About Kerry Dryburgh
In a September 2020 presentation, Kerry Dryburgh, then Executive Vice President of People and Culture at BP, outlined the company’s approach to workforce strategy as part of its broader reinvention. Dryburgh stated that BP was moving away from a siloed upstream/downstream model toward an integrated structure, and described the company’s goal of becoming more agile by deploying cross-disciplinary teams. He said BP aimed to be “increasingly diverse and inclusive,” adding that the company should “help drive forward social progress.”
Dryburgh emphasized the importance of employee well-being, which he described as “becoming part of the BP language, just in the way process safety is.” He said the company was transforming its working environments to be places where people “feel they can speak up” and “know they can be themselves.” On leadership, Dryburgh said BP sought leaders who are “purpose-driven not ego-driven,” empathetic, and “prepared to hold others to account.” He concluded that the combination of capabilities, purpose, how the company works, leadership, and performance would be “the key to success” and make BP unique.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Kerry Dryburgh's recent appearances.
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Transcript (1 segments)
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Kerry Dryburgh0:10
And what we're doing to help them perform at their best. I'm determined to ensure we continue to do more for our people, both for those already in BP and those that will join us over the years ahead. They want to work for an organization that makes a difference, a place that supports, encourages, and empowers them. So the question for BP in a world where people have more choice than ever is: can we give them what they want? You might be unsurprised to hear that undoubtedly I believe the answer is yes. What I believe will make us distinctive is actually what makes us proud to work here. So we're building the right capabilities, we have a purpose to guide us, and now we need to shift how it feels to work here. To do this, we believe we need to be three things. The first is integrated. This plays into many areas but in summary, we are integrating across and along the energy value chain. Structurally, BP has moved away from the siloed upstream downstream model to create an integrated and focused BP. The second is becoming more agile. This means deploying cross-disciplinary teams and empowering them to solve the DNI agenda further. We're doing this not just because it is the right thing to do or because it makes good business sense, but because we believe companies like ours should help drive forward social progress. Being integrated, agile, and inclusive will shape our people's experience of working at BP. An experience also enabled by two very important activities. The first is transforming our working environments, not just places where people feel they can speak up, but also places where people know they can be themselves and feel supported. The second is prioritizing our people's let me move on to leadership. We searched for leaders who have a track record of delivery, who are curious and open-minded, who are purpose-driven not ego driven, who lead through our values especially safety, and most importantly, leaders who are empathetic but who are also prepared to hold others to account. I hope that gives you a sense of what we're doing. It's a combination of capabilities, purpose, how we work, leadership, and performance. Getting that recipe right is the key to success, and I believe it is also what will make BP unique.
