How does Shell enable employees to be their most authentic versions
Facts box:
Company Name: Shell India
Established: 1928
Total number of employees: More than 7,100
HQ: Gurugram, India
With a belief that investment in individual development contributes not only to the personal growth, but also to the growth of the business, at Shell India engagement is not about policies, processes or best practices but about creating a powerful culture that is grounded in values and purpose, and builds on itself. And this is attributed to their employee-oriented policies that adopt a values-oriented approach reflective of the company’s commitment to deliver a respectful and positive employee experience.
The company has a Shell Advanced Technical Program (SATP), a structured development program for an experienced technical professional to further develop and advance their careers in Shell. Shell hires the best management trainees from the best institutions and nurtures them in a contractually-bound and structured three-year program with a clear competency framework. This ensures an early leadership development, and the program helps employees to understand the functional skills as well as broader integrative skills required at Shell. Every employee at Shell has a clear career path of what they will do for four years when they join; the first two of which are spent learning the intricacies of the role and the last two in excelling in the role. Once this four-year-long developmental agreement between the employee and the line manager culminates, the manager takes a call on whether the employee must stay or move on to a different role at the organization.
The company holds regular People Surveys that enable the dialogue between leadership and employees about critical issues in the organization. It facilitates communication by giving everyone the chance to have their say and play a part in improving the business and provides an agenda for change and allows best practices to be identified and followed.
The Women’s Career Development Program (WCDP) at Shell is also a highly interactive diversity and inclusion learning program designed to help female Shell employees identify what they want from their professional and personal lives and to support them in achieving their full potential.
The company’s learning and training programs are global, centrally, and locally sponsored and all line managers have access to a training ‘menu card’ that is redesigned, reinvented and refreshed according to employee skill levels and training needs. Building effective employee networks are another critical component for Shell and the company expands its time, resources, finances, and mentorship towards building such networks that facilitate engagement and allow a mutual interaction between leaders and employees.
With a relationship that spans from 1928, it's been 90 years since Burmah Shell set up operations in the country and 25 years since they re-entered post liberalization. Today, Shell is one of the most diversified international energy company in India with over 7000 employees, 200,000 retail customers and a 250 - strong distribution network. With employees from 21 different nationalities, a 25 percent strong women workforce, 70 percent of overall employees being Millennials and over 39 different skill pools to leverage capabilities from, Shell represents a truly diverse employee base. They are today heading to be the 3rd largest workforce for Shell globally, and hence the “Talent Heartland”.