EM has created a toxic work culture that puts employees in an adversarial relationship with the company and its leadership. We are at the point where our main concern in how to protect ourselves from our employer (false PIPs, getting rid of older employees...) This is not good for us or the company (I can guarantee you productivity is suffering due to this). The sad thing is, I used to love working here, but this is not the same company I joined more than two decades ago.
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Truth OP & @jza+1gqDv2k0!
Agree with OP. This is not the same company I started working for years ago.
Ironically, a lot of things ‘on paper’ have improved. Some better policies. Some more focus on the business. Some more diversity.
However, agree with the ‘us vs them’ animosity. And even within the Management ‘them,’ there is a lot of mistrust…fractures at all levels. There are also some serious knowledge gaps at all levels.
Back when I hired on, you just couldn’t get away with making sh*t up. Make something up, and you would get called-out and dropped lower in respect. Because other more-knowledgeable people KNEW. There were experts, and real accountability. And the red-tape was still there, but you could almost understand why. The events that caused the red-tape were recent enough that someone could say ‘This is the way it is because….’
Now I hear people make sh*t up every day. The good ones get promoted for it. You try to call them out on it, and half the time you get burned. Why? Because your managers don’t know what is made-up and what is real. And the reasons for the red-tape is orders-of-magnitudes away….so you ask ‘why’ and no one remembers or cares. It is just the way it has always been and it too threatening to change.
I agree, one of the biggest issues I now have is the them and us between supervision and the normal worker. I have no idea how any of them can contemplate at any level how that is constructive and productive. This is definitely a change over the past few years and I believe is intentional given the difference in treatment between supervision and those of us who were subject to layoff. The relationship as highlighted below is destructive.
It's a bummer.
Woods and pals (and their consultants) really have set a poor tone for the organization. They might squeeze a little extra value out of short staffing and labor arbitrage in the short term, but it comes at the cost if the long term health of the company and the workforce.
When managers don't care about their employees, employees won't care about the company, and at this point a lot of ordinary workers are just disengaged.
Toxic work culture is putting it lightly. The Beaumont O&A Chemical plant is more like a cancer spreading and ki#%ing moral. We always have to be on guard here. Management here has no problem with striking you down or worse just plan firing you. Working tons of overtime and time away from your family just compounds the problem.
XOM is the abusive boyfriend and we stick around when he gives us a paycheck every 2 weeks
Just the disengagement of sups/mgr from their workforce is detrimental. The eval process is the only thing where they actually get involved with the workers. I’m sure it’s not like that everywhere but sups/mngrs need to get off zoom calls and help their groups .
The ‘We are ExxonMobil’ survey will come back with all positives on our culture. The question ‘do we work hard and fun’ will be turned around with ‘95% of you said that you have fun’.
Our culture is not improving; it’s such a shame as our new behaviors are a step in the right direction. It’s just we have not actioned it especially as the senior levels.
OP is spot on. I suppose once the Company hits their sacrosanct numbers they'll allow a normal course of interaction among the staff and management. Presently, it is disingenuous to the point of being unbearable. I didn't see that tick box in the survey