People

Our Approach

Critical to our future growth and success is our ability to attract and retain quality individuals who contribute positively to our culture. We want to be an employer of choice. With that goal in mind, in 2010 we set out to identify and build our professional and leadership capabilities. We also focused our attention to how we work together and how we can ensure Talisman is a great place to work. We asked employees for feedback through a global survey and we embarked on a plan to enhance our people strategy.

Our Workforce

As of December 31, 2010, Talisman employed a global workforce of 3,078 employees. With our people located in 15 countries around the world, we benefit from the diversity of experiences and knowledge that comes from a global workforce. In hiring for our regional operations, we employ local people whenever possible. In 2010, approximately 74% of all regional hires were local to that area. In light of our exploration, production and business activities, we employ a variety of professionals such as engineers, geologists, accountants, lawyers and skilled field operations staff.

Seeking Employee Input And Ideas

Recognizing that our company continues to be in a stage of transformation, we commissioned our first-ever global survey of employees in late 2010. The survey asked for their opinions on topics related to working at Talisman, including leadership, empowerment, work-life balance, safety, communications and career development.

Our target of 70% completion was exceeded when 82% of employees took the time to participate in the survey. Employee comments indicated a number of areas of strength:

• They understand, feel aligned with and support our corporate goals and objectives. They feel accountable, motivated and recognized.
• They believe in what we do as a business, are willing to go the extra mile and are optimistic about our future.
• They take pride in and feel that Talisman is a socially responsible company.

The results also clearly identified some areas we need to improve, including simplifying how we work and investing in the development of our employees.

Based on what our employees told us, our global people priority will be enhanced development. We will continue our comprehensive approach to developing all employees, with a focus on our professionals and leaders. Our expectation for 2011 is that all employees will have development conversations with their leaders and development plans in place. We have increased our training budget and expect these funds to be allocated. We are also putting in place more programs and activities to help enhance employees’ on-the-job experience. Our commitment to people development will be an ongoing focus that will carry on beyond 2011.

Attracting And Recruiting The Right People

A diverse workforce helps ensure we are benefiting from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. We recruit globally to find the right skills to support and lead our business strategy. Our business spans many geographies and includes a variety of oil and gas products, making it extremely important for us to hire experienced people to share their knowledge and mentor our next generation of leaders.

To recruit new people to the industry, we also hire students from universities and technical schools. We visit campuses worldwide to promote Talisman as a great place to work and provide cooperative education and summer job opportunities. Upon completion of their studies, students may be hired into full-time positions at Talisman.

Investing In The Development Of Our People

We believe that the development of our people begins with a conversation. Talisman is committed to having conversations that lead to development actions. We recognize that these plans need to be supported by opportunities for experience, exposure and education. By providing these opportunities, as well as the framework, support and necessary tools for development, we are equipping our employees to guide their own careers.

While 2011 will see an increased focus in the area of development, we will support this focus by building on the programs already in place. In 2010, our employees could take advantage of a wide range of training and development activities aimed at helping them broaden their skills. In addition to traditional classroom training, we provide a variety of experiential learning opportunities, such as cross-functional teams, secondments and project work, to expose employees to new ideas and continuous learning. In 2010, we invested more than $6 million in learning and development expenditures for employees.

Developing our leaders is critical to our success. Strong leadership is essential to achieving our goals and creating a climate that inspires employees to deliver results. In late 2010, we launched our development program for key senior leaders. The program offered participants an opportunity to focus on strategic thinking, executive decision making and personal leadership styles. Recognizing the broader importance of these skill sets, we are in the process of developing a program for our emerging leaders that will launch in 2011.

Setting Goals And Rewarding Performance

Our total rewards philosophy recognizes that achievement of business success is largely a reflection of the company’s performance and the contributions of our people. The link between individual and business success is the premise for our compensation philosophy.

We have put considerable effort into how individual performance plans are created and evaluated. This starts by having goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused and time bound. We have created a variety of feedback channels for our leaders, this includes reviews from their peers, those who report to them and the person they report to. We also offer workshops for employees to support effective conversations on performance. Our performance management system is now in its third year and it is helping employees clearly identify their goals, the expectations of their work and the reward and recognition for varying levels of performance.

While the type and design of plans vary by country, they are developed in consideration of overall total compensation, market competitiveness and in support of employee performance aligning with business success and increasing shareholder value. This flexibility provides opportunity to reward performance, as well as to share the benefits of corporate success with participating employees across the company.

We also offer educational assistance programs, flexible health plans and a global employee and family assistance program.