Noemie Tilghman on her return to the energy industry

Noemie Tilghman is a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP specializing in multi-functional, global service strategy and operating model design programs, which drive large-scale cost reduction, process efficiency, and effectiveness improvements. She currently serves as Deloitte’s Workforce Transformation Leader as well as the Office Consulting Leader in Chicago. 

Coming home to the energy industry

Unlike many who have had a straight career path in energy, Noemie worked across many industries throughout her consulting career. After graduating from Rice University in Houston, Texas, Noemie joined Deloitte Consulting and worked on global business services projects across Energy; Technology, Media and Telecom; Consumer, Transportation, Hospitality & Services; Retail, Wholesale & Distribution; and Pharmaceuticals. So why do all that and ultimately end up in energy?

Noemie describes that “it was a bit like going back to my roots, and there was something so powerful about working across many industries and asking yourself how and where you can bring those experiences back to the energy industry."

When Noemie assumed the role, Oil and Gas had recently been combined with Chemicals to form Energy & Chemicals (E&C), a new industry grouping at Deloitte. As part of this reorganization, the firm also acknowledged the need to onboard additional talent to enhance the practice's growth. By uniting talent from various divisions within Deloitte and introducing new professionals from external sources, the firm has strategically concentrated on addressing the swiftly evolving dynamics of the sector, encompassing the energy transition, cyclical economy, talent agenda, and more.

Every project has a career highlight

One of Noemie’s career highlights was helping a major oil and gas company after an oil spill. It was a really challenging time for the client, and no consulting firm has a practice dedicated to fixing an oil spill, but Deloitte pulled together resources from across the firm to work hand in hand with the client to make it right. Of course, there were many corporate activities that needed to be addressed, but throughout the journey, Noemie and the Deloitte team also had to keep the human element front and center. Noemie said, “Every day we asked ourselves what needed to be solved that day. How do we bring the capabilities of Deloitte and the best of our thinking to the table to solve today’s biggest issue?” This creative problem solving and getting to help a client through a really challenging time was a career highlight for Noemie.

Noemie also takes pride in delivering the types of projects that make the front page of newspapers. In particular, Noemie has focused on global business transformation, and she’s led multiple programs to help clients reduce $100-150M in costs—but always with a focus on how to do so sustainably so that the company can maintain and improve operations while being more cost efficient. Every dollar saved gets repurposed into a growth area or new product, which has a profound impact on companies.

Finally, Noemie believes that there’s a highlight in every single project she’s ever had the pleasure of doing because of the people. These highlights include having an impact on both team members’ and clients’ career trajectories and being a part of their “career-making” roles. It also includes getting to know her teammates personally through their marriages, children, promotions, and other life events.

The motivational role of mentors

First and foremost, Noemie’s career has been full of mentors and sponsors. She said, “I could spend 30 minutes and still not hit on all the people I have to thank.”

However, a stand-out moment was when a mentor called Noemie and said she should start thinking about leading a sector. At the time, Noemie questioned how she could get a group of people—who were more knowledgeable about the energy industry than she was—to follow her. Mentors reminded her that these leadership roles take more than just knowledge of the industry; they also require relationship building, energy, passion, connectivity to the firm, bringing a new lens, asking questions, and more.

This mentorship gave her the courage to do a strategy refresh at the beginning of her role and to incorporate the energy transition into the strategic agenda. Some colleagues pushed back at that time, saying that there wasn’t sufficient money to be made in decarbonization at the time. Noemie held firm that it was critical for the firm to start acting because it would eventually increase in speed so quickly that Deloitte wouldn’t be able to catch up unless they started now. Looking back, COVID-19 accelerated the energy transition even faster than leadership thought, and if it weren’t for the role of mentors, then energy transition capabilities may not have been part of the strategy Noemie put together.

Overall, mentors have consistently reminded Noemie of what she does well and that she can look to other people to provide skills and capabilities to complement hers.

Stumbling blocks and the energy future

Mentors also helped Noemie work through challenging times throughout her career. In consulting, there are always going to be projects that don’t go smoothly. When Noemie was a brand-new partner, she joined a project for which things had gone poorly, and she was responsible for turning things around. Fortunately, she had a mentor who reminded her that an apology goes a long way. She was told to “go listen and apologize even though you didn’t do it.” The client was ready to exit the team, but Noemie listened to them and said, “I hear you, I understand, and I apologize for the role we played getting to this point; now let’s work together to turn this around.” By doing so, Noemie was able to get the client to see Deloitte differently, and she let them vent while moving the project forward.

Ultimately, it’s how consultants act to fix issues that matters, and Noemie making it right helped the client gained more respect for Deloitte. In general, consultants do things that are less repeatable and that have frequently never been done before. Therefore, there must be grace in the moment, and the team must be courageous and innovative. There’s a place and time for doing the “same old,” but Energy & Chemicals is changing so rapidly that insights and ideas have to be pulled from everywhere and everyone that can shed light into where the industry is going.

This brings us to the future of Energy & Chemicals and what it’ll take to achieve the decarbonization goals that many companies have committed to. Noemie is excited for Deloitte to have a collective role across the industry helping companies make this next energy transition. There will continue to be a dependence on current products, but Deloitte is committed to helping our clients survive and thrive ... to be the energy companies they intend to be, not just in 50 years but in five years!

One key component of the energy transition is the talent strategy. “Not everyone is dying to work in Energy & Chemicals. There’s a talent shortage all over the place and even more so in Energy & chemicals,” Noemie says. Therefore, Deloitte is working both internally and with clients to make the industry attractive to talent and to communicate that effectively. Rather than working in a tangential industry, Noemie believes that new talent can be motivated to work in Energy & Chemicals because these companies are at the heart of the energy transition.

Women in energy and professional philosophy

Noemie finds the renewed emphasis on promoting diversity in E&C to be invigorating. The current initiative aims to pinpoint opportunities where women can make impactful contributions to numerous E&C companies. Noemie emphasizes that the energy transition demands the engagement of the most talented minds. Achieving the necessary level of transformation is impossible without incorporating diverse perspectives from individuals of all genders, races, and ethnicities. Furthermore, this transition necessitates diverse perspectives, highlighting the importance of genuine mentorship and sponsorship. Ensuring that individuals of all backgrounds perceive energy as a sustainable career path rather than just an initial opportunity is crucial.

In conclusion, Noemie shared her personal philosophy: “You have to wake up and be passionate and demonstrate passion each and every day.” When passion is no longer there, go find something else to do because there are many types of challenges that can use your skill set. In addition, if you do what’s right by your clients and your people, then everything else will fall into place.

We have to find a way to make this industry and sector attractive to women. There’s a massive talent challenge, and we better not take 50% of talent out.