Well, it's the end of another discouraging week. But this week your stakeholders have clearly spoken: you are not respected... y'all are overpaid and not doing your jobs. At least that's what 68% of the shareholders voted. I can tell you almost all us employees feel this way.
So why am I putting my job at risk posting here? Why am I speaking here rather than internally? Well, I have spoken internally and told further "forthrightness" would probably cost me my job or at a minimum career growth. And maybe it's the alcohol, but I still have hope for this company.
So let me be forthright and tell you what almost all employees think but won't say because they are afraid: y'all are arrogant fools. There, I've said it. Yes, harsh. But after looking at what you said and promised five years ago (while slamming previous management and telling us how much better y'all were) y'all have been judged. Don't believe me? Look at the Fortune 500 and benchmark how many company's shareholders overwhelmingly voted against their executives' compensation. Pretty sorry list, hunh? And what's your arrogant response??!! We will "take the outcome of this vote into account...." WOW. And WOW again. Do you realize how ignorant and arrogant this makes you look? Whoever advocated this response to this 68% vote and had time to think about a proper response with adequate humility should be fired. The stockholders voted you off the island and this is all you can say? I can already imagine your ignorant arrogant thoughts, "we walk on water but it's lower oil prices..." Blah Blah Blah. Well, did 68% of OXY, EOG, CVX, etc etc etc vote against their management with the same oil prices?
Y'all need to stop being incompetent lying self-centered hypocrites and start taking action before we are bought out and everyone fired. When 68% of the shareholders vote against you the death spiral clock has started.
So what to do? Because apparently (after five painful years) you don't know and there's no learning curve, here's some suggestions.
First, take a listening class. Then take it again. There were smart people who warned you against deepwater but you were too smart for them. Well, you should have listened. You sit on your 3rd floor and demand data to analyze. Then more data, then more analysis. What happened to randomly walking around and stopping by and asking us what we think? You can't do this because the employees are too stupid compared to your brilliance? Then why do you have us still working for you? We warned you about APLNG, Surmont, and the unconventional, but you ignored us. You have smart people trying to help you but you don't listen.
Second, The COST effort was inspired and proactive but on a scale of one to ten you implemented a negative five. Do you have any idea how many employees in HQ are working at most 30% of the day? But you pay them 100%! In the field with your useless micromanaging, useless systems, and constant second guessing it's at most 10%. Zero base all the stupid systems and processes and get employees productive. Cut cut cut cut slash slash the horrific bureaucracy. Remember the COST team metrics on production per employee that showed us at the bottom zero percent but you ignored? Do an honest zerobasing and take action rather than deaths by a few hundred cuts every year. Some changes are pretty obvious to us. Y'all have too many managers and layers of management, most of whom are brown-nosing incompetents. This might have made sense (at least to you!!) when we were aggressivley growing but no longer. Cut layers and cut management.
Y'all are no longer trusted by your employees. Think me too cruel, too harsh? Go back to that 68% ! You are now on your 3rd EOI but everyone in the company has heard the story about the ELT member that used EOI against employees. Remind me again what the "P" stands for in SPIRIT? So this time significantly improve the severance package and accept ALL employee that volunteer. This is a humane way to get the cuts over and done with once and for all. If you have an employee that you can't afford to lose, promote him/her and give him/her a huge retention package. The employees talk and have seen how you discriminated in previous EOI's and you have been judged as hypocritical and incompetent.
Finally, get someone in the middle of the organization to give you feedback constantly on how your actions might impact how we look at you. Do you have any idea of the huge useless effort that goes into your BU visit so we can impress you and earn a Higher VCIP? We are not impressed by your townhalls and ignorant platitudes. Stop visiting the BU's. Sell your expensive corporate jets. We are not inspired by your talks despite what you exaggerate annually on your VCIP paperwork. Stop the $30 million outfitting of your new offices on top of EC4. Get rid of little thing like special parking for the leadership forum. Set an example!!!! LEAD. Y'all are NOT leaders, that is an earned description. After five years y'all have earned the title of "managers" and the stockholders have voted: y'all are overpaid fools.
Summarizing, y'all are incompetent overpaid fools, not leaders, but there is still time to take action before someone comes in and fires us all. Maybe that's what y'all want with your special hypocritical employment contracts. But there's a better tactical alternative where you might finally earn the title of "leaders" while creating real value for your real bosses: the shareholders. LEAD.