(Bloomberg) -- Shell Plc employees excoriated the company’s leadership in response to an internal annual workforce survey as Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan cuts jobs across the business to help drive returns for shareholders, according to internal documents seen by Bloomberg.
The company’s workers expressed dismay at the way the Shell’s leadership is managing the British oil major’s biggest overhaul in years. Headline figures in an annual exercise known as the Shell People Survey, showed a decline in how employees view the organization’s leadership as well as its reputation.
“These results come as no surprise considering the amount of change we have been going through recently,” Rachel Solway, Shell’s chief HR and corporate officer, wrote in a letter to employees posted along with the survey results. “When it comes to next steps, in the executive committee, as in your meetings, we will listen carefully in our conversations and make the most of every opportunity to engage.”
Since taking over as CEO at the beginning of last year, Sawan has been on a mission to overhaul Shell’s culture and performance as part of an effort to narrow the valuation gap with American peers. He vowed to take a “ruthless” approach to spending the company’s money to focus on driving returns for shareholders.
Since then, Shell has embarked on job cuts across the company, including in divisions such as oil and gas production, deal-making and chemicals, as well as low-carbon areas like offshore wind.
The survey showed that some employees aren’t enthusiastic about what the drive for profitability means for their work life. There was a decline in nearly every category measured, including two of three “key drivers” known as “employee engagement” and “organizational leadership.”
“This is what you get when you go for ‘ruthlessly pursuing shareholder value’ at the expense of the organization and the people who actually do the work,” one employee wrote in an internal online forum. “Food for thought for our CEO?”
Workers’ Complaints
“We have a strong track record of open engagement with our staff and have just published our annual employee survey,” a Shell spokesperson said in response to questions from Bloomberg. “Over 70,000 completed the survey, and their engagement score was 75, which is a small drop of 4 points from last year”
“Staff are experiencing significant change as we transform Shell to become a fitter, stronger company, well-positioned to move through the energy transition,” the spokesperson said. “A very small number have made comments, which we listen to as part of our active staff engagement.”
Some employees expressed dismay at the way the company has handled the process of shifting its strategy and laying off their colleagues.
“Things are dire and leadership needs to realize things are concerning,” one employee wrote. “The rewards have dwindled, salaries reduced and in recent times it also feels like there is no longer any care or respect. The last is especially disheartening to see.”
Others voiced concern that the company’s executives wouldn’t hear their complaints and that more junior managers would be left powerless to address organization-wide issues.
“I’d challenge our board to come up with three tangible actions and take responsibility to make those happen,” another employee wrote. “What is the point to have team discussions? For our team it has been a waste of time.”
That person went on to bemoan that Shell’s strong earnings in recent years haven’t trickled down to make their job easier.
“With billions in our profit we have to ask vendors to come see us instead of we see how they make products,” they wrote. “I am in procurement and I have been begging to get a little bit more budget to do my job properly for years.”
The complaints came from employees working for Shell around the world and from a wide variety of departments.
“I have been working with this lovely company for 16 years and have seen countless reorganizations,” another person wrote. “But the one we are having right now, so far, is the most poorly managed.”
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