I know this will likely hit by trolls but here’s it anyway. I’ve been a supervisor for a while now and always try my best. I’ve been through a good few years of PA but starting to really struggle with the concept; the stress on the team and the personal stress. It’s getting too much. Seems like it’s getting harder every year and just can’t take the ‘it’s a relative performance system’ response anymore when we demotivate good performers. Anyone else feeling this way?
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@qza+1gYDbyfw Most of the folks that should have been pipped are now DH and SLS. There are definitely some political ruthless folks that are still on site and still in management despite the numerous people issues that the sls have caused. It’s almost as if the company doesn’t care or doesn’t look at the history of the employees that were disgruntled with the toxic sls manager. Buying beer for team building parties to help cover her tracks helps I guess.
A lot of truths here.
What kind of life is it to constantly live in fear of your job or more specifically the next manager your going to get no matter how good you are? Folks have had enough including me. As someone else posted eliminate ranking and start rolling dice for pips. That would be the biggest cost savings ever. No more managers or meetings. No wasted time explaining to managers what your doing so that can give the appearance they know what you’re doing.
after dealing with PA, lay-off and exodus for the past 2 yrs - I gave up and asked to be moved to single contributor role. I know I will be part of the hunger games now but at least i don’t need make decision on who should be kicked out first… so I feel you..
Yeah man I feel you. I hate the system more and more every year. Completely demotivates the team. Honestly I can’t think of anything positive to say about it. Going to have a wave of attrition this summer…
XOM is big on metrics. It seems to me that the wrong metrics are stewarded for SLS. Most SLS are worried about Overdue Webcats. How about unwanted attrition? How about overall team performance? At the very least, using the team’s accomplishments as a metric would be better than # of meetings held or ERG participation levels.
Troll here hitting you id--tic supervisors: wake up crying baby: people are quitting to you! to your incompetence, to your brown-nosing, to your pathetic rationalizations and your petty complains. Fire yourself!
An earnest and frank discussion from a real Supervisor.
That's very encouraging. More power to you.
And keep in mind - 5 years as a SPV in EM absolutely guarantees you have zero value in the job market. Whatever skill set you had is gone, and that's a well-known fact out there.
Private prisons appreciate our style. But still would start in the mail-room.
90%of a supervisors performance is managing up 👍👍👍👍
It is what it is, the system can't and won't be changed. Everybody is just a cog in the wheel, and everybody is replaceable. The goal of the exercise is to separate the best from the poor performer and year after year, the company hires the best from somewhere. Yes, the company is a revolving door of those who claim to be the best, but at the end of the day, the job still gets done. The investor loves this.
I’ve never been piped or NI. Having said that, I refused to work for a company that treated its employees the way it does. I know a manager in Baton Rouge that threatened admins with their job if they didn’t do the work that she volunteered for with the department heads. Every single manager that I knew said very bad things about her yet she still remains. Bright side is the dh was transferred but she still remains. Most folks with skill have left, most folks with skill that haven’t left are trying to make it to retirement eligibility. Yes folks like her should be cut but it hasn’t happened yet and that’s where the issue is. Until the toxic managers are removed and replaced,the employees will continue to leave along with lots of knowledge. If your struggling to get your 5%, begin with the most political savvy folks, that’s the ones that usually don’t have any substance or ability. Most often they are extremely friendly to dh and sls and will never challenge the status quo. They also champion ideas like tmts. Xom has become like Putin. Surrounded by very toxic yes women and men that are too afraid to tell him he has no clothes.
Been a supervisor. I don’t feel sorry for you. You are only manipulated if you let yourself be manipulated. Maybe you are falling into that yes-man category?
Fully agree that supervisors should be rewarded for growing highly competent teams. 90% of your performance should be based on your team. 10% should be managing up. You want to make a change? Remind your manager of that when in your ranking meeting.
Recognise and accept that you supervisors are just as much manipulated as us below you. Then, form an orderly queue to leave, just the same as us lot are doing.
Only the incredibly deluded believe that they are any more valued than the poor workers at the bottom. In New Exxon, you're just a number.
That's a good point that supervisors were too spineless to cut dead weight or push for individual improvement jn the past, but the mandatory minimum PIP and NI isn't the right way to address it. XOM does absolutely nothing to train supervisors how to be leaders. They just take people are are either "yes-men" or good individual contributors and move them into a position of authority. Few are naturally good leaders, but most of the young ones seem incredibly naive that they would have to do some tough things to people.
Honestly, if someone is underperforming their boss deserves heat for it. This system encourages supervisors to NOT lead amd develop their people because they're focused on getting exposure for the purpose their own ranking.
Part of me says people should toughen up. Ranking sucks anywhere. Sometime you don’t like the rank you get.
Part of me also knows I would leave if I ended up in the NI section, because it just isn’t true….and at that point, it would be clear that people don’t understand my contributions.
And part of me looks at the organization and DOES see a handful of people who legitimately NI. They won’t improve and they won’t leave….and somehow haven’t been cut already. And I bet they think they are unfairly classified, but they are not. (Or geeze, maybe their actual ranking is better than NI.)
So maybe we should all accept that ranking is awful. If they got rid of the requirements in NI, maybe it would be a little better. But if there were no number requirements, you also need to get rid of snowflake supervisors that don’t honestly assess their employees.
I saw years and years of really awful performers being let to persist and create chaos because the supervisors were too chicken to do what needed to be done. Maybe some of these bottom-tier number requirements are what we are stuck with because Supervisors didn’t do their jobs well in the past. Just an alternate theory.
Same here; I am actively looking and know at least 1 other supervisor who’s looking. Just not worth it anymore; HR tell us to own our decisions on their flawed system. Hunger games.
You are not alone!! any good supervisor is struggling to rationalize why the system exists right now!!!!!
There were strong performers in the NI bucket this year. I will not be sticking around for next year cause I know anyone could be next including me.
Right there with you; I'm seeing the sl------r as we progress through this cycle and its truly cutting into the "bones" of the organization. All of the comments thus far are accurate. The demotivation is becoming excessive and honestly, the few "good supervisors" (yes a few are left) will start to turn in their letters soon. The money is nice, but its certainly not worth the emotional distress anymore. :(
I wouldn’t be surprised if a decent wave of supervisors leave after the next rank cycle. I know of at least two young HiPo supervisors in the Upstream who resigned due to not believing in our ‘new and improved’ assessment process.
Same boat here, brother/sister. All the fat is gone now. Now everyone who leaves because of the assessment demotivation is like cutting through the skin. Just doesn't feel right.
Being a supervisor is making a deal with the devil. You have to do the execution.
Not a supervisor, but I bet you guys see a decent wave of attrition after the next rank cycle. I think that the rank system "worked" without a lot of regrettable attrition in the past when EM was a relatively desirable place to work given overall compensation and perceived job security. At that time a certain percentage of folks would just stick it out in the low ranks. Now it's both easier to leave and more incentivised by the mediocre culture, compensation, and par for the industry job security we have today. Not to mention the general public perception of oil and gas probably doesn't help with recruiting and retention of the youngest generation.