Apparently, a lot.
Though often portrayed a the typical evil corporation archetype, some of them are doing some pretty amazing and innovative work around operating organizations on a massive scale.
I recently heard Statoil‘s Bjarte Bogsnes give a wonderful talk at LKNA ’14 on how this 23,000-employee, publicly-traded Norwegian oil company is managing its budgeting process and business performance in general.
I was so impressed with the company, that I did some more digging around and uncovered this gem:
It’s one of better employee handbooks that I’ve ever seen. Here’s why I think it’s awesome:
- Company Values (p10-13)
- Strong framing of the company’s purpose
- Only 4 top values that are unique (unlikely to find this particular set of values elsewhere)
- Values are broken down to be actionable
- People and Leadership (p14-21)
- Defining the partnership between the company and the individual (rare, brilliant)
- Defining what leadership means at Statoil in a detailed enough resolution to build effective evaluation, coaching and training around
- Tying the performance review cycle to values and strategy
- Defining cross company career tracks (“leadership” and “professional”)
- Corporate Policies (p54-74)
- Concise and in plain English – only 20 pages! (how long are your company’s?)
- Simple, consistent and clear structure: our approach -> we are committed to -> how we work
What’s the best handbook you’ve seen out there? (don’t say Valve)
