Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

HR strategyEmployer branding

BP oil spill could damage its employer brand

by Personnel Today 6 May 2010
by Personnel Today 6 May 2010

BP’s HR department could have a hefty task on its hands to fix some of the potential damage caused to its employer brand as oil continues to spew out of a sunken oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, leading brand experts have warned.

The oil giant has accepted it is “absolutely responsible” for cleaning up the spill caused by a blast on a drilling rig on 22 April, but insists faulty equipment at the rig’s contractor, Transocean, is ultimately to blame.

Tsz Wu, director of digital creative agency Pink Squid, told Personnel Today that blaming suppliers will always look like a company is ‘passing the buck’, and warned that future employees may be deterred from working for the firm.

He said: “BP are coming out of it really badly at the moment. They’ve got to be seen to be doing the right thing and throwing all their resources into it [the rescue operation].

“At the moment, it looks like they are blaming people and still drilling for fossil fuels. Does it help with their Beyond Petroleum strap? Probably not. And does it help them keep the talent?”

Alex Couzins, brand consultant at consultancy Brand Finance, added: “A crisis will always reveal how true the organisation is to its brand values so it is vital that its leaders stick to them and lead by example. It is essential to keep employees informed and updated during times of organisational uncertainty.”

A spokesman for BP, which is still investigating the incident, said: “We want to attract people with ideas to prevent this [sort of] incident happening. From a personal ambition point of view of anyone thinking of career in the industry, these are the challenges that we want people to be able to prevent and deal with.”

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

However, professor Andrew Kakabadse, professor of international management development at Cranfield School of Management, dismissed the suggestion BP may struggle to recruit staff in the wake of the spill.

“There’s lots of press and media attention now, but it will blow over,” he said. “There’s thousands of people queuing up in the streets to get jobs. People will be concerned about their career, level of remuneration, prospects, development and training and whether they are going to get a job that is satisfactory.”

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Bribery Act 2010: legal implications for employers
next post
British Airways union official in sacking debacle

You may also like

University of Salford launches Better Working Lives cluster

14 May 2025

Why HR burnout is a strategic issue

12 May 2025

Succession planning now ‘more of a priority than...

24 Apr 2025

High performance is not the preserve of ‘superstar’...

3 Apr 2025

What do HR specialists enjoy most about their...

21 Mar 2025

Ben & Jerry’s accuses Unilever for sacking boss...

20 Mar 2025

Employee engagement: Growing disconnect between effort and recognition,...

13 Mar 2025

Mitie appoints Kathryn Dolan as chief people officer

6 Mar 2025

Return to the office: Gartner highlights the risks...

27 Feb 2025

Josh Bersin research: most HR leaders are now...

20 Feb 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+