Lawrence Pope Visits

Today was the big visit from Lawrence Pope. He started out as a recruiter for KBR in 1990 and has moved all the way up to the VP level.

He took about an hour out of his schedule that day to talk with the HR team in Denver. We discussed everything from the level of HR support we get from the Houston office to strategies for hiring and retention. He was very knowledgeable about our particular problems, and offered several solutions.

South Dakota

After work on Friday, my wife picked me up from the downtown office and we headed out for South Dakota. What is there to do in South Dakota? Let me give you a hint:

Mt. Rushmore! Some friends of ours said it was not a bad drive and that there was a lot to do other than look at the mountain. Well, they were right on one account. There was plenty to do. However, the trip out there was quite nasty, and we narrowly missed (by an hour) a couple of tornadoes!

We also drove through Badlands National Park and went to a couple of other touristy places along the way. It was well worth the drive.

BD's Mongolian BBQ

Today the whole HR team in Denver went to lunch at BD’s Mongolian BBQ in downtown Denver to discuss the upcoming meeting with Lawrence Pope, the VP of HR.

We had some great food and were able to discuss the most important issues that we could bring up while Lawrence was visiting.

OSHA

Today I began Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) training at the Front Range Community College. I’ll be going out into the field to observe some fracturing and cementing jobs, and Halliburton would prefer that I keep all my limbs and digits in tact through the end of the summer. So, I get to learn all about safety, first aid, CPR, etc.

They taught us to never, ever, do this:

Or this:

And especially not this:

Defensive Driving

Most of orientation today was a defensive driving class. I had to take it so Halliburton will let me drive rental cars out to different locations. I passed the course, but managed to hit a huge pothole on the road, which ticked off the instructor. Hey, I was just testing the suspension!

The pothole I hit may have been a little bit smaller.

Front Line Management

Today I participated in Front Line Management, which is a week-long training program that Halliburton has designed. High performing employees are brought in from the entire region. They are given the opportunity to work with individuals outside their work areas, and get to meet the regional managers here in Denver. I was only there for the morning, but it seems like the program is very well designed and is able to accomplish a lot in just a week.

Orientation

Today was my first day of new employee orientation. Dawn Simms runs the class. She is full of energy and made even the rather dull sections of class enjoyable. A lot of the class is tailored to field employees, but it has helped me get a better idea of exactly what the operator assistants do day in and day out.

Farmington: Day 2

Well, corporate has been doing some audits to make sure that everything is above board here in Farmington. I won’t go into any details, but we have had some very interesting conversations over the last two days! Amy and I worked with Stacy, the HR generalist here in Farmington. She just got back from maternity leave and has the cutest little boy.

Farmington

Farmington is in the middle of nowhere. Amy and I hopped on a teeny-tiny plane to get there. It had visible props and seating for less than 20 people. Luckily the weather was good or we might have been blown out of the sky.

First Week End

Well, it’s Friday already. This week has pretty much just flown by. I’ve been super impressed by everyone that works here. They have all gone out of their way to make me feel like part of the team.

Next week should be a great experience. I’m flying out on Monday to Farmington, New Mexico with Amy Reininger. She is an HR supervisor based out of Brighton. I’m not sure exactly what we’ll be doing, but it’s exciting to get out into the field to try and apply some of the stuff that I’ve learned in my MBA program.