Thread regarding ConocoPhillips layoffs

I am watching this discussion and have to contribute because it is funny that the guy who says the other guy should play more golf think the golfing guy is stupid. If someone gets a paycheck by playing golf with their manager, they are actually very smart.
Sorry to say it, but the other guy is the d-mb one for thinking he is smarter than the guy who gets paid for playing games.
Oh, and he admitted he stayed around because he was more incompetent than the guys who got let go. Nice.

Enough said? That must have been what Ryan said to you while you ate his lunch. You’re definitely incompetent and stupid as the latest poster said. Don’t worry buddy just keep on eating the lunch Ryan provides for you, then play golf with your manager.
The rest of us will do our best without you.

"the most incompetent or worst people staying and good technical people being laid off"

Enough said. If you are still working at COP you are either incompetent or worst.
But we still love you.

You aren’t the worst employee, you are the stupidest, no self promotion for you. Now go play golf with the manager that protects your d-mb a s s.

That's why I am still around! Because as advised, I am the worst employee.

You may be the bad employee and you keep reposting the same thing. No advice on being
a bad employee was stated. Feeling guilty? Maybe you should self layoff yourself.

This discussion has really drifted off the topic that the original post was made about. But I need to give my opinion since a lot of other people have as well. The term big baby is exactly right here and exactly right. Likely the big baby that said all the good people were let go and only the worst remained is bitter from being let go in the past, and in his mind justifies it by thinking he was singled out for being good at his job, and the worst people were selected to stay.
Everybody in their own minds inflates their value and think they are the best. It hurts when you are chosen to leave any relationship.
But - please don't under any circumstances think that being a bad employee will help you through what is coming. Ignore that advice.

Y’all missed the point. The point was there are surprises and that frequently the good people are laid off and the political people stay. There was no advice given, just an observation based on a poster who said there are ‘no surprises.’ Pretty simple.

Agreed - the various posters are right who said the guy who feels that only the worst people have stayed at the company needs to go. Hopefully that guy is first in line when the EOI's are made available. I agree with the other people who think this guy has the worst advice.

Nope, the real crybaby is the guy that keeps posting in various forms that the worst are left working. Not what was said as various posters pointed out. Get a diaper dude.

I just read this thread from bottom to top.
I think the crybaby is the person who said "and it’s usually in the most incompetent or worst people staying and good technical people being laid off."
That is a copy and paste on what the bo-b said about himself. I also agree with the other posters that it is bad advice to follow - "you need to be incompetent to survive. "

How many big babies work at COP? cry cry cry Those were left after a layoff are all terrible. That’s not what the person said.
Read it again and again. Maybe you should have been laid off in the past for being so stupid.

I have to agree with the earlier observation. It is very funny advice that we are all terrible, and only the terrible survive. Good luck if you take his advice and strive to be a poor performer. It has obviously served that person well.

It is amazing you are still here, because your reading comprehension is extremely poor. You should thank the managers you played golf with.

This cycle happens frequently, at least 6 times in my career. For the guy who said "the most incompetent or worst people staying and good technical people being laid off", all of us reading this must be the worst of the worst if we made it through multiple cuts.

It's a complete krapp chute.
Don't look for logic in all the cuts. Some make sense, sure. But others leave you wondering what exactly happened. Nothing is straight forward so don't think you're safe or that those who get let go are somehow inferior.
Also from a long-time vet.

Ya'll are both right (another 15 year vet speaking)

The poster said that they’ll be surprises and described some. Did not say only the worst will be left, but did say not always the best are left, unlike the view of another post, and that”s a fact.

The irony of the last poster does not escape me. They have been through these layoffs enough times they feel like sharing their advice.
But the kicker is they say only the most incompetent and worst people stay.
I wonder if they were looking in the mirror while writing the post.

While the last post was meant to be supportive, it falls
short of reality. The truth is expect the worst and if you survive it might not be for the best because even after layoffs there still will be a terrible atmosphere with backstabbing and jockeying for positions above the normal levels. It simply isn’t true, there are surprises and it’s usually in the most incompetent or worst people staying and good technical people being laid off. Politics and favoritism rule, don’t doubt this or be ignorant.

Having been through a few cycles, I've found that there are typically very few surprises on who gets walked out the door.

If you're good at your job (and recognized by your peers for such), you'll be okay.

I found that the biggest challenge was the anxiety. I "thought" I was a strong performer. However, I didn't get the assurances until after the layoffs took place (a lot of people came out of the wood work mentioning others who vouched for me).

I would encourage any young/middle career person on this board to sit down with a trusted advisor. They'll (hopefully) give you the assurances you need to worry a bit less.

The reality is that by being a 1 or 2, you end up making some powerful enemies or a manager somewhere feels you have stepped on their toes or upset a scheme they were building for years ...so they will bide their time to insert your name into 'THE LIST' after which there is a small window of time where someone has to notice and bat for you and get you off that list (very improbable)

Some will claim that we don’t force rank. Once we rank into 5 levels and identify “bubble ups” and “bubble downs” the groups are effectively force ranked. The plus score is a running three year total based on ratings, promotions, demotions and special comp awards. Lots of subjectivity disguised as a legitimate process. Your plus score can plummet from double digits to negative or vice versa in a short few years largely dependent on whether you are in the good graces of management.

Exactly, performance has little to do with who stays and who goes. How do you think the incompetent ARCO people in the Lab and in Alaska stayed so long.

Yes, of course. Regardless of performance, politics
is always at play.

Forced ranking requires a review of performance and seniority. Thus a high performer with long service would be retained over a lower performer regardless of whether the lower performer has been with the company for a longer period. Performance counts and the EEOC would support the higher performer being retained.

Yes. Why pay a high performer good money when there are low performers out there able to work for less money.