In August 2005, Marathon Europe set a clear forward vision and strategy, building upon a rich history and addressing long term direction for the Europe business unit (EBU). To support the implementation of this strategy and to ensure an appropriate focus on our people, five areas of focus, or Pillars, were created: Leadership, People, Values, Delivery & Growth.

These Pillars have provided focus and balance in all aspects of our business and served as a communication vehicle. Appropriate investment has been made in softer areas to develop leadership excellence and to support the development of people. A clear strategy has provided balance between short term delivery and long term growth. The management issues involved are not unique to the upstream oil & gas sector and by participating in surveys across industry sectors, we have identified and addressed areas of weakness and built upon areas of strength.

The results have been an increase in employee engagement and significant progress in achieving the long term vision for the EBU. The externally measurable results have included the achievement of 54th position in the cross sector UK Sunday Times top 100 best companies to work for 2007, the Ireland Top 50 best places to work and a staff turnover rate of only 2.6%.

We challenge others to participate in the Sunday Times top 100 and similar surveys, in order to enhance the reputation of the upstream oil & gas sector and to create more organisations which are great places to work.

Keywords:
Upstream Oil & Gas, information, great place, communication, workplace, Action Plan, permission, presentation, clear strategy, external communication
Subjects:
Professionalism, Training, and Education, Personnel competence
Copyright 2007, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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