By now, we have all heard the news about Marissa Mayer’s (Yahoo! CEO since July 2012) decision to end the telecommute privileges for Yahoo!’s employees. Of course, some people think this is harsh and others think she is making the right move. My boss gave me feedback one time that I was too “black and white” about many issues. I actually accepted that feedback as a gift and learned to look at things from differing perspectives. While I am a fan of telecommuting, I don’t want to judge Marissa’s decision until I have walked a mile or two in her shoes. After all, she did inherit a company in dire need of a turnaround.
What I do know is that simply requiring workers to be onsite will not fix any problem in and of itself. Presence does not equal performance. How many of us have coworkers who have “butts in seat” for 40 hours or more per week and accomplish very little? We all have our stories. The real challenge is making sure people know what they are responsible for achieving, and then holding them accountable for results. Whether they are in the office or not – results are what matter!
A Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) is a management strategy that focuses on the results and not presence. Isn’t that what we are really after? ROWE employees are engaged because they have freedom to keep work and life in balance, and they know what is expected of them.
I first read about ROWE in Daniel Pink’s best selling book “Drive” and then went on to read Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson’s book “Work Sucks and How to Fix It“. Cali and Jody pioneered the ROWE movement and Best Buy was one of the poster child examples of how a ROWE can work. But after Yahoo!’s announcement, Best Buy followed suite with a similar announcement that they would end their work-from-home program.
It doesn’t make sense to try and the link the success or failure of a company to it’s work-at-home policy. It does make sense to review the company’s strategy, focus, branding, and execution. And just maybe you do need all hands on deck to accomplish this. Regardless, results should still be the measurement of an individual’s contribution to the turnaround, and that is what ROWE is really all about.
I actually commend the idea of shaking things up to let people know it is not business as usual. But I don’t think that it is fair to change the rules of engagement for employees who were truly committed to Yahoo!’s success, especially those who will have a hardship complying with the new rules. Blanket policies punish everyone and do not fix the underlying disease of poor strategy, execution, management, and individual accountability.
I agree we need to hold people accountable for results and work achieved, whether they work at home or not. And I value those times where I CAN work from home for whatever reason. But the risk here is those who can burn 40 hours and achieve very little at work, and most definately not going to be productive at home. Marissa did not just randomly decide to stop telecommuting. She was presented with a lot of data supporting network activity, how much employees were online, what their web activity was etc. She seems to be taking a bad rap for making a business decision based on information/data at hand. Yes, it’s unfortunate for those who were productive, but I think once the non-productive folks are weeded out, this policy has room to change again. Interesting enough, Best Buy wrote a book on ROWE and are still reconsidering their position….
Posted by Cherie | March 13, 2013, 10:15 AMCherie, I am surprised at just how much attention this is getting. I agree that there are some people who won’t be effective in any situation, and especially not at home. I had an employee who worked for me who was playing facebook games for hours a day, all while logged on the company’s network. What a lot of managers at any level don’t realize just how much stress they can cause employees based on some of their decisions. I can’t help but think that there are real rock star contributors to Yahoo! who landed their dream job based on the ability to live and work in remote areas of the country, and now have to upheave their lives because of a blanket policy. Once the policy is in place, she is still going to have the same challenge of making sure people have the right goals to achieve company objectives, and how they are being held accountable for results. Thanks for the comment!
Posted by Michael Weaver | March 13, 2013, 10:39 AMThoughtful blog entry, Mike. I too worked for a leader who shaped much of my style. He once reminded his leadership team that ‘this [organization] is not a democracy.’
Posted by Dan Fearer | March 13, 2013, 10:36 AMIt is absolutely Marissa’s boat to steer and you are right about the democracy. I am actually a fan of Marissa’s but I don’t think this move will contribute to her becoming an inspirational leader. I am still struggling to see a clear vision for Yahoo!, although you can read about some slight revenue performance improvements here: http://adage.com/article/digital/mayer-s-vision-yahoo-ad-automation/237913/ . Thanks for the comment, Dan!
Posted by Michael Weaver | March 13, 2013, 10:46 AM