Develop future leaders

Developing the Company’s future leaders is vital given the complex and long-term nature of our business. The decisions our leaders make and the risks they manage play out over time horizons that are often decades in length.

Leadership development ensures we have the necessary skills and capabilities to deliver on our business strategies and facilitates development of the next generation of leaders. Given the size and scale of ExxonMobil, developing these leaders requires a thoughtful and consistent approach.

Identification of future leaders begins in the early stages of one’s career. We look for employees who have the capability and willingness to contribute at senior levels of our organization throughout a long career.

Our approach is all about personalized development. We focus on individualized development plans, prioritize targeted skill and capability development, and ensure employees get the right assignments and experiences at the right time. This prepares them to step into larger executive level roles. These plans evolve as employees demonstrate their performance and leadership potential is tested.

Each year, our senior leadership team conducts a thorough review of these plans, assessing the overall health of our leadership pipeline and succession plans. This also includes a review of key indicators to ensure rate and pace of development progresses as intended.

Our Board of Directors plays an important role in senior leadership development and continuity. Our CEO leads an annual Board review on talent systems and succession plans for key leadership positions, including our investment in developing globally diverse talent ready to take on the leadership roles of the future.

Global, diverse leadership talent

We source talent from nearly all countries in which we operate and have over 35 nationalities represented in our executive population. We focus on identifying leadership talent early and developing them throughout their careers to reach their highest potential.

This starts with attracting the right talent, then developing our people over a career, building depth and breadth in leadership and core capabilities. To develop future leaders, we identify leadership talent early, create individual development plans prioritizing key experiences, and supplement growth through leadership learning programs.

We review the overall mix of our global workforce and periodically assess how our talent programs are affecting our talent pipeline and ensure they are delivering unbiased outcomes from entry level to the most senior positions. Examples include:

• Across our global footprint⁴, we develop employees to take on the most senior leadership positions in country and for some, leadership roles in the U.S. and other countries outside their own. As of year-end 2024, 27% of executives are from outside the U.S. and 63% of the professional workforce¹ are international.
• Globally, we review how women are advancing through the organization and progressing to more senior roles. As of year-end 2024, 29% of executives are women and 34% of our professional workforce are women, generally consistent with the availability of talent for the degrees and experiences required by our businesses.
• In the U.S. we also look at U.S. minority representation across our talent pipeline. As of year-end 2024, 23% of executives across the corporation are U.S. minorities and 30% of our professional workforce are U.S. minorities, generally consistent with the availability of talent for the degrees and experiences required by our businesses.
• Around the world, we review the progression of our national talent into leadership positions, ensuring our development processes are working as intended. For example, in Papua New Guinea, almost 40% of our supervisors and managers are national employees and in Indonesia over 90% of our leaders are national employees.