Good company but to wedded to tradition to become a great company - Petroleum Engineer bp Employee Review

3.0
Mar 16, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

BP has a very good training program and encourage training throughout ones career. The IT system is well done, while it can be slow, it is reliable and well supported. The biggest strength of BP is excellent people to work with; they do a good job getting good people and training them on a technical level. There is also a tendency to move people every to different groups every 2 or 3 years (this is not a relocation but a change of groups locally). I like this, but other people may not. There is also a lot of flexibility of work schedule and good work-family balance.

Cons

The main problem with BP is that it is a large,slow, and tradition bound company. There are processes in place for everything from drilling a multi-million dollar well to putting toilet paper on the dispenser. Failure to flow results in chastisement from above. If the processes says jump off a cliff, you are expected to do so. It is also nearly impossible to make change happen even if you are at a high management level. In mid 2008 there was an initiative to simplify the processes we follow. Unfortunately the simplification process is so complex it has yet to be implemented.

Explore other reviews about bp

5.0
May 7, 2026
Anonymous intern
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great program, coworker, and structure, interesting work

Cons

I didn't find much cons

5.0
Jun 24, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Supportive team environment with good learning opportunities and exposure to large-scale projects. Compensation and benefits are competitive, and the company offers strong brand recognition and career development resources.

Cons

Decision-making can be slow due to layers of management, and processes sometimes feel overly bureaucratic. Workload and priorities can shift quickly, which may create stress depending on the team.

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