Demographics of the survey respondents
55% of survey responses came from USA with equally spread minor participation from Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, UK, Italy, Slovakia and Afghanistan.
15% of respondents did not provide background information.
85% of all respondents had provided us with their current positions. The split between reported positions is shown below.
Technical Setup
We are very pleased to report that 88% of the respondents are highly satisfied with the available IT solutions and technical support they are receiving (minor tolerable instabilities are noted).
Collaboration Needs
We found that, during the first two weeks of working from home, social needs were not at the top of the list for 50% of the respondents. While the need for personal social interaction with colleagues was evenly spread over the full range of the responses, 94% of respondents are in need for collaboration with their colleagues with over 70% in some need for access to the external experts as well.
Crisis handling and ideas on how to get going post Corona virus
There is a wide range of comments on the topic of the support provided by the companies
On a low end, some people are not getting any support from the company: “It’s a free for all and everyone at my company is freaking out. Very toxic working environment”, - are calling for an “immediate new leadership (more customer oriented)” and manage remote working because of their “own prior investment into a personal setup” but below are some good ideas shared about company provided support that are not too late to follow:
Some companies support their employees by providing a “Loaned office equipment”, allowing them to “Work at Home and Meet by Video” even before mandatory “stay at home” orders and by “great IT help for all things remote”.
Improvements in use of technology clearly are making the difference these days. What is helping the most is “Full use of new collaboration tools throughout the organization. Eg. Slack, Zoom, Airtable,Confluence, and the entire Google Suite, including Hangouts” but people are still calling for “greater use of collaboration tools, team spirit and constant communication”.
On a high end, some people are experiencing improved collaboration across the company these days: “We are over-communicating and checking on each other. This crisis is making the whole company work as a team”.
Many participants in the survey are calling for patience while dealing with the challenges of today and for “trust in the employees to perform at a high level regardless of their work environment”.
75% of the respondents are overall optimistic and feel their voices could be heard. They are suggesting to “Listen to your employees” and “be patient” but 15% is “disillusioned” and, even though they are hopeful and are providing their feedback in the survey, they do not think the management will take decisive steps to protect the company (not themselves) during the crisis.
There is a concern that solutions will be defined behind the closed doors and that “the company experts need to understand they are not alone”
Below is the list of the suggested measures to manage the costs and to move forward. They are taken from the survey responses:
Limited cost cutting. Deferring projects rather than cancelling.
Being more pragmatic and less emotional with decisions. Not jumping the gun and having the stomach to withstand the lows.
Many companies have equity value of zero given the current commodity price. Let’s hope some C-suite leaders will submit to logical M&A transactions.
Eliminate stock buy-back program
Re-evaluate fixed dividend to flex dividend
Executive pay reductions
Have a more balanced portfolio (upstream & downstream) to mitigate risks when oil prices slide
Readjust the plan based on the new or rescheduled needs
Deploy Strategic planning
Low-cost efficiency, investment at current discount, and long-term strategy
Eliminate “ the drill baby drill" mentality
Re-institute travel- it is essential
Propose projects/products that can help operators during the crisis (previously deferred: maintenance, training, retooling)
This survey is not closed and we are collecting more responses from anybody who is working in the industry. You can share your opinions below
