As part of its commitment to improve the climate, the management team at independent energy company Amerada Hess held a key decision-making meeting to review its employees’ own ideas about reducing costs and increasing value under the gaze of the workforce.
Amerada Hess Limited, then the UK arm of the Hess Corporation, invested much time and effort in turning round its business. Finding itself with the lowest income per barrel in the oil industry – as well as the highest lifting costs – the energy producer worked with Hay Group to reexamine its business from the top down.
Some of the biggest issues were at board level, where insufficient collaboration between executives had created silo working and a negative climate. After Hay Group’s facilitating and coaching improved the functioning of the leadership team by exposing some of the behaviors exhibited, the next vital step was to bring the workforce back on side and reestablish confidence in their leaders.
