Don't expect any loyalty from SLB management and likewise employees don't fully engage with the company because they see through the charade of a company that "says" they value their people but simply don't walk the talk and fire people at the first hint of a downturn. Dissent in SLB is severely frowned upon by management so nobody speaks up and a dysfunctional military style culture stifles creativity, business performance and true shareholder value.
8 replies (most recent on top)
Kibsgaard is ruining Schlumberger.
The entire culture has been transformed from respecting ideas, drive, and initiative to that of cutting costs through getting rid of jobs in western countries and shipping them to India. Most managers in VP level and above positions have very little experience actually dealing with customers as there whole careers have been internally focused. There is a serious disconnect between managements perceptions and the reality on the ground.
Several Schlumberger ideals that have held for multi decades are thrown out the window with Kibgaard. Sad to see.
Absolutely. Gould's style was much better. Kibsgaard only worries about numbers. What goes on at the ground level isn't his concern. You could kill people or fire or offer the lowest service quality, so as long as his indices are okay. Schlumberger is no longer what it was liked for
I agree about the employee morale. Walking around pulling people out of offices. Yeah, the survivors are going to be willing to go that extra mile now.
Kibsgaard sucks
Paul Kibsgaard was the one who made the decisions in 2009 that led to the prolonged layoffs. Round after round after round. It is about making stock prices and margins, didn't you know? Upper management will makes millions in bonuses, get raises; yet the field and workers will do with less and ask to do more; older workers will be targeted to be replaced, there is a philosophy of 'saving salary over experience' (forget about production and morale, those are intangibles and cannot be measured in the as a direct number to the stock price. It's about measurable profitability. Leadership...that went out the window long ago...
It is management by stock price monthly.
Don't forget the morale of the employees who stay behind constantly on edge not knowing if they will be the next ones to be fired or not. No communication from management as to why or who and everything done under stealth - one day the guy in the office is working with you and the next day he is gone - talk about bad management and a lack of leadership
Hi - i agree fully with you and its not only the lack of loyalty its the way that employees are treated by management - you are just a commodity to be used and discarded as required
You are absolutely correct. You and the post below yours which talks about all of Schlumberger's phony talk about being concerned about "employee retention" really speak to the biggest problem that will continue to reduce their value to clients, shareholders and employees. I have seen this get much worse under Paal Kibsgaard. He is the worst CEO SLB has ever has.