My experience of working at Shell for 1.5 Years

This week I left Shell after completing around 1.5 years at the company. I’ve met many interesting people & learned a lot about how big companies function in general. Thought to write this post so that more people will get to know about it.

• Safety: In every single activity that happens at Shell, safety has always been the topmost priority. Not many companies emphasis much on individual safety like Shell do. Though I was working in an office environment, not the field — safety measures are applied everywhere. I’m going to follow measures like ‘Always hold handrails’, ‘Always wear seatbelts’ with me in my career ahead & will try to grow a similar culture wherever I go :-)
• Culture: I previously worked at an IT company & the culture difference I noticed between Shell & my previous company is very huge. I have always feel welcomed whenever I talked to any individual at the company. Everyone is willing to help you in all the ways possible & always make sure you feel comfortable while doing your job.
• Independence: Everyone is given independence & trusted with the job they’re asked to do. This surely gives good amount of confidence to an individual who can do things in his own way, experiment & learn from the same. Obviously, if someone makes a mistake, they’re taught how not to repeat the same as well. But building confidence in the staff that their peers believe in them, is a big cultural impact.
• Employee care: Shell is a very big organization with a presence in almost every country in the world. During a personal crisis, I have not seen anyone complaining about not getting flexibility in work timings/leaves. It is probably how the company is designed to function but everyone gets their personal time when needed without having to worry about work. Also, very rarely you see people going home with frustration or angry mood after working the whole day which is a big positive & impacts individual productivity a lot. Each & every individual is treated equally irrespective of their position & titles.

I’m very humbled to get a chance to work at Shell & will always cherish the time spent here. On any day, I would highly recommend anyone to join this company & would also love to come back here in the later stage of my career. :)

What I'm up to next?: Stay tuned & watch out! :D

PS: This article is solely based on my experience of working at the Shell office in Chennai & interaction with other people from Shell global offices.