Allow me to begin with a disclaimer – The word ‘Yahoo’ will be used tirelessly throughout this article, therefore to maintain the morbid tone with which I speak, I shall not be including the unnecessary exclamation point often found at the end of the word.
Yahoo’s CEO is one successful lady, and you don’t become successful without making a few bold moves. However, Marissa Mayer’s most recent bold move to ban Yahoo employees from working from home has sparked an industry wide debate which has top CEOs, analysts and journalists all over the world talking about her.
The key issue with her decision to ban Yahoo workers from telecommuting, says Jonathan Budden, Microsoft’s HR business partner for the Gulf, is the affect it will have on employee morale. He tells me that telling productive, mostly home-based, employees that they can no longer work from home shows a complete lack of trust.
“If it were me I’d begin questioning my value. It’s a total devaluation. Employees may start questioning whether they want to work for a company like that,” he says.
Moreover, Budden feels like this is a step backwards for a technology company trying to rebrand and rebuild itself.
“It’s a complete contradiction to where the company is going. This is a technology company, in a time of mobility, web communication and longer working hours. People are far more productive when they’ve got the option of balancing their work life around their social life.”
And although Mayer may believe that this is the right way to bring the team ethic back to the company and create a stronger, more personal work force, Budden thinks that the move itself will be the main talking point for the foreseeable future.
“People will begin talking more, obviously, but they won’t be saying they’ve got some great ideas, they’ll be saying they’re annoyed at being in the office all day.”
Hold the front page
But I think there’s more to the Mayer decision than meets the eye. This isn’t a kneejerk reaction from an inexperienced boss, remember, this is a strategic shift in company policy led by a CEO who was hauled in to resurrect a flailing Yahoo. Mayer will know exactly which employees are and are not delivering what she believes they should be.
If the next logical step in a journey even Frodo would puff his cheeks out to is bringing the employees of that company into work then why is that even being questioned?
I’m a reporter, I work in and out of an office on a daily basis. If I’m not attending events or conducting interviews then I can be found at my desk, as expected. However, it’s understandable that those with children and families which rely on company flexibility will be ruffled by this change. But this isn’t an off-the-cuff decision made to impose leadership – it’s a measurement of the state of a company which has turned to Mayer in a time of crisis. And it may well be (Mayer will know more than I do (and for the sake of my opinion I hope she does)) that these ‘work@home’ employees are part of the problem.
Personally, I believe that a number of Yahoo employees can thank their lucky stars, and perhaps Mayer whilst they’re at it. As a student, I was told to recognise a bad investment and cut my losses. But what Mayer has done is avoid mass execution and recalled her team for, perhaps, one final huddle – one that some of them may not deserve.
Budden believes that this kind of decision will fail to engage employees, “And if you’re not engaged, you’re not productive,” he says. And maybe this will show itself to be the case, but in the meantime it’s only right, not to mention fair, that the witch hunt subsides and Mayer, the CEO, is allowed to lead her company the way she sees fit.
As Oscar Wilde said, “The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about.” With a subtle grin, I bet Mayer has recited this quote over and over.
