Refinery Culture Change
Turning around the company’s lowest performing refinery by focusing on production performance and changing the corporate culture
Context and Challenge
Leadership team identified areas for improvement and needed support to design an improvement plan addressing both technical and cultural needs
Significant declines for the prior two years resulted in production operating at about 15 – 20% below capacity. The parent company considered closing the plant rather than spend planned capital
An emphasis on technical problem solving by the new senior leadership who had extensive technical expertise vs. a systematic change in leadership and employee behaviors
Prior senior leadership instilled a strong culture of top down problem solving
Evolve was engaged to design the improvement plan supported by the development of leadership capability
Turning around the company’s lowest performing refinery by focusing on production performance and changing the corporate culture
Approach
Worked with the client to identify institutional issues (performance culture, meeting effectiveness, lack of performance focus) that, when addressed, would embed the technical solutions developed over the long term
Completed process studies and critical process mapping to help clarify results and prioritize work by working with client team and then developing a clear vision of success and understanding of the required change journey
Developed a program management structure focused on a clear vision, detailed outcome plans and a change road map for leadership
Engaged the workforce in operational excellence by empowering employees to have ownership and present the results of their work to senior leadership.
Identified and then improved their understanding of how the refinery could reduce OPEX by 20%, including a breakdown of the cost structure
“We have been trying to achieve this for two years. With this approach we completed it in four months”