a host and speaker at this breakfast event.  Our committee members will be in attendance, so if you are going yourself please connect with us on any feedback after the event.

AXIS Mentoring Event, 21.05.2015

AXIS invited its members to join us for our fourth event on Mentoring.

The evening's speakers were:

• Morven Spalding – Skills Development Director at OPITO

• Dave Sherrit – Learning and OD Team Leader at Chevron

• Chris Kenny – VP for Safety and Operational Risk at BP

• Alex Morrison - AXIS Committee Member for Mentoring

Our speakers discussed how to get the most out of being a mentee, how to be a great mentor and their personal experiences on the importance of mentoring relationships.

It was held at RGU Riverside East for welcome drinks, buffet and networking opportunities from 6pm to 8.30pm with time for networking, cananpes and drinks.

Get To Know Your AXIS Network, 26.02.2015

Following the success of our launch event on 18 September and the Speed-Networking event on 20 November 2014, we were pleased to host our third event, ‘Get to know your AXIS Network’. 

This event was an opportunity for members to:

• Meet the AXIS committee and for us to share our 2015 plan and future for the network;

• Discuss front-of-mind issues / topics relating to Gender Diversity and brainstorm ways in which we can look to overcome these; and

• Develop more networking relationships with other professionals out with our own organisations.

The event was held at Shell’s Woodbank facilities, Pitfodels, Aberdeen, commencing with welcome drinks and a buffet at 18:00.

Annual AGM, 10.01.2015

The AXIS Network Committee held their first annual AGM at Woodbank.

Areas of discussion were:

The AXIS Network Charter

Committee Roles and Succession Planning

Business Sponsorship

Membership

Communications

A look ahead to 2015 and beyond

Mentorship Programme

Speed Networking, 20.11.2014

50 industry professionals joined us for an AXIS Speed-Networking event.

Our “Speed-Networking” event comprised of Senior Industry Leaders rotating around small tables of 4-5 people, giving individuals the opportunity for discussion with others outside of their normal network. Bios of each Senior Leader were distributed in advance to allow attendees the opportunity to prepare their thoughts and questions.

The Speed Networking event was held by our event sponsor, BP, at their offices in Dyce, Aberdeen, starting at 18:00 and concluding at 20:30. Welcome drinks and a buffet were provided.  

We received so much interest in this event that we had to close registration as we were at capacity. We hope to hold another similar event in 2015....

Thank you to BP for sponsoring the event.

AXIS Launch Event, 17.09.2014

To celebrate, an invited group of industry professionals joined us for an evening of networking and discussion.

We were delighted to announce our four keynote speakers who would be sharing their thoughts and personal experiences on when better balance makes for better business.

Irene Hannah – Shell Contracts and Procurement Manager for UK and Ireland, and AXIS Chairwoman

Art Soucy – Baker Hughes President of Europe, Africa, Russia and Caspian

Oonagh Werngren – Oil and Gas UK Operations Director

Brian MacMillan, Halliburton UK Business Development Manager was due to speak but unfortunately was unable to attend on the night.

The event was held at the ‘Fabric of the Land’ exhibition in Aberdeen city centre, commencing with cocktails and canapés at 18.00. 

Thank you to Dana Petroleum for sponsoring the event.