Thread regarding Chevron Corp. layoffs

Chevron staff will find it hard to find re-employment because of the way are conditioned in the Cult... I wasted 3 years of my life at Chevon, I felt I didn't learn anything professionally from the company except new terminology on the "Acronym finder" and excellent accounting tips at the "CSOC training". I used to love the Town Halls they were the best, managers get to answer pre-set questions such as "Mr Overpaid Manager of some boring Department - what keeps you awake at night" for some reason that stupid question was asked at every Town Hall. I left CVX after I declined to sign a new employment contract that would have seen me drop quite a lot of money, when I got to work the next I was called into a meeting with 3 HR personnel and given a dressing down because my behaviour was "UnChevron Way" it was really devastating to call me that as I really prided myself on being the employee Chevron could have had - come to work every day, get paid lots of money and do nothing (except shop online and have coffees) "The Chevron Way"... I'm a so blessed to have gotten out of the Cult and want to erase those 3 years of my working life as much from my brain as I can...

Fellow employees, I have to say I know the negative survey on that BAD BAD manager Nitz person got her moved out of a leadership role. HR interviewed all of us under her and heard how bad she was. Louie liked her but her survey was bad and they did finally get her out the door. IT has a lot more like this that need to go. Louie's buds from downstream, what a joke of managers. Glad I left. Do not be afraid to leave, there are other good companies out there.

Been gone from Cvx for two years now after an ok 37 years (yes, with some painfully incompetent managers). I'm most proud of the fact that I succeeded in avoiding csop training for all those years.

Thanks for your "2 cents worth". That's all the value I got out of it.

Wow, somehow I was able to rise above The Chevron Way and transition into my new career just fine. I never forgot how to 'WORK.'

I agree with both sides of the arguement here. There is a ton of process here that focuses on things not critical to the success of projects, however you need process inorder to properly understand the problem and lay out a viable slate of solutions. I think the problem here is that we are just thrown into the mix, or sent to a class for training with no real world mentoring until you're up shit creek. They talk about assesing rigor which is something we agree is key to determining if you need to apply a full process, but determining the level of rigor is almost a full project in itself. The negative view is that we have more process than NASA, which hamstrings us to using oldest of breed technology and solutions. The positive view is that if we follow the process to the ninth degree then we have a full accounting of everything that occured and why it occured if future analysis is needed. The problem with both is that we spend for billable hours paying PM's and BA's to manage the process rather than producing solutions. I'm afraid that our current financial MCP state will result in lookback analysis concluding that we need EVEN MORE process to prevent poor decisions and cost overruns.

Understood, Gone Girl. No offense taken. Thanks for your post.

Sorry Anonymous128944. It wasn't my intent to attack your message. I'm sorry if it felt that way. I actually agree with you about speaking up and telling the truth on surveys and such. My point was just to explain one aspect of the appeal of a forum like this.

I always filled out the surveys and gave high marks on most items, but I did list a fair number of low scores on occasion, yet I never saw any low scores or even medium scores on the published results. It seems like the only scores ever reported to us were great and super great. On the plus side, I always figured that upper management saw the raw scores and knew the truth, so even if the results were manipulated, I still think they are useful to complete.

I have always responded truthfully (in a respectful manner) in ALL employee surveys. Please note these surveys are compiled in an aggregate way by a third party company. Of course, these surveys always start off asking about what Chevron organization, Business unit, work group, you work for. But, they never go beyond the point of identifying who you are. The company honestly wants to know what their employees think. They know that employees will never be honest in their opinions if asked openly where they can be identified. So, always take advantage to voice your opinion when given these opportunities. To not do so, is a complete waste.

Is there anyone out there naive enough to truthfully respond to an employee survey?

Most true what you say, Gone Girk. However, I think you missed the point of my message... Even if the company seems to dismiss our complaints, we need to continue bringing them up in forums they look at (Chevron Employee Worldwide Survey) and other forums. This forum obviously brings forth the same sentiments, and that's okay. But, you don't have to attack my message. You know, as most readers here, that although we all feel frustration with the Chevron processes that hobble our productivity every day, the way to get Chevron's attention is to voice our concerns in forums they read (not only this one).

anon 128881: "why haven't you expressed these same concerns in the proper forums, like the Chevron Employee Worldwide Survey? Chances are nothing would have changed, but at least your sentiments would have been registered."

I'd venture that most of us have spoken up through appropriate channels, over and over and over. And you're right, nothing changed. But our sentiments were not registered. Instead we were labelled as negative trouble makers, not following the Chevron Way. If you don't like the message than the problem is the messenger. If you continue to care it's hard not to become embittered. Chevron hires smart energetic people then handicaps them with processes that don't add value, massive amounts of corporate BS safety, diversity, and other overhead activities that do not relate to their professions. On an average day in an HQ unit I was lucky to spend even half my day doing work that actually forwarded the mission of my unit. People get tired. Some leave. Some check out mentally and enjoy the generous benefits while they focus on life away from work. The rest are perpetually frustrated and pissed off, which is what you're seeing here. Misery loves company.

Lots of these comments have a lot of truth to them, or most importantly, show how many employees don't buy into the Chevron processes (for better or worse). Instead if venting them here, why haven't you expressed these same concerns in the proper forums, like the Chevron Employee Worldwide Survey? Chances are nothing would have changed, but at least your sentiments would have been registered. - Just saying.

Are you kidding me? Why do you think Chevron introduced the Petrotech supplement the last few years? This is because employees were being poached from competitors. You chicken littles need to grow up, fun watching this board, get to see true colors.

If I have any luck it's bad luck. I came to Chevron 3 years ago from a major construction firm. PM on big projects. Heavy planning and quick and SAFE execution of work. There is no way long term Chevron managers or leaders make it in that world. Your capital stewardship process, I call it (Chocolate Chip) is fundamentally flawed. Then add unqualified decision makers to the mix and it's pure chaos. I don't even discuss this outside of work because my friends and family would say I am lying to make myself feel better. I like Houston and will stay here. I started to shop around in July as I have no severance being so new to this place. The OE culture is supposed to add a level of commonality and predictability across a business. No one in Chevron understand the OE function, so it truly bogs down results. Wouldn't you want to be a fly on the wall when some of these people get to a new company? It would be quite interesting.

If you think your going to get a job at a company and ignore their processes in order to "solve problems" then you will not succeed. You will piss your boss off.

You want to "do it your way?" Start your own company. Corporate America is built upon following "the rules."

Not to mention the legions of people whose only "skills" are writing up Safety Moments, LPIs, ChipDip, and other Chevron contrived B.S.

The "skills" valued at Chevron have little meaning for any performance based work.

I think the longer a person has been with Chevron, the harder it will be for them to make the transition to another company because I work with a lot of people who have spent their careers at Chevron and am continually amazed at how process-oriented they are and how they have to adhere to the script - to the point of doing things that serve absolutely no purpose except to waste paper and land on someone's desk who in turn, puts it in a file that eventually gets sent off to offsite storage as if it was worthy of saving -- all because "it's always been done this way."