Talent Recruitment, Retention and Development 

Talent Recruitment, Retention And Development

Developing our people is one of our core values. We are committed to the growth and development of every employee. To that end, we have established a culture of learning and talent development delivered in the form of classroombased instruction, eLearning and on-the-job training. Our people are our greatest strength, and the development of our employees is key to the long-term success of our Company. Our training is centered around four principles:

• Lead and manage our people
• Manage the business to achieve our goals
• Efficiently and proficiently operate and maintain our equipment
• Partner with our customer to achieve both our goals
  
  

Our training and talent development programs include opportunities for employees to advance in their professional careers through intensive, multi-day classroom training programs in numerous skills and competencies as well as management training programs. These programs are geared to providing our employees with opportunities to advance throughout our Company. Some examples of these training programs include skills-based training for new hires to help familiarize them with the technical components of the role prior to arriving at the jobsite, as well as leadership training for those who may be new to a position where they are directing the work of employees or supervising employees.

We are committed to recruiting, hiring and retaining the highest caliber talent for our business by utilizing outreach initiatives and partnerships with a diverse group of organizations, industry associations and networks. As mentioned above, we share job openings with state and local workforce commissions in communities where we operate to assist with hiring local content and to ensure those interested in applying for a position with the Company are aware of the career opportunities.

We also engaged a third party to assist with our diversity recruitment efforts. The Company has also enjoyed longstanding relationships with various military and veteran organizations, which complement our hiring efforts geared towards current and former members of the United States Military. These relationships include regular contact with several military bases near where we operate, such as Fort Hood and Fort Campbell, and through our involvement with Recruit Military.

The Company is also a member of ALLY, an organization that works with member energy companies to promote diversity, attract talent and build a strong and inclusive culture. With the increase in automated and remote operations, the Company also maintains a college recruiting program that is focused on the recruitment of engineering, engineering technology and computer science graduates. The Company’s recruiting program has helped attract a diverse group of candidates for opportunities with the Company.

Flipping The Barrel Podcast Sponsorship

We support Flipping the Barrel, which is an empowering podcast that was created to promote the energy sector through stories of successful individuals and offer career advice.

Compensation, Health and Benefits

We are committed to providing employees with compensation that encourages them to perform their jobs safely and efficiently for the benefit of our customers. Many of our positions do not require education beyond high school or a GED, while providing competitive compensation.

Our health and benefits program provides for extensive preventative care and is designed to improve our employees’ fitness for work, personal safety on the job and overall well-being. We have a Remote Work Policy that permits certain employees to work from home if the job allows for work to be performed remotely. This policy also reduces the commuting time spent by employees on the road, resulting in a lower carbon footprint.

We provide benefits including comprehensive medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance plans. Our offerings to employees also include voluntary life and accidental death and dismemberment policies, voluntary hospital indemnity, voluntary accident insurance, and an employee assistance program (EAP). We also promote overall wellness with our employees through our PTEN Cares program that reminds employees of the importance of taking care of each other and remaining aware of how important overall health and wellness is to each employee and their families.

Another example of how we promote the wellness of our employees is the pressure pumping business’s LiveWell program, which is a well-being initiative for employees and their families, driven by employees, with a goal of providing resources, programs, and activities to support physical, mental and overall personal well-being.

Performance Reviews

As part of our ongoing efforts to develop the skills and talents of our workforce, the Company has an annual performance appraisal process for most salaried fulltime employees. This performance review provides an opportunity for the employee to conduct a selfassessment, and for the supervisor or manager to provide feedback and/or communicate opportunities for improvement. These performance reviews are based on core competencies established by the Company, which include areas of technical/substantive performance as well as teamwork, communication and support for the Company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Employee Engagement

We launched PTEN Proud to highlight employees’ work anniversaries and recognize their length of service with the Company. To promote an open feedback culture, the Company periodically holds employee engagement sessions, which can take the form of small group sessions or larger town hall meetings. These sessions were conducted virtually at times. The feedback from these events is reviewed by business management and Human Resources for further action.

Some examples of actions taken by the Company based on feedback received include the creation of a course called “The Art of Communication” that provides the tools and tips to help leaders have more meaningful and effective communications with others.The Company also created a training program to assist with skills needed to conduct efficient and constructive meetings.

In addition, management participates in field-based audits. These audits contain questions to verify our employees’ awareness and understanding of the Company’s policies, procedures and expectations. During these audits we engage our employees to determine their overall well-being, their perspective on issues regarding the development and advancement of their career path and any other concerns they may want to share.

We launched our PTEN Cares Make a Difference Moments that encourage employees at all levels to find specific ways to connect with co-workers by engaging with them, welcoming new team members, seeking ways to support each other in their daily tasks and providing other important reminders.

Finally, the Company utilizes the services of a third party to conduct exit interviews with employees who voluntarily leave the Company. The Company reviews this information to get a better understanding of the reasons that employees depart the Company and whether there are adjustments to be made to improve talent retention. 

PTEN Path And Other Related Training Programs

PTEN Path is the organization’s talent development program for field-based employees, providing them with tools, knowledge, skills and abilities needed to successfully work on and progress through various positions within our businesses.

From an employee who is new to the industry, to one in a supervisory position, PTEN Path provides employees with a clear career path. As employees progress though the program, they complete classroom-based training (which includes instructor-led and self-paced E-Learnings), mentor-guided on the job training and specialized training with industry professionals for advanced skills practices. Throughout the process, employees are evaluated by their trainers, mentors and supervisors.

• • Equipment Operator Development Program (EODP):
    All equipment operators in the pressure pumping business complete a classroom training before their first field rotation. The course includes 4 levels of competency to allow for technical progression, which also develops a talent pipeline for other field and supervisory roles.

  • New Employee Orientation (NEO):
    These courses provide new employees with an overview of Patterson-UTI and introduce them to our organization, our core values, key policies and our safety management system. All new hires are required to attend.

  • Rig Equipment Training:
    This course teaches employees that are new to the drilling business the fundamental competencies needed to work on a rig.

  • Rig On-the-Job Training:
    Rig employees are assigned to a rig to work as an extra member of the crew. A qualified rig employee will be assigned to train, mentor and verify that the new employee can safely and effectively perform the required job tasks.

  • Teaching and Mentoring:
    Employees are taught how to complete each task using the training checklists and policies provided.

  • Performance Drilling:
    This training course for employees of the drilling business provides additional knowledge and skills for employees to proactively diagnose and manage issues that may occur during drilling activity.

  • Supervisory Training:
    Our employees are trained and developed in various skills and competencies and provided further leadership and management skills training in order to be able to progress within our organization.

Leadership Series

Leadership training for new to middle level managers and people of influence.

Next Level Leadership: This course is designed for middle managers and above to provide tools and resources to think and solve problems strategically, develop skills around how to motivate and influence others, build high performance teams and learn about other topics to further strengthen leadership ability to drive positive business results.

• Frontline Leadership: This course is designed to teach leadership content to employees who are working in their first official leadership role.
• Art of Communication: This course teaches effective oral and written communication skills and conflict resolution.
• High Impact Meetings: This course teaches leaders and people of influence how to conduct effective meetings.

• Introduction to Successful Rig Management:This course is designed to teach new leaders in the drilling business how to lead and manage our people, manage the business of the rig, maintain our equipment through asset integrity, ensure customer focus through supply chain, work incident free, and conduct root cause analysis.

• Essential Skills for New Leaders: This course is a series of webinars providing instruction for new leaders in the organization. Topics include how to transition to leadership, performance management for new leaders, essential HR and employment law information and other relevant subjects.
• Service Supervisor Development Program: This course is designed to teach new field leaders in the pressure pumping business professionalism and leadership, operational management systems, HSE, preparing, planning and mobilization, pre-job testing, execution at the wellsite, demobilization, and equipment and preventive maintenance.