Fantastic place to work. And then Shell happened.
Pros
Very generous reward/benefits/pension (compared to outside the oil & gas industry). Fantastic people. Healthy culture. Good work/life balance. Very pleasant location, on a nature reserve.
Cons
VERY political. Career progression based far more on networking and ability to 'play the game' than any genuine ability. Didn't feel like a meritocracy for much of the time. However, just how great a place BG Group was to work was hammered home by the almost instant culture change that occurred after the Shell takeover. I think many people realised they'd taken for granted the relative transparency and agility of BG once the creaking, monolithic processes of Shell began to trample, Tyrannosaur-like, over this once-fantastic company. Out with achievement and teams who knew their purpose, and in with clueless project managers and ridiculous management speak. The next person to ask for 'a connect' with me is going to get a roundhouse kick to the head.
