Politics, bureaucracy, bloated, games.
Let me give a disclaimer that I was laid off. While you may think that I am bitter at CoP for for the loss of my employment, I would have given this same review while employed if I had known about these glassdoor reviews.
There is WAY to much focus on playing the game rather than running a business. Employees and more specifically managers are too involved in furthering their career than making good business decisions. From my experience, managers spend more effort building their fiefdom, climbing upward of around than "managing" their teams, or actually being a leader. The CEO Ryan Lance and other exec's want the company to be a nimble aggressive quick mover. Unfortunately, the system is clogged with managers who are trained in the big company political system, or are bottle necked by another layer of management who just doesn't understand how this new quick to learn and change fast paced industry.
I know it is a big company and we all hear that every big company is this bureaucratic and this way. But who is saying this? Have they ever actually worked at another company. It is an excuse not to try to become better. The company has lots of potential that is is failing to achieve. I know it will never be perfect and isn't as good as it could be.
Many employees are not actually good at what they are employed to do. It surprised in every group I was in how many people didn't actually know how to do their job. These employees have been around for years and never been fired. It is astounding. And the employees of which I noticed who were good at their job were continuously frustrated. Frustrated by working with these incompetent co-workers or in a system of incompetence. Strangely enough, these skilled workers got frustrated and quit, gave up, or were even laid off. All while the lesser skilled employees remained. Many cases it was because it was more beneficial for the said employee to "play the game" politically rather than develop their technical skills. This ConocoPhillips culture creates a workforce that rewards the self promoting, deceptive and unskilled, rather than a collaborative, honest, and skilled workforce.
I know I would still be employed if I had focused not on making better business and technical personal technical improvements, but rather to have spent more time kissing up to my managers, with constant private conversations, taking managers out for lunch and drinks with them, and playing the political game. Reason is, these people are still employed and will be the next set of managers in the next 5 years... the cycle continues.
