There is a lot of survival politics at play all around in Chevron now -- a symptom of the underlying fear. examples: bosses trying to portray themselves smarter than their subordinates or trying to downplay the achievements of subordinates in the PMP process, team members playing the one-up-manship game with each other, trying to prove "I am better than you", and so on. If you know that 25% of a 12 member team is likely to lose their jobs come 2016, then no one wants to be Part of that 3 that are going to be fired, including the boss with an inferiority complex who might just be a paper pusher or a highly paid MS Office jock masquerading as a "facilitator". Yes, the boss is scheming on ways to justify low ratings for his subordinates so that his own ass can be saved.. Look for situations where boss finds ways to deny opportunities that will make the subordinate shine -- it may be a presentation opportunity that may showcase the employee's competence or it may be a project opportunity that will bring out the strength of the employee. I have seen this in companies on the verge of layoffs all the time. Now Chevron has become rife with these kinds of situations. I am noticing this all around. It tells you what is in store when you come back after holidays. I am sure many of you will notice these not-so-subtle situations and clues when you just look around yourself. It is ugly, it is unproductive and it is unprofessional and mean. But it is the dirty reality of survival politics. If you are oblivious to it, you will be taken by surprise. If you notice it, you still may not be able to do much about what may happen, but may be you could be prepared for it and not be surprised.
7 replies (most recent on top)
The Chitron Way
Wow I was a "victim" of this last year, am surprised it has occurred to those left behind now!!!!! Hey if it hadn't happened to me I would have rubbished your post. For those left behind, the only advice I would offer that helped me, was I took a good hard look in the proverbial mirror, really smelt the coffee, read into the writing on the wall and when my time came I was psychologically prepared. If you see the signs and you are in denial being let go will hurt much more than it should. If you love yourself don't be in denial post 1wp is correct has nothing to do with good behaviour!!!! Good luck my friends!!!
All fun and games. But, not a novel concept, and I'd say this stuff is normal human (survival) nature. But, in the end, those laid off will realize that it isn't really about sucking up, or being good or bad at their job. Don't make the mistake of assuming that good behavior, or good work history, matters. It doesn't. Many of these decisions are purely a financial or diversification call. Are you too expensive for your current role? Is your PSG at the top of the range for that role? Then good luck!
They speak the truth. Played out just like that during project alpha. Get prepared. But to be honest it's probably too late
Survival politics and layoff psychology
There is a lot of survival politics at play all around in Chevron now -- a symptom of the underlying fear. examples: bosses trying to portray themselves smarter than their subordinates or trying to downplay the achievements of subordinates in the PMP process, team members playing the one-up-manship game with each other, trying to prove "I am better than you", and so on. If you know that 25% of a 12 member team is likely to lose their jobs come 2016, then no one wants to be Part of that 3 that are going to be fired, including the boss with an inferiority complex who might just be a paper pusher or a highly paid MS Office jock masquerading as a "facilitator". Yes, the boss is scheming on ways to justify low ratings for his subordinates so that his own ass can be saved.. Look for situations where boss finds ways to deny opportunities that will make the subordinate shine -- it may be a presentation opportunity that may showcase the employee's competence or it may be a project opportunity that will bring out the strength of the employee. I have seen this in companies on the verge of layoffs all the time. Now Chevron has become rife with these kinds of situations. I am noticing this all around. It tells you what is in store when you come back after holidays. I am sure many of you will notice these not-so-subtle situations and clues when you just look around yourself. It is ugly, it is unproductive and it is unprofessional and mean. But it is the dirty reality of survival politics. If you are oblivious to it, you will be taken by surprise. If you notice it, you still may not be able to do much about what may happen, but may be you could be prepared for it and not be surprised.
Wow, this is a great post and reply
reminds me of the movie (idiocracy), in a sense if you have more brain cells than your superior(s) and you dare to speak your mind instead of just nodding and agreeing with them, know that you will be targeted for insubordination or for not being a team player, and during times like these, you will be let go. this however leads to more and more ass kissing incompetent dumb asses running the company (eventually to the ground).
it has been reported that some cvx contractors made comments to cvx employees about how pitiful that the cvx employees' jobs are less stable than the contractors', that the employees have to re-apply for their current positions and might not get them, whereas, contractors are not not in-scope because they are not part of the head count.
then, you have the ceo in his (latest) monthly news letter, talking about how cvx will be paying dividends to the share holders. probably they will end up doing away with stock matching or god knows what other absurd insane ideas they might come up with (or boston global consulting might come up with, as cvx leadership cant rub two brain cells together to come up with a semi-intelligent idea).
fixing chevron will not be accomplished unless changes start from the top first. executives incompetence and/or carelessness is what brought this company down to its knees. sure oil prices played a role but truth be told, if chevron execs had enough business and common sense, they would not have put all their eggs in one or two baskets, gambling away the future of the company and its tens of thousands of employees. exxon seems to be doing better than chevron, they must have done something right, so the possibility that chevron could have been in a better position currently, is a valid one.