Thread regarding Chevron Corp. layoffs

I was a hi pot. I earned it with in 2 yrs at Chevron. I was laid off.

high potential, yes you can become one, 144495 was spot on. If you become one you can quickly fall off the list. You are given assignments that are intended to test you e.g. a psg 22 getting a 24 position or getting sent overseas while still junior. You don't need to be related to anyone you just need to be good at what you do and deliver and no you do not need to be cut throat back stabbing etc... You need to continue to develop and continue to check the boxes (MBA, MS). Once you stop showing growth or cross paths with the wrong GM yes you can stagnate and become rank and file. in my case I was a hi pot back when hi pots were required to do CDPs below psg 23 which was why you knew you were a hi pot. I had the sweet assignments, 5 promos in 7 years, it was great. Then you question work life balance, turn down work and some hungrier more motivated person comes along. 7 more years have gone by and I have not seen a promotion. The one tell tale sign of a hi pot is they are always mid 80's to low 90's of CO. Basically under paid and over worked, promotions come faster than you can catch up with the CO. Would I change anything, not a chance. Got to my current PSG faster than most and now I spend time with my daughter and two boys and feel over paid since all the hi pots get the challenging special projects. Resume looks stellar, extremely competitive, had two good jobs lined up pending R1 but was not offered the severance. You can whine about those that get up and do it or you can use that same energy towards something more positive. For me it was career before children and now it is my family. We all have choices to make, complaining about a hi pot or the process to determine hi pots is a waste of your most important resource, TIME.

You dont have to get 2+'s and 1's to be high potential. If you are in assignments or rotations that stretch you or through you up into a new PSG, 2's are fine. A lot of the PMP thing is subjective. PMPs are routinely upped or discounted by managers depending on the supervisor. All a hi-pot needs is for a respected manager to stand up and say this person has high potential based on my experience working with them.

While the concept of rewarding/promoting high performance employees is not bad in principle but one has to make sure that they are prepared for challenges. I have seen some move-up quickly and crash and left company. Others get stuck at a level and frustrated. Some of these transfers are too quick- 1.5-2 years, do you really think one can have a really good understanding of his/her job in such a short time in our industry? It is flawed obviously. I have heard from unofficial accounts that some of BP folks who were calling the shots in Macando were fast-risers like CVX high-pot types- you all know the story what happened there. It is a good idea to identify and reward high-pots but only after the individual has an established track record of at least 9-10 years and done at least 3 assignments for 3 years each- just a thought.

You don't BECOME a hi-pot rather you ARE a hi-pot. All it means is your leadership people think you have high potential for success at this company so they take chances on you at PDC time and put you in positions you aren't necessarily qualified for on paper. Most hi-pots don't even know they are hi-pots. If you want to be considered one then do your job really well for multiple years in a row (consistent 2+ or 1 on PMP), network, be up for unexpected challenges and "opportunities", and be geographically mobile.

It helps a lot if you are Asian or a Nigerian expat

If you have to ask, you ain't one! Management will tell you if you're high pot.

@Cvx bot - you seem to make reasonable sense in some of your comments, but are quite off the mark in other comments I've noticed throughout this site. Just calling your attention to it (no offense meant).

the whole notion of selecting the hi-pot's with-in the first year or two of one's career is like the communist china method where you are told at an early age based on some set of criteria or connections of what you will be....... people peak at different rates/times...... i propose this is part of the cvx problem.... inability to detect real talent...... what a place.

I wonder how much of a hand these hi-pots had in this recent lack of delivery on major projects......... or how much accountability they will carry.....

I have been at Chevron for many years now. As stated before these Hi Pots are well connected and groomed. There are Hi Pots who will be great and on paper, the 3x3, lots of people have high potential. Yet, these are the people whom the OP is not talking about. I would assume the OP is talking about the real Hi Pots. The select few who as stated before will be in, and get high positions at Chevron. You have to be a natural leader, you must have mobility as you will move, you will get as stated before put into low to med level management very early. If you are a real high potential employee, as stated below you WILL know! You will know because your uncle' best friend will tell you one on one, you will know because of the positions they tell you to apply for, you will know by the position you currently work in. Your true advisor or mentor is a manager or someone at that level or ABOVE! I say this as my closest friend is a real Hi Pot and I have asked the same questions as the OP. You need to be connected and have the right skills. It has nothing to do with Technical when I refer to skills. Don't get me wrong, you can't be uneducated, but that's not what's it's all about! Cheers! Hope that helps!

You are not told you are a hipot until PSG24. The upper level managers are selected from the hipots and require brains, hard work, delivery, mobility and sacrifice. If you are not able and willing to meet all of those then forget the hipot path and keep job hopping around the patch. You'll be happier driving your one ton truck and ski boat to the office on Thursday than the hipots will be handling work all weekend.

I think we all know what a "high potential" is or should be. Chevron has enough employees who have the potential and self-initiative to move up in their career. But the term, "Hi Pot" Is applied throughout the company by management to employees as labels. Not all these employees are truly that stellar, just average (or less than).

I doubt the HR hi-po got fired. She might have left but very very very few hi-po would be fired even for a horriable offensive. Most hi-po are natural born leaders and have a way with people. If they were not hi-po here they would be at a different company. It's all about the attitude. If you smile every day, talk to everyone you meet and do you technical job as well you will also be a high po in a few years

"They have a natural leadership ability" someone noted. That's nice. I do not, but I respect those who do. I suggest that you crybabies do so also unless you can do a better job, which I suspect you cannot, otherwise you would not be so envious of those who can. Those who can, do, those who can't whine like crybabies about their coworkers "Hi pot" rankings on the layoffs forum. If nepotism based promotions are so despicable then why would any of you want one or want to be in that despicable position? If you don't like your job, stop whining, do something about it, and quit for a better one like I did!

The "hi pots" I know are "Machiavellian narcissist's". They will steal your ideas and cut your throat, while they are grinning as you bleed out!

Hi pots just make your shit fall farther causing it to splash and get your ass wet.

At the end of the day, whether you are high up on the 3x3 matrix... It doesn't matter. It's all about how politically connected you are. Now if your name comes up along with someone else, and both your managers are alpha males, well maybe the 3x3 matrix could be a tie breaker. But I'm very cynical with Chevron... the company has a lot of processes, but what processes do we really follow all the time? No, it's who has the powerful friends, brother!

I've got a 2+, 1 and 1. I have not heard that I am a high pot. Maybe I am but I don't know.

A very competent HR rep got fired in ROM. She was a Hipot and never told! She had access to her own file and found it herself. Now this is only one instance but I can confirm she was one and never told! She was a rock star BTW. She was a threat imo to her peers so they canned her.

In the last three years I have had the ranking of 1, 2+ & 2+ and I am not a Hi-pot. Good luck getting in.

Anon 219 and 221 or both correct. I know a few hi pots and when you meet one you just know. They have a natural leadership ability and exhibit they Chevron way like little Chevron Robots. You will know as stated before and most hi pots are put into the secret society very early in their career. Unfortunately nepotism plays a role here too. You can't apply for it, you can't get in by being great at what you do, you can't get in by being the best Chevronite. These people are truly unique in a lot of ways. Good and bad. Bad being the nepotism part. If you haven't shown the potential to be a hi pot and have not been told so, put your efforts elsewhere as stated in previous post. GL

You know if your a Hi Pot. Just asking that question means your not one. They get key positions that only a select few get. They are in tune with, and being guided by higher ups like L1, L2 and L3 managers. They move, a lot, and as stated before, they get several different supervisor or the type positions that are HIGHLY visible. There are positions that are always given to "Hi Pots". If you are not a "Hi Pot" good luck getting any of those " manager" and up positions. The best you can do is kiss one of their asses and hope the like you to bring you up to a supervisory position. They are being guided and breed for those Mid/High level spots.

Time in position and performance. The function of the two puts you in one of 9 categories (known as the 3 by 3 matrix which can be found on the intranet if you search for it). If you're at the top right of the 3x3 your supervisor will sit you down and tell you that you're a high pot. I got a couple 2+ rankings and got into the club. It doesn't really mean anything in your day-to-day because it's very secretive. I just keep my head down and do my job shrug