Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

This is all fear leadership to force attrition without spending a dime. Darren will not stop until he faces a real economic consequence to his bottom line.
Learn what you can and look for another opportunity. When a decent one comes, go try your luck elsewhere. The near term future at EM is not bright. Either Darren’s vision is correct and no engineers will be left in the US or he is wrong and times will get really dark before they admit they have to back track and start valuing experience and expertise.

It’s not called Sponsor anymore, it’s called a Career Advocate (a current VP/SVP if you are POT38, your Pres if you are POT42, etc). If you are not on their list, don’t think about getting a 1-1 meeting for some career advice/guidance from those VPs.

There are definitely some wrong behaviors the system causes. These career advocates are likely rewarded for helping fulfill the given potential (/prophecy) for the person. It should be given equal consideration in the career advocate’s assessment if they make informed, good judgment decisions to change the potential. But that is more seen as a failure so it takes a lot to happen.

Once that potential is set then promotions are basic arithmetic helped by HR (not sure why we would ever want HR to do math but that’s basically all they do)

Overall there needs to be more transparency.

@k2+ it is almost impossible for a Path 2 to jump over to what you describe as Path 1A.

But there is definitely a Path 2A for HiPos that are such poor performers that their shortcomings are impossible to hide. They do not get moved into any position that required ability or effort, they are moved into Path 2A which goes by the more common name of “Safety Manager”. They keep the inflated CL that they attained on Path 1, but are stalled out and sidelined from any further upward movement.

Some still retain the arrogance from their Path 1 days, and these are difficult to work with.

It is really a shame, because they are placed in charge of career Safety Professionals that are forced to deal with the leftover Path 1 with all that acquired arrogance magnified by complete ignorance. One good example was BW. IYKYK.

Related to the subject of career development, my supervisor puts a lot of effort into my development and advertising my accomplishments to management in a genuine effort to help my career. Probably helps that my skill set does not make me a direct competitor.

My supervisor contacted S&D about getting a good next assignment but our S&D coordinator told him that she had been instructed to focus on the High Potential list for her group and a few focus candidates (BTC and DEI). She said she had no time to put effort into placement of anyone not on her HiPo or focus lists.

S&D are only judged on how many HiPos with sponsorship that are placed in the best jobs.

The effort put into the HiPo candidates placement into the best jobs is shocking. The effort to cover up any flaws or failures by HiPos is substantial.

There needs to be 2 more variables added to the EM career system: Path 1A for regular path employees that outperform all expectation to achieve greatness, and Path 2A for HiPo Sponsored id--ts that fail dramatically even with all odds rigged in their favor.

The best that Path 2 persons can hope for is a decent critical job opening that no HiPo would ever be able to succeed at, even if they hired 3 contract staff to help the sponsored id--t.

@bq+1 is spot on. There are two paths.

Path 1 with sponsors MUST be treated a certain way or there are consequences.

I once saw a Supervisor in a meeting place multiple of his Path 2 direct reports over a Path 1. He was challenged in the ranking session about the order he chose and he doubled down claiming the Path 1 female was the worst of the set and that he could not justify placing the Path 1 female over anyone on his team.

The next day that Supervisor was dropped the maximum in the higher CL rank session. Honesty was not rewarded.

Path 1 sponsored people are untouchable, even if id--ts.

Actually the best assignments go to those who have sponsors who have even higher level sponsors. If you are not on a high profile M&A team, Guyana, Permian, or a big Petrochem project or a high profile trader, you are not one of the Golden boys.

@bq this is the biggest BS post I’ve seen in a long time

Truth is the whole Spring and engineering groups will be 20% less over the next 5 years so they’re going to keep that 5% pip bucket and let folks like yourself see the door on your own. Woods is going to get us competitive at 30 dollar a barrel oil so that means headcount hunger games. Between Polaris and AI, there won’t be onsite engineers anymore. Su-ks but it’s coming.

This shouldnt be a knock on any person, its just a product of our system, where is encouraged to mentor, but at the end of the day we are all competing against each other and our pay is dictated by what skills you have (or are percieved to have) that your teamates (competitors) dont have. Why would they truly help you whoch is in effect shooting themself in the foot

There are 2 career paths at EM.

Path 1 requires a Sponsor. You get the best assignments with zero risk, no challenges, and no skill required other than PowerPoint editing. You take credit for the hard work of others and you are guaranteed top ranking despite achieving nothing. You will jump jobs every 1 to 2 years so will learn zero details about anything. You will rise through CL levels so fast that you will get dizzy and be given raises so often you will get rich before 30 years old.

Path 2 without sponsor. You get whatever assignments are left over. You must have or learn a skill. Your achievements will get claimed by your lowly non sponsored Supervisor and you will be potential PIP in ranking so more points can go towards a sponsored individual. If you do get a promotion, it is only because more PIPs are needed at the higher CL group.

You are on Path 2.

Would have a totally different experience if you had a Sponsor.

There are two systems in EM with two different sets of rules.

One group has a career path planned out, excellent assessments, zero risk of challenges and zero risk of failures. Also mandatory top rankings no matter performance.

The other group does all the work, gets all the challenges, gets no credit, and is a PIP target.

You are in the second group.

If your supervisor is not talking up your career, it’s because you don’t have one. Supervisors learn quickly not to over promise. Watch for change in supervisor behavior toward you after ranking session. If they start managing your expectations, you have your answer.

It truly su-ks, but better to know where you stand. Be realistic and do what’s best for your family.

It's not a place where you will get encouragement or recognition unless you're in the club. I realized I cannot learn anything from the "experienced" people here, nor move up the ladder so I am going through the motions until I find another job.

What would you expect in the Wood's dog eat dog sanctuary? Flesh eating hyenas everywhere. Stay alert at all times.

My current supervisor has been that positive model and makes a solid effort, but we can see that he's facing pressure from his supervisor and above to be more toxic and show hesitation when providing opportunities. The system is designed to weed out the good ones and stay hollow.