Imperial Oil Reviews

Pros

Great project and work process experience.

Cons

Lots of bureaucratic/red tape, lack of resources and lack of management support when things don't go according to the plan.

Advice to Senior Management

Get more resources. Get the managers with TRUE Leadership qualities who can take a stand for their front line employees in the line of fire, rather than passing the bucket back to the lower cadre.
Due to the lack of resources the procedures are sometimes not followed properly in order to get the work done (meet deadlines) and the managers knowingly ignore it as they would like to get the work completed. However, when its caught up in the internal audit system or some other way, the blame is squarely put on the employee for not following as per protocol.

Pros

secured job
good benefits
focus on work safety
good engineering team

Cons

rigid management style
don't have incentive pays
have to work overtime sometimes

Advice to Senior Management

be more flexible

Pros

Income was hard to leave, above average.
Early Career challenges were great and helped me develop strong management skills.

Cons

Mid and late career employees are not seen as valuable, focus is soley on early career employees and retaining these employees.
Forced ranking system puts mid and late career employees at the lower end to allow for rapid advancement of early career employees.
Leadership is minimal, forced ranking drives a popularity contest mentality vs. development of true leaders.

Advice to Senior Management

Show more respect to your mid career and late career employees before they have to decide to leave the company to look for overall satisfaction and pride in where they work.
Your downstream business is disappearing, the focus unit margins has caused a large volume loss and your ability to cover your fixed costs is suffering.
Get some leadership in place vs. promoting those that you like most - a recent promotion of an indivual who has lost 1/2 of their business makes no sence to those working the front line.

Pros

Money, status, some of the training provided, responsibility, free food. Occasionally meet really cool people but they don't seem to stay long with the company.

Cons

Red tape and politics. Forced rankings resulting in popularity contest. Not a great place to work if you are a minority, even though management claims otherwise. Not the place to showcase creativity - basically they need robots who are replaceable.

Advice to Senior Management

Need more open culture, so that people can actually enjoy working at Imperial. Read a book or 2 on "Slow Death" and you will understand where the company is heading..hopefully. Give minorities and immigrants a chance

Pros

Very high starting salary
lots of responsibility

Cons

hard to get things
involved numerous personnel to get something done. and that will delay the process

Advice to Senior Management

Better training program for interns and new hires

Pros

Excellent training, lots of responsibility at an early stage in your career, room for movement within Exxon Mobil, reasonable compensation

Cons

Force fit ranking amongst peers. Purely results orientated, less interested in how you achieved those results. Too risk adverse, limits progress of work.

Advice to Senior Management

Change your evaluation system. Force fit ranking does not motivate employees or provide long term incentive for older employees who only have more to offer.

Pros

Respectful work environment. Very competent work force. Lots of challenges from the very start. Lots of opportunities if you are mobile.

Cons

Must be content with a top-down decision making hierarchy. Salary is directly linked to performance ranking, which is a forced distribution.

Advice to Senior Management

The secretive approach of management to big-decision making does not fit in an environment staffed with highly intelligent and competent professionals.

Pros

- High Caliber of employees
- Competitive pay

Cons

- Lots of bureaucracy in the company

Advice to Senior Management

Become more adaptable

Pros

ExxonMobil majority shareholder allows for global opportunity for some. Established processes. Hire for careers as opposed to positions. Working for the biggest and best instills sense of pride in employees.

Cons

Opportunities go to the most aggressive and outspoken, not necessarily the most knowledgeable or talented. Politics and bureaucracy can be exhausting. Who you know and who likes you the most seem to determine rankings and where you end up.

Advice to Senior Management

Employees don't need to hear what you think they want to hear. Straightforward feedback without manipulation or spinning a story is best. Recognize talent that exists in employees that aren't engineers.

Pros

very High Calibre of employees. The interview process was very thorough, and they are quite selective. At the same time it was quite a bureaucratic process, with them strictly following a checklist

Cons

not enough focus put into alternative energy. Typical employee is the 'older, white male' but they are trying to change this demographic.

Advice to Senior Management

alternative energy focus, a company like BP is doing a much better job of this