06
Apr

Lubricants Spotlight: What Companies Need To Grow And The Top Skills Required For Career Success

The downstream oil industry is currently impacted by raw material shortages, complex production processes, supply chain challenges, price volatility, legislation and the impact of war in Ukraine is starting to be felt in the sector. The dynamic market conditions we are seeing in the lubricants industry bring challenges and opportunities. Being resilient and agile at this time is helping companies get a competitive advantage in the market.

In March, we investigated topics such as oil price volatility, employee retention and skills required for a successful career in the future lubricants markets. We also put forward some strategic ideas to help lubricant organisations to manage the market conditions of today.

Managing the market conditions

To mitigate negative impacts from market conditions, organisations within the lubricants industry must remain agile and consider all options to secure supply and margins. Developing strategies for this is imperative to ensure financial sustainability, protect customers and to grow. Here, you will find some strategies identified by the experts that you could adopt to mitigate risk and grow.

Rising concerns about employee attrition

According to the Work Institute, a staggering 35% of employees may leave their jobs by 2023. And with remote work opportunities, employees have a more comprehensive range of potential employers to evaluate than ever before. The recent ICIS Base Oil Community report highlighted employee retention as the number 1 concern for leaders and businesses in 2022. After 10+ years of placing candidates in a variety of senior roles within the lubricants industry, we’ve learnt some key retention strategies. If you want to know how to keep hold of great talent, check out our tips here.

Growing need for soft skills

Multiple researchers concluded that 85% of job success comes from having well developed soft skills and just 15% knowledge-based skills. Soft skills are things like critical thinking, problem-solving, interpersonal skills, teamwork, work ethic and attitude. The importance of soft skills in today’s workplace is even more important as new technologies and markets require new personnel to fill exciting jobs at the forefront of the lubricants sector. In one of our latest articles, we put together a list of some of the most important skills to help you position yourself and your career for the future top jobs.

Participate in our Talent survey – You get exclusive market intelligence.

You are invited to participate in the ABN Resource 2022 Talent Survey, specifically for people working in the Lubricants, Additive and Base Oil markets. By completing the short questionnaire you will get exclusive access to key personnel trends allowing you to know the hottest motivations for what people want, why they move, what is competitive compensation, where demand is for your skills, and a whole lot more. 

Take part in our short survey (it takes only 2 minutes!) to discover the current needs of the lubricants market.