Shell reviews

Shell's core values i.e. honesty, integrity and respect for people are practiced beyond corporate branding. Therefore, employees feel they are being trusted, safe to speak and respected. On work life balance, there is a very strong culture to support staff personal life and as a result employees feel highly motivated to deliver their best. Every year, Shell People Survey is conducted and this is a very critical process to let the employees speak up their minds and the management make it a strong point to follow up on feedback from this annual survey.

I was a late career experienced hire who worked for several years in a technical service group. When oil prices crashed, budgets, projects and technical services were cut, and lots of senior people were let go because there was no longer any work to do. From my perspective, severance timing and procedures were very generous and humane. I was lucky in that being near the end of my career the loss of my position was not as disastrous as it was to the younger staff affected. For earlier career professionals, company training courses and access to experts and mentors is top notch. Short term training assignments at other offices are also sometimes available. Prior to the price decline, there were numerous opportunities to apply for expatriate positions around the globe. Once prices stabilize, and the company completes its divestments, restructuring and absorption of BG, I suspect foreign opportunities will again be available. The new Houston offices are very nice, although adoption of an open plan is annoying and distracting. Flexible work hours and a 9/80 schedule were appreciated. However, when necessary, long hours can be required, but may be compensated later. My colleagues were generally nice, helpful, and very intelligent. I never had a problem with any member of management to whom I was exposed. They were all kind, fair and technically competent.