Executive HR Leadership for Energy and Oil and Gas
The HR Challenges That Define Energy
Energy leaders do not need generic HR advice. They need counsel from someone who understands what commodity cycles, craft labor and jobsite risk do to a workforce.
Houston runs on energy, and energy runs on people. KNS Associates brings 30+ years of executive HR leadership to the workforce cycles, labor realities and safety culture that define the energy business.
Cyclical Workforce Planning and Boom-Bust Hiring
Commodity prices move, and headcount follows. Companies that hire in a panic during the upswing and cut in a panic during the downturn pay for it twice: once in wages and again in lost capability. The discipline is planning ahead of the cycle, with ramp-up and ramp-down playbooks that protect the people you cannot afford to lose.
Craft and Field Labor Relations
Craft labor and field crews work under conditions most HR playbooks never contemplate. Whether your workforce is union, non-union or a mix, you need grievance handling, work rules and day-to-day labor relations that keep projects moving and keep trust intact on both sides of the table.
Safety Culture That Starts at the Top
Safety is a leadership behavior, not a poster in the break room. HR has a central role in making accountability real: how incidents are handled, how supervisors are coached, and whether people in the field believe they can speak up without consequence.
Succession in an Aging Leadership Bench
A generation of operators, engineers and executives is approaching retirement, often holding decades of institutional knowledge. Deliberate succession planning and knowledge transfer have to start before departures force the issue, not after.
How KNS Helps Energy Companies
Ken Sensanbaugher built his career leading HR in demanding industrial environments, including HR leadership at Honeywell and Cummins, and he holds a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. He serves as CHRO and VP of HR and Administration at JB Poindexter. That background translates directly to energy: complex operations, craft workforces, real labor relations and real safety stakes.
The fractional model fits the energy cycle. You get an executive HR leader who builds workforce plans around the commodity cycle instead of reacting to it, brings hiring discipline to the boom, and manages contraction in a way that is humane, legally sound and protective of your reputation in a labor market that remembers.
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- Workforce plans built for the commodity cycle, not against it
- Labor relations counsel grounded in Cornell industrial and labor relations training
- Safety culture reinforced through leadership accountability and HR practice
- Succession plans for aging leadership and critical technical roles
- Ramp-up and ramp-down playbooks that protect your employer reputation
- Executive HR leadership without the fixed cost of a full-time CHRO
KNS is based in the Houston area, where the industry concentrates, and serves energy companies nationwide, on site with your leadership team or remotely.
Services Energy Leaders Ask For
Most energy engagements start with one of these. Each page explains who it is for and how the engagement works.
Energy and Oil and Gas HR Questions
Yes. Ken holds a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and led HR in industrial environments at Honeywell and Cummins. That covers formal labor relations, grievance and work-rule strategy in union settings, and building healthy direct relationships in non-union operations.
It scales with you. During the upswing you get executive discipline over hiring, onboarding and retention. When the cycle turns, you get a planned, legally sound approach to contraction that protects critical capability and your reputation, without carrying a full-time executive salary through the trough.
No. KNS is based in the Houston area, where much of the industry is headquartered, and serves energy and oil and gas clients nationwide. Engagements run on site with your team, remotely, or both.
Put an Executive HR Leader on Your Side of the Cycle
Tell us where your workforce stands today and where the cycle is taking you. We will bring a clear plan.