Since I joined last year, I hear this term and it feels like my career depends on it. What is High po? I know it means someone who can become a manager. What if I don’t want to become manager but want to do technical work, because then I can find job outside if i don’t like it here or they don’t like me. Is it possible for me to have career here if I am not aiming to be manager. Is hi po real thing ?
25 replies (most recent on top)
This is true, I’ve been in the meetings @rtc+1qynoND8
leadership roles in the Employee extracurriculars (BEST, ONE, WIN, UW) Are not something you can volunteer for. You have to be nominated by a sponsor.
Honestly the company gives you a roadmap to become HiPo. You have to have strong technical competencies, but most of us do, so that does not really distinguish you. You also have to promote We Are ExxonMobil. So host threads in Yammer (or whatever is next), leadership roles in the Employee extracurriculars (BEST, ONE, WIN, UW), push for Dev Planning role (must check this box).... but that only eliminates the staff that want to be high performing individual contributors. The true differentiator is understanding internal reporting relationships and managements pet projects, and actively managing your career / networks to seek out sponsors and support sponsored projects. That is a lot of work. I have been semi-successful seeking sponsors, but recognize that I do not do this well enough to reach executive ranks. But I will retire CL29.
My tried and true strategy to become a HiPo is to identify as a Black Chinese handicapped woman named Shaniqua Wong. If that strategy fails, try bending over and grabbing your ankles.
C - Suite here I come.................................
With changes in 2020, HR centralized the staffing such that discipline managers could no longer choose the best qualified candidate.
Now HR places a HiPo into a position without even consulting the discipline leadership.
It is now even more focused on who you know rather than what you know.
Project teams must now staff up with more contractors to cover for the HiPo id--ts.
@3hdg+1qynoND8
You have no clue what you’re talking about. When have you worked at Exxon and then ExxonMobil? How do you imagine that regular technical people (not HiPos) used to have career-long employment with the company, if “technical people were never valued”?
You are absolutely full of it when you claim that before you had only a “small non zero chance” to retire. There are large numbers of good quality technical people who happily retired over decades in the old system, which has now been completely blown away and replaced by the certainty that one will never get even to 52 for NRE status, not to mention 55 for early retirement - that’s the new DW company.
Talking about things you have not experienced and you know nothing about makes you feel smarter?
Clearly there is height discrimination. Look at how tall most executives are.
Surprised the post below has garnered so many up votes. I'm not sure where this picturesque view of the recent and ancient past of the technical ladder comes from. Technical people were never valued. These new STP roles are just rewords of the old key technical/senior technologist type roles that used exist in yesteryear. Those roles were doo doo then too. The only difference between now and then is that your probability of making it to age 65 if you start as a fresh grad to collect the full pension is almost zero now. Before, you at least had a small non zero chance. For anyone reading this, the only career that has ever mattered to leadership and will ever matter is the management one.
OP, here’s a serious answer to your question. In the past (five or more years ago, but especially before 2020), HiPos were the people chosen for the management track. The selection process was highly debatable, being a mostly subjective, uninformed choice made by “sponsors” (higher level managers).
Those chosen would go on and fight among themselves for management positions. The rest would do technical work and would have to prove themselves over the next 5-10 years. Those found to be technically valuable would keep going to higher CL levels, retiring comfortably, most at CL28, some at CL29. That was the way you could have a technical career at EM.
A major change occurred in 2020, with the corporate decision to move as much technical work as possible to low-cost centers. Suddenly the HiPos found themselves in an ever shrinking boat, desperately needed to secure positions that (they can only hope) will not be moved to Bangalore. The result was that a new “technical management” was created, to provide slots for the well-sponsored HiPos in a shrinking company. New job titles were created (Principals, for instance). Advisors, Principals, Senior Principals, Chiefs - all HiPos - they are now the only technical people considered to have a brain and represent value. They are these days the only ones to make presentations to the management; that kind of exposure used to be open to everyone, even recent hires, specifically to allow them to prove themselves technically.
Bottom line: if you do technical work and you’re not a HiPo, then you are considered to be an expandable button-pushing monkey whose job should be shipped to Bangalore as soon as feasible. No room for a technical career at EM.
In the 21st Century, most if not all ExxonMobil HiPo's will have experience from other non-oil and gas industries around the world. The historical path to executive ranks used to just require oil & gas experience.
In the 21st Century, being an executive in the energy industry requires more than just oil & gas industrial experience.
For example, historical promoting ExxonMobil civil engineers to Chief Financial Officers is a recipe for long term financial disaster.
Go to a poorly ranked state school
You're going to need some proper PPE to become a HiPo.
First, you'll want these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Soft-Cap-Foam-Non-Marring-Knee-Pads-1H-354/314238215
And these are for cleanup: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Scott-Blue-Cleaning-Shop-Towel-Cleaning-Wipes-3-Pack-75143/202519693
Also, you'll want some of this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Listerine-Cool-Mint-Antiseptic-Mouthwash-Mouth-Rinse-for-Bad-Breath-Plaque-1-L/871622?athbdg=L1200&adsRedirect=true
You saw it if you worked for Facilities at Permian before covid.
Change your race and say yes to uppper management
“Wiry” rofl. No lies were told @rtc
I agree with poster that says it’s mostly random. That’s the big problem. It’s not a meritocracy. Decisions on potential are made much too early in careers. Those tagged hypo early never have to compete to prove they can deliver and too many who do deliver never get considered for advancement. People need to understand that they can be ranked Outstanding+ for decades only to find out that there were never even contenders.
Navigate through politics and get sh-t done within the first 5 years to get the "hipo" tag. Also, if you define your boundaries early on, you will not be considered for what leadership considers a development assignment. In other words, you will not rise to the top doing only the cool and fun work. Oh and the tag does not last forever, a few reasonable sc--w ups and you will join the rest of us in the sweat/blood/tears pool....
@OP You need to be white, male, wiry, above average height, and preferably from A&M.
Downvote me to oblivion, but the facts are the facts.
Pretty much d-mb blind luck to become a hipo. Arriving in the right place at the right time. Nepotism helps a lot to know where the right place is and to give you a leg up against the competition. If you are young your best bet is to leave.
There is no such thing as a technical hipo. Leave asap if that is your goal. There is no technical ladder. Don’t believe the lies
HiPo is the same as Hyper, it's whoever can work the most frantic and with the lowest quality. Drink as much coffee as possible, talk loudly, run to every meeting and leave behind sweat stains on chairs. You'll be noticed and promoted by management in no time.
Use the mentorship program.
Search the old threads there's a very good post on this.
@ OP; Around here, HiPo means Highly Pi$$ed Off.
In other companies it typically means High Potential, but not necessarily always based on objective measures.
Hope this helps
The company who hires you OWNS your career. There’s a lot of politics involved in job assignments. Doesn’t matter what you want or how well you do the job in discipline you want to be in. Go elsewhere if you want to control your destiny.