It's a number cutting game. I saw three companies all move head off simply to shed dead weight and offer good people a bit more to stay (if they even asked). One of those companies moved head office back where it came from only 2 years later! The truth is, remote working is great for simple, finite tasks. Work in, process and work out are fine. Jobs that require collaboration, discussion and even being aware of what other people are doing don't. I can't count the number of times per week I overhear something that I need to know, something I can help others or something someone else is doubled up on. This is working for an engineering company.
We saw how well this played out at Yahoo. It only made the talented engineers run for the exit. You know, the guys who actually do the work and run the company. Not the shitbag managers who sit in their offices sending emails all day engaged in useless busy work.
Baby boomer bosses, can't live with 'em, can't ..... kill them.
Cap is spot on correct about the corporate boomers, they suck. Simulataneously entitled and thick-headed schmucks.
Screw the high tech industry and the dopes who run it.
She wasn't the only dingbat in the column. There was also John Sullivan, "a professor of management at San Francisco State University who specializes in HR strategy" who supported her idea. That's enough for a facepalm right there.
Then there was the employee who claimed to support the idea... but is quitting anyway.
Amusingly, if you scroll all the way down to the end of the article, you'll see a link to another article called "If you don’t trust your employees to work remotely, you shouldn’t have hired them in the first place". Link below:
Melissa Mayer did the same thing with yahoo... Yeah, that sure helped. /sarc BTW, something I'm sure you just knew was on the horizon: Bill Introduced Allowing Cancellation Of Over $1 Trillion In Student Debt Through Bankruptcy. If this becomes law, it's going to be 'the housing bubble' (complete with bailouts) all over again. But this is necessary, because then Trixie or Skye will have to start getting told ''No Honey, majoring in 'fashion' or 'puppetry' is not a good idea''.
The knock on effect is that the loans will be harder to get and stupid degrees will drop off as people can't afford to learn about lesbian studies. Doctors used to declare bankruptcy after finishing their degree, work through as a low pay intern and the bankruptcy will have cleared by the time you're in good money. They were ahead of their colleagues who didn't declare bankruptcy.
Based on my experiences, working from home is fine provided that everyone else is on the same page and will participate equivalently. Sure, at first face, doing real-time meetings while working from home, at the cafe, etc. seems like a god-send, but the technology allows people to hide and not answer emails or chats. I've seen this many times already.
"Jobs that require collaboration, discussion and even being aware of what other people are doing don't. I can't count the number of times per week I overhear something that I need to know, something I can help others or something someone else is doubled up on."
But in a large & complex company, especially one that has grown by acquisition, the people you need to collaborate with may well be in different cities, different states, different countries.
If the entire Gerbilator project team is located in one city, then everyone coming in to the office makes a certain amount of sense. But if you're a product manager for an initiative which involves 3 engineering teams in different places, a marketing group in a fourth place, and manufacturing in yet another, then there is no such thing as a single office where everyone can hang out.
Which is why these decisions need to be made at lower levels of management, not as corporate or division-wide edicts.
"If you don’t trust your employees to work remotely, you shouldn’t have hired them in the first place"
I have actually used that in hiring. I bring a candidate on as a contractor to do baseline work for 6mos or so, remote. If they have the gumption, deliver product on time, that's an individual who might be a good hire. They can work with minimal supervision.
And yeah I am one of those sucky Boomer managers Cappy is always complaining about. Funny thing is, my generation built the Internet (I worked at BBN for a time.), Cappy just uses it.
It's a number cutting game. I saw three companies all move head off simply to shed dead weight and offer good people a bit more to stay (if they even asked). One of those companies moved head office back where it came from only 2 years later!
ReplyDeleteThe truth is, remote working is great for simple, finite tasks. Work in, process and work out are fine.
Jobs that require collaboration, discussion and even being aware of what other people are doing don't.
I can't count the number of times per week I overhear something that I need to know, something I can help others or something someone else is doubled up on.
This is working for an engineering company.
We saw how well this played out at Yahoo. It only made the talented engineers run for the exit. You know, the guys who actually do the work and run the company. Not the shitbag managers who sit in their offices sending emails all day engaged in useless busy work.
ReplyDeleteBaby boomer bosses, can't live with 'em, can't ..... kill them.
Cap is spot on correct about the corporate boomers, they suck. Simulataneously entitled and thick-headed schmucks.
Screw the high tech industry and the dopes who run it.
She wasn't the only dingbat in the column. There was also John Sullivan, "a professor of management at San Francisco State University who specializes in HR strategy" who supported her idea. That's enough for a facepalm right there.
ReplyDeleteThen there was the employee who claimed to support the idea... but is quitting anyway.
Amusingly, if you scroll all the way down to the end of the article, you'll see a link to another article called "If you don’t trust your employees to work remotely, you shouldn’t have hired them in the first place". Link below:
https://qz.com/891537/if-you-dont-trust-your-employees-to-work-remotely-you-shouldnt-have-hired-them-in-the-first-place/
Melissa Mayer did the same thing with yahoo... Yeah, that sure helped. /sarc
ReplyDeleteBTW, something I'm sure you just knew was on the horizon: Bill Introduced Allowing Cancellation Of Over $1 Trillion In Student Debt Through Bankruptcy.
If this becomes law, it's going to be 'the housing bubble' (complete with bailouts) all over again. But this is necessary, because then Trixie or Skye will have to start getting told ''No Honey, majoring in 'fashion' or 'puppetry' is not a good idea''.
The knock on effect is that the loans will be harder to get and stupid degrees will drop off as people can't afford to learn about lesbian studies.
DeleteDoctors used to declare bankruptcy after finishing their degree, work through as a low pay intern and the bankruptcy will have cleared by the time you're in good money.
They were ahead of their colleagues who didn't declare bankruptcy.
She'll help destroy IBM.
ReplyDeleteIn line with the first comment:
ReplyDeleteBased on my experiences, working from home is fine provided that everyone else is on the same page and will participate equivalently. Sure, at first face, doing real-time meetings while working from home, at the cafe, etc. seems like a god-send, but the technology allows people to hide and not answer emails or chats. I've seen this many times already.
So much for collaboration and facilitation.
Could these end telecommute policies actually be lay off by stealth policies?
ReplyDelete"Jobs that require collaboration, discussion and even being aware of what other people are doing don't.
ReplyDeleteI can't count the number of times per week I overhear something that I need to know, something I can help others or something someone else is doubled up on."
But in a large & complex company, especially one that has grown by acquisition, the people you need to collaborate with may well be in different cities, different states, different countries.
If the entire Gerbilator project team is located in one city, then everyone coming in to the office makes a certain amount of sense. But if you're a product manager for an initiative which involves 3 engineering teams in different places, a marketing group in a fourth place, and manufacturing in yet another, then there is no such thing as a single office where everyone can hang out.
Which is why these decisions need to be made at lower levels of management, not as corporate or division-wide edicts.
"If you don’t trust your employees to work remotely, you shouldn’t have hired them in the first place"
ReplyDeleteI have actually used that in hiring. I bring a candidate on as a contractor to do baseline work for 6mos or so, remote. If they have the gumption, deliver product on time, that's an individual who might be a good hire. They can work with minimal supervision.
And yeah I am one of those sucky Boomer managers Cappy is always complaining about. Funny thing is, my generation built the Internet (I worked at BBN for a time.), Cappy just uses it.
HAHAHAHAHA! That's what happens when you put a kunt in charge!
ReplyDelete