Cultivating a culture of continuous learning at Phillips 66

Never stop growing.

That’s the philosophy behind Phillips 66’s new learning and development program, which is designed to help its workforce learn faster and build leadership capabilities earlier in their careers.

“Our company’s success depends on high performance,” said Patti Celestine, Phillips 66 general manager of Learning and Development. “We’re excited to transform learning and development into a distinctive strength for Phillips 66 and provide employees with a consistent learning experience.”

The company held its inaugural Day of Learning in early November to kick off the renewed approach and encourage employees to discover new learning opportunities. Celestine describes how Phillips 66 is pivoting to a learning culture and investing in employees in new ways to build vital skill sets for the future.

How does investing in learning and development impact Phillips 66’s vision of being the integrated downstream leader?

Building the capabilities of our smart and highly skilled workforce is essential for Phillips 66 to compete and win in a dynamic marketplace. By equipping our people with the right resources, tools and learning structure, we can help them keep their skills fresh and better adapt to rapid change. Embedding employee development into our culture reinforces how we drive performance, pursue excellence and deliver strong business results.

Tell us more about Phillips 66’s Day of Learning. What inspired the event?

Employees want to be with a company where they believe they can make an impact and grow. This Day of Learning was a first step in giving employees visibility to the company’s commitment to continuous skill building, individual growth and career development. Whether an employee works in a terminal, refinery, trading office, headquarters, research center or any other location, we designed this day for them.

What experiences did employees have at the Day of Learning? And what resources are available for people who couldn’t attend?

The event featured diverse learning content for employees at all levels and locations. Virtual learning sessions showcased internal functional experts and generated interest in future development offerings. We also held in-person events at various refineries and our Houston and Bartlesville offices. Topics included developing a winning mindset, communicating with confidence, managing your career and leveraging your strengths. We also invited employees to make a learning pledge by identifying one area of learning focus in the coming months. To extend the impact of our Day of Learning, employees can access an interactive learning hub with exclusive event content.

How is Phillips 66 fostering a learning culture beyond the single-day event?

It’s about helping everyone push go on their development journeys, grow in their careers and thrive at work. We empower employees to take charge of their learning journeys, beginning with onboarding and continuing with technical, professional and people leader development. We offer in-classroom, on-demand and immersive learning resources to help employees achieve their goals. These include skill- and business-unit-specific training programs and experiential learning through developmental assignments. We also provide peer-to-peer learning through online hubs, which allow people with similar roles, challenges and responsibilities to collaborate and continuously learn in a virtual environment.

How will Phillips 66 keep its learning and development programs agile to meet industry and market needs in today’s rapidly changing business environment?

We continually evaluate, monitor and look for ways to improve our programs by collaborating with internal and external subject-matter experts. We expect to add and replace offerings in our curriculum over time to stay aligned with our company’s strategic priorities. We will invest in the right technology to provide better learning experiences for our employees.