Human Capital Management

Talent is one of the critical capabilities foundational to delivering on our corporate strategy, and our intentional human capital management (HCM) strategy is a key part of our success. Our vice president of Human Resources has leadership accountability for our workforce management policies and programs and reports directly to our CEO. She reviews quarterly talent data, including attrition and representation, with our Executive Committee to assess and measure the talent landscape and increase accountability for human capital outcomes. In 2021, her team invested resources to track and analyze additional data.

Our board of directors provides oversight of our HCM strategies and receives regular updates that included a full HCM strategy presentation in July 2021. Talent is also addressed proactively through our annual Enterprise Risk Management process, including a multi-year view of any potential talent risks and critical skill gaps to confirm that we’re prepared to respond to the macro-environment while setting ourselves up for long-term success.

We invest in comprehensive talent processes that are informed by our enterprise-wide talent assessment to provide critical skills training, meet strategic business needs and drive high performance. Lead Self, Lead Others and Lead Leaders is our framework for success, and we take a strategic, multi-pronged approach to organizational learning, including digital, on-the-job and classroom training, as well as 360 assessments and leadership coaching to help employees reach their full potential. Our virtual Development Hub allows our employees to take ownership of their development with access to on-demand trainings and learning guides. In 2021, employees completed approximately 43,000 hours of annual computer-based training. In early 2022, we switched platforms to LinkedIn Learning, providing employees with access to a larger number of topics.

Our Leadership Programs provide employees with a structured path to hone skills for leading others and the organization. Topics covered include how corporate functions affect the exploration and production business, improving team effectiveness, recognizing unconscious bias and inclusive leadership. These programs range from new manager training to executive-level business simulations. Our business simulation takes senior leadership on a nine-year journey to help our executives learn how their decisions impact the business over time. We create intentional and focused plans for executive succession candidates to confirm we have identified the experiences and exposures needed to set employees up for success in future senior leadership roles.

In 2021, we launched a general mentoring program, which focused on increasing skills as well as communication, connection and trust. We also continued our board mentoring program, which pairs several senior leaders with a director mentor.

At Marathon Oil, we integrate the best people with the best technology to drive enterprise value, boost profitability and improve sustainability. Employees with strong petrotechnical skills are vital to Marathon Oil’s resource exploration, development and production efforts. Our petrotechnical teams are focused on leveraging high-volume data analytics and pairing that with high-resolution advanced modeling to realize further gains in operational effectiveness.

To ensure that we have the right technical capabilities needed to run the business today and in the future, we continue to leverage the partnership between our Human Resources professionals and our petrotechnical chiefs to manage discipline health and set technical direction. In 2021, we identified petrotechnical advisors who partner with the chiefs and managers to close technical knowledge gaps, drive best practices and create development opportunities.

As a company focused on identifying and leveraging breakthrough technology, we also recruit students and graduates in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. We funded multiple scholarships in 2021 totaling approximately $175,000 and also hosted a three-day shadowing program for students from two Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Mental Health Awareness: Are You OK?

The health and wellness of our employees are priorities for our company. In addition to our voluntary wellness program and an enhanced employee assistance program (EAP), in 2021 we launched the Are You OK? mental health awareness campaign. This campaign is dedicated to educating and empowering our employees to talk about mental well-being both at work and at home, decreasing the stigma around mental health concerns and seeking help and promoting the resources available to our employees.

In the past, our safety culture has largely focused on staying safe on the jobsite and in the office. As the pandemic has impacted the way we live and work, it has become increasingly important for all of our employees to feel comfortable asking the question, “Are you OK?” to a colleague facing tough challenges.

We attract and retain talent by offering a comprehensive suite of benefits with a focus on competitive pay, pay for performance, and broad options for our employees to better manage their careers, work-life balance and overall well-being. Our Workplace Flexibility Program allows us to support flexibility while preserving our collaborative, One Team culture, and includes working from home up to two days per week and a 9/80 flex schedule. Additional benefits can include paid family leave; cash bonuses; restricted stock unit awards; health, dental and vision assistance plans for employees and their families, including domestic partners and children of domestic partners in the United States; retirement savings plans; adoption assistance; vacation; paid holidays; sick pay; life and accident insurance; educational reimbursement; a volunteer incentive program; and more. Full-time employees also receive an annual performance review. To see a full list of benefits and eligibility requirements visit https://www.mrobenefits.com/.

We generally conduct a full employee engagement survey every two years and conducted one in mid-2022. In 2021, we conducted a Pulse survey to gather employee feedback on the changes made in the past year and gather their ideas for the future. We were proud to hear our employees describe Marathon Oil as “safe, flexible, inclusive and collaborative” and to see that the highest-scoring statement on the survey was “new ideas are encouraged at Marathon Oil.”

Our executives also launched informal engagement sessions with their teams to discuss relevant topics and encourage personal and professional development. We plan to continue these executive discussions throughout the organization in 2022. We also engage employees through our new peer-to-peer recognition program, quarterly all-employee meetings, employee workshops, and the events and activities hosted by our employee resource groups (ERGs).