The INEOS Compass
A beginner’s guide to the INEOS Compass
Still a relatively young company, INEOS has grown upwards and outwards quickly - and continues to.
In just 25 years, we’ve become one of the largest chemical companies in the world, and expanded from our original core chemicals business into oil and gas, automotive manufacture, fashion, sport and beyond.
Throughout the journey, one thing has held fast: INEOS’ unique culture. This culture is, like any, impossible to precisely define- but it guides everything we do and underwrites our success. It is our core DNA.
The INEOS Compass was devised by Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe as a fun way of attempting to capture how INEOS works, and why. Below is a brief guide to some, but not all, of the terms.
Click on the plus icons below to find out what words we like, and those we don't!
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- Safe – The number 1 priority in INEOS: stay safe.
- The INEOS logo – It’s fine, don’t mess with it!
- Northerners – This is partially tongue in cheek– but INEOS’ 3 owners all hail from the North: Manchester (Jim Ratcliffe), Sunderland (John Reece), and Doncaster (Andy Currie). In fact all three are Northern Grammar School boys.
- Owner–like behaviour – Spend money like it’s your own, and don’t waste time on politics.
- Two-way board meetings – Communication should be to and from INEOS Capital- not just to.
- Toolkit – INEOS has honed its approach to acquisitions over the years, and we now arrive with a tried and tested toolkit.
- Swim against the tide – Don’t be afraid to question the status quo and do things differently. E.g. investing at the bottom of the cycle, and buying unfashionable businesses.
- Wood for trees – Getting to the heart of the matter. It’s a rare and key skill.
- Environment – Chemicals and plastics get a bad rap. But there are many examples where they help to make the world a better, safer, more efficient place. All that said, we need to continually improve the impact we have on the environment. It’s the only one we have.
- No human is limited – We have stolen this from that nice man Kipchoge.
- A beer – A number of INEOS’ creative ideas have arisen over a beer.
- Built on purpose – This is a Grenadier term, meaning no frills no fluff. It applies elsewhere.
- Federal – The INEOS structure. It’s unusual to have such a small centre, with considerable autonomy for all operating units. It demands cooperation and sharing between businesses, without push from the centre.
- “Good morning” – It’s polite to say it. (See “Manners maketh man”.)
- EBITDA €10m+ – At INEOS’ scale, it’s difficult for us to devote sufficient time and offer sensible advice to businesses below this threshold.
- Col de la Madone –Jim’s favoured French peak for cycle training.
- Kids and sport – INEOS recognises that children in the 21st Century don’t exercise like they used to, to their detriment. We’ve invested heavily in the ‘GO Run For Fun’ and ‘The Daily Mile’ children’s running initiatives, to help develop
healthy exercise habits for life for children at their most impressionable age range. - Slim HQ – We don’t like matrix structures. INEOS managers have clear responsibilities and direct lines of report, and limited interference from HQ.
- Fitness and health – It’s good for people. It also helps people work more efficiently.
- Consequence – One of the strongest words on the INEOS compass. It applies for good and bad.
- Sensible risk – A manager’s job is not to avoid risk, but to manage it sensibly.
- Walk the talk – It’s critical that Operations managers get out onto the plants every day and see things first hand for themselves.
- AMR battle – Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance will be the focus of our ongoing charitable giving. It’s generally held that our known antibiotics will cease to be effective by 2050, with consequences that make Covid-19 seem like a tea party. We must stop the unthinkable from becoming inevitable.
- Payback – Jack Charlton had a little black book.
- Speak out – If you’ve got something to say, don’t be timid.
- Scepticism – Is healthy. Don’t believe everything you are told.
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- Winging it – If you don’t know, say so.
- The word “can’t” – It’s too easy to say.
- Politics – Erode efficiency, relationships and speed of action. To be avoided.
- Parapet types – Don’t be afraid to stick your neck out.
- Things that break down – INEOS runs big machines. We need them to run 24/7, 365 days a year.
- Loose tongues – It’s better in a large organisation if you can feel comfortable sharing information, but people need to respect this.
- Waiting for bad news – Don’t. Ever.
- Good enough – Is usually not enough.
- Turf wars – We are all colleagues on the same team, and our structure demands sharing best practice and co-operating together.
- The “I” word – We prefer the “We” word. “There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’”.
- Making the same mistake twice – We don’t mind people making mistakes. But- you must learn from it.
- Fancy slides – We have an innate suspicion of fancy slides. We worry about shallowness behind them.
- Lukewarm cappuccino – Jim can’t stand them!
- Don’t do dumb shit – Jim came across this in large letters on a noticeboard in the North Australian Outback, at a very remote helicopter refueling station manned by one solitary person. Consequences in the remote Outback are serious. As they are in chemical plants.
- Matrix structures – A core strength of INEOS is direct accountability. Matrix structures are by definition amorphous, confusing, and create places for people to hide.
- People who get on the bus – Coined on our Graduate Namibian endurance challenge (where our 4th year graduates train to run, cycle and hike for a week through the remote Namibian desert). We have a bus following the group for safety reasons, but the idea has never been to get on it. (See “Grit”.)
- “Reach out” – The world’s worst phrase. It’s tacky, cheap, nauseous, irritating, meaningless, unnecessary.
- 10 year plans and 5 day conferences – Paraphrasing Sir Steve Redgrave, if INEOS ever have one of these, someone at the top should be shot.
- B.S. – Come on, you can figure this out!