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Re: Telecommuting ( was: Do as I say, not as I do )
Subject:Re: Telecommuting ( was: Do as I say, not as I do ) From:Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"Janoff, Steven" <Steven -dot- Janoff -at- ga -dot- com>, TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, Anne Robotti <arobotti -at- gmail -dot- com> Date:Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:46:23 -0800 (PST)
Yeah. The business reason is to save payroll. And/or to scare everybody remaining into being glad they're not looking for work in this market so they'll be more responsive. Whether that's good or not is irrelevant to me. Maybe that's what Yahoo! needs. Don't know, don't care. I'm just discussing the possibility.
I'll believe it's *as hard* to be a CEO as a tech writer when I see a CEO who knows that he has to be in his office every day no later than 7:59AM or he'll be fired, who gets told by a superior that he has to finish a certain job by close of business Tuesday or he'll be fired, who has to put in 75 hours a week or he'll be fired, who knows if he turns out a paper that has a few wrong words on it he'll be fired, and who lives from paycheck to paycheck and sometimes has to choose between paying for dental work or paying the rent.
I will never believe that being a CEO is *harder.* I've seen hard. Sitting in meetings, doing interviews with WSJ reporters, and deciding what kind of bumf to give the newspapers about why the VP quit does not qualify.
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From: "Janoff, Steven" <Steven -dot- Janoff -at- ga -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>; Anne Robotti <arobotti -at- gmail -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 11:56 AM
Subject: RE: Telecommuting ( was: Do as I say, not as I do )
There seems to be this blanket suggestion on the list that the primary business reason for instituting the no-more-telecommuting policy was to impose a silent layoff of sorts.
In today's world companies don't have to be underhanded about this. There are plenty of open, publicly known RIFs. Especially among publicly traded companies.
She doesn't have to impose this policy just to cut staff. There's got to be a business reason behind it other than an HR one.
Probably it's to mobilize the team and get people working together to move the company forward. It sounds very difficult to turn a company around. Other CEOs have tried and failed.
For me it's a question of, let's see how she does. Results tell you everything you need to know. If the company turns around, well then, it was a good thing to do (likely). If not, well then, the company had problems that could not be surmounted by bringing people together.
But just to lambast Yahoo for shutting down telecommuting doesn't make sense to me. Again, let's see what happens. We're all adults, this is life. You adapt. The people affected will have to adjust. We all do. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows, as Rocky said.
If it does work, you can bet other companies will be doing it too. So just hang on to your hat. You might need it. :)
And if you don't like it, you can always start your own company. I can tell you that being a CEO is a lot tougher than being a tech writer, not from personal experience but from the experiences of friends who have been in this role.
Steve
PS - I'm not picking on you, Anne, it's just that you were the most recent one who suggested this, although you do point out at the beginning that there are good reasons for bringing people together on one site.
-----Original Message-----
From: On Behalf Of Anne Robotti
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 4:53 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Telecommuting ( was: Do as I say, not as I do )
The thing is, there's no sense denying that there's a synergy when employees are together in one room that isn't present when they're dialed in - unless everyone is dialed in. But in every company I've been at, if there's a meeting where there's a group in the room and individuals dialed in from remote locations, the only people you really hear from are those in the room.
Unless one of the individuals is very senior to those in the room, in which case the room is a morgue.
I think what people on the thread are talking about is the fact that synergy and innovation are probably not the reasons for the sweeping changes at Yahoo, and it's disingenuous to pretend to believe their HR press release. But HR can't really put out a press release that says, "Hey, we're trying to get people to leave in droves - could those of you who we don't pry out of your seats with this move please send a list of other perks that we can start cutting? That would make this so much easier."
Anne
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