TOC Engagement
Aramco’s Technology Oversight Coordination hosts town hall to boost employee engagement
Teams look to make most impressive spaghetti towers in engagement activities.
Almost 800 Technology Oversight and Coordination (TOC) employees recently gathered for a Townhall at the Kempinski Al Othman Hotel in al-Khobar.
The purpose of the event, according to TOC senior vice president Ali Al-Meshari was to bring employees from the diverse areas of TOC to one place to promote employee engagement. These areas include:
- Research and Development Center (R&DC)
- Technology Strategy and Planning Division (TSPD)
- Saudi Aramco Technology Company (SATC)
- Business Support Division
- Performance Planning and Management Division (PPMD)
- Research and Analytical Services Department (RASD)
- Aramco Ventures and the Commercialization and Deployment Support Group.
Employee engagement is an essential component of organizational success. Engaged employees are those who are enthusiastic about their job, willing to go the extra mile to meet and exceed the organizational goals and objectives.
— Ali Al-Meshari
“TOC has employees from a variety of disciplines, highly skilled in specialized areas, and this requires that we gather together to get a pulse of how people are feeling, their concerns, their hopes, and most importantly, what we can do to improve working at Aramco,” he added. “Their engagement is what will drive our overall goal of innovating for Aramco.”
About TOC
TOC makes significant contributions to Aramco’s mission by supporting its effort toward a lower-carbon future through decarbonizing operations, commercializing all phases of the hydrocarbon value chain, pursuing lower-carbon products and solutions, and fostering a competitive and resilient ecosystem through localization and national champions.
With portfolio optimization, advancing technology in a sustainable future, TOC is preparing the workforce for the future.
Al-Meshari briefly reviewed TOC achievements in 2022 that included direct investments and new deals in funding programs and progress on flagship technologies including:
- Thermal Crude to Chemicals
- A proprietary technology to convert whole crude oil to produce ethylene and propylene
- Carbon Capture, which involves capturing carbon and suspending it in materials like cement
- Ammonia Cracking, which facilitates the movement of hydrogen to locations around the world.
TOC also held 40 internal reviews for innovative projects and launched an interactive tool called Archie to trace emissions from well to consumption. TOC is also partnering with leading academic organizations and excellence centers around the world to advance and accelerate critical solutions.
Team challenges
To encourage the collaborative spirit, in the middle of the session, groups of six to 10 people took on a team challenge. The mission was to build the highest tower with raw spaghetti sticks, tape and thread. The winners proudly showcased their looming spaghetti tower.
In the final part of the ceremony, an online, real-time survey was put up on the screen and employees were encouraged to share anonymous comments and questions about any aspect of TOC and the day-to-day work all employees are engaged in. As the screen filled with input, management and executive staff sat on stage and responded to some of the points that were brought up and clarified issues within the organization, building an immediate connection with all attendees and creating true interactivity throughout the session.
Al-Meshari pledged that such events will be commonplace at TOC in order for the organization to encourage the full buy-in and participation of employees and allowing a two-way communication channel to be established and available for all.
“We are all in this together. All of us are committed to seeing the success of TOC, and each one of us plays a role that is significant to its success,” he added.
Caption for the top photo: TOC employees attempt to build the highest tower with raw spaghetti sticks, tape and thread as part of a recent engagement activity.