i've been at cvx for over ten years through three business units and it's all the same. cvx is a company of managers managing managers. promotions are handed out to those who talk the talk, make fancy presentations, and are motivated only with short term pmp driven behaviors. where have all the initiatives and (insert acronym of choice) efforts gotten us? zero operational discipline and technical focus–no wonder we had all the overruns (GOM, gorgon/wheatstone, TCO etc.). despite all these failures, folks in ops management continue getting all the attention and get moved every 18 months. those who are stronger on the technical side get left behind and stagnate. c'mon chevron, i hope you put some technical people into leadership roles after this next round of reorganization!
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I've been in meetings where the "numbers" to drill a well just didn't work out all that well. The engineers went back and "re-worked" the numbers to show the well would be financially successful. Well, guess what happened? The wells weren't successful.
You put a process in place to protect capital, then when it doesn't give you the answer you want you just ignore it? What's the point?
Somehow, "a well-respected SME" doesn't fit the bill for someone trolling on this site. So forgive everyone if we just assume you are "well-respected" in your own mind only, and leave it at that.
OP
I left (retired for a better job) Chevron in 2008 after 25+ years. I was (and still am) technical guy, a well-respected SME.
Chevron was very good to me (and others) in allowing very good training and opportunities for skills development.
Then after all of that, Chevron management goes and ignores technical advice from its SME’s and huge project screwups happen. Go figure!
In 2007-2008, Chevron had a huge look back on all major capital projects from the previous decade to try and understand why predicted production rates and reserves were significantly higher than the actual values. One of the top three reasons was that project managers had - in every case -ignored sound technical advice from highly paid SME’s that later caused huge problems.
What was Chevron’s solution? They instituted advanced management processes so they could avoid such problems. They still ignored SME’s but now the processes will solve everything.
With all the problems CVX is now going through with major projects (TCO, Gorgon ...) - all before the Coronavirus thing - it seems that Chevron still has not learned its lessons after more than a decade.
Well at least CVX isn’t OXY
There was a point in time when a good career could be based on technical skills alone, those days have sadly passed. What most companies value today is combination of technical skills and soft skills. If you want to distinguish yourself in a technical field, develop and hone your soft skills
Worked for chevron for 25 years and have seen tremendous amount of bu@# kissing in my time. Then again, that's part of most large organizations. The comments like "managers managing manager" is 100% correct, and in case people are wondering why I stayed with them for 25 yrs, it is very simple. 8% contribution to 401K. All in all, sh^&ty company, great benefits.
Since the boom when Chevron and the industry were forced to significantly drop the hiring standards, including marginal hires with no expierence or talent in the industry, CVX stock has dropped 50% relative to the S&P and 100% relative to the NASDAQ. Encouraging the best and brightest to leave has not been a good strategy for CVX shareholders or the industry. Top 1% STEM students do not want to go to Chevron anymore, they go to Other industries where they see a bright future. Many CVX employees want to be part of a winning company and not just “steal” bloated benefits from shareholders. The benefits will not last unless Chevron and Industry performance drastically improve.
If you have held technical roles in 3 business units over 10 years and are falling behind...perhaps you need to ask yourself (or your supervisors) why! YOU need to manage your own future...and stop believing that your "technical skills" are the only important skills to develop!
I joined Chevron as an experienced employee. Before here I worked in both the automotive industry and in Hospital Administration. Two completely different areas.
I realize cvx has its issues, sometimes I just have to roll my eyes at management or mutter under my breath when they make things so much more complex than it needs to be. I get that. . But for those of you who like to complain about every little thing you really need to get out and experience the world. You get a lot of trolls on these sites who are bitter at cvx over this or that. But if you have worked in other industries you’ll realize those who work at cvx have it pretty good. No other company I know of contributes 8% to your 401k while only requiring you to pitch in 2%. This is in addition to a pension.
Pay is not the top but it tends to be better here than in other industries. Job security s—s in times like these, but if you want that, go work for the federal government at about 75% of the salary your making now without any bonuses, knock yourself out.. You’ll accomplish very little in those jobs, but at the same time you don’t need to because you’ll only be there for the $, right?
If you really despise this place, now is a perfect time to put in for the EOI. It will be a great parting gift and it will give you the chance to experience what you’ve been missing.
I've worked for smaller companies that had management teams that would run circles around Chevron's bloated org.
And I've worked for similar companies with management teams worse than Chevron's bloated org. No one is happy with their management team. That's part of the life of a worker bee. Deal with it.
@dxf, not a boomer, not CVX, not MCP manager. 3X, you're out.
Thanks Boomer. Great defense of Chevron: "we are not quite as effed up as other places". Is that your personal standard of excellence or was the standard acquired at Chevron? Or do you manage execution of MCPs perhaps.
You obviously haven't worked anywhere else either. Welcome to the real world, junior. There are many many places much worse than Chevron in all the areas you mentioned, in case you wanted to know.
The oil industry is highly cyclical but overall in decline. Most of current management appears to be just harvesting company assets and managing perception. Therefore, new ideas and innovation aren't currently valued. Following "marching orders" will likely get you ahead and you don't need technical capability to blindly follow orders. At some point Chevron will have to decide if it wants to be the Sears or the Amazon of the Industry. Hopefully it will decide to be the "Amazon" and, at that point, technical people will again be highly valued.
don't worry. the new Chapters will solve this problem! oh wait, only IT is doing this. no one else is. Per the usual, IT doing its own thing.