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Subject:RE: Do as I say, not as I do From:"McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> To:John Allred <john2 -at- allrednet -dot- com>, "Porrello, Leonard" <lporrello -at- illumina -dot- com> Date:Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:04:34 -0500
For another perspective:
Our company has a cycle for employee computers. Every X-many years, each employee`s computer should be replaced by something modern, though in some cases it made more sense to upgrade memory or add another hard disk, etc. But generally, that was the plan and generally (plus or minus a year or two), that`s what was happening.
A couple or three years ago, the replacements started being laptops.
I started experimenting with working via VPN the odd time or two.
It grew some...
Over the last few months, it was often four and five days a week, working from home.
Finally, the day came. Somebody (local HR manager) noticed, and I was called upon the carpet.
Our lease ended last fall, and we took a one-year extension, but with hiring, we`re pretty cramped.
HR manager asked how I would feel about losing my office cubicle and having just a shared landing spot on the days when I needed to drop in for whatever reason, and otherwise I`d generally work from home most of the time?
I said that I had some equipment in my cube that I connected to constantly, and needed to have hands-on access on a frequent basis.
Not to worry, she said, we can find some place where it can be safe, yet accessible.
OK, sez I. When you need to start bunking us, feel free to use my cube. I'll need somebody to water my plants...
At our new building - yet to be designated, but inevitable - that will be the general plan except for those few people who need to be in the office fairly constantly. A minority.
This will save the company serious bucks and give us a much smaller footprint while still allowing us to have more bodies.
Win-win.
And as observed, it'll save a helluva lot of commuting and pollution and petroleum consumption.
Win-win-win.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+kevin -dot- mclauchlan=safenet-inc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+kevin -dot- mclauchlan=safenet-inc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of John Allred
Sent: February-20-13 7:54 PM
To: Porrello, Leonard
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Do as I say, not as I do
What this highlights is the deep insecurity an alarmingly large number of people has in managing people and leveraging resources for the good of their organizations. You can't manage what you can't quantify. You can't quantify what you can't see.
John
On Feb 20, 2013, at 5:36 PM, "Porrello, Leonard" <lporrello -at- illumina -dot- com> wrote:
> If you can't work with your current company to allow you to telecommute, find another job that allows you to telecommute as soon as you can (if you can). When you resign, tell them that this is why. If enough people vote with their feet, employers will start to get it. Until that time, nothing much will change.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lporrello=illumina -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lporrello=illumina -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of William Sherman
> Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 3:22 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Do as I say, not as I do
>
> I love how companies have these "feel good" campaigns but they don't really mean it. Like the green thing.
>
> They want us to be green. Don't print so much, don't pollute so much, and so on. And they put neat slogans on their emails like this:
>
> Please do not print unless absolutely necessary. Spread environmental
> awareness
>
>
>
> But they won't allow you to telecommute, so really, they are forcing you to pollute much more simply by driving to their office than all the possible printing you might do.
>
>
> I figured it out one time for a company that had a website page / company group that was concerned with the environment. Letting people work from home even one day a week would have been ten times less pollution and wasting fuel than the program they were pushing of turning off lights, reducing printing, and so on.
>
> Working full time from home was something like 150 times less waste.
>
> Yet it is better for the company to make you waste fuel, time, create pollution, and so on than to let you work at home.
>
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