Meg Whitman (as CEO): No more working at home for Hewlett-Packard employees

[tofuandbeer]

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/no-more-working-home-hewlett-packard-employees#!

Such a forward thinker.
And to think she wanted to be governor of California. Boy did she want to be governor.
In fact, she's probably taking her frustrations out on the Hewlett-Packard employees.

I'm sooooo happy she's not our governor. You don't know, how happy I am!

[BlueStreak]

1. It isn't like Team HP has been tearing it up

Some jobs and some personalities lend themselves to working in disconnected fashion. But a lot of people abuse this and it is fundamentally harder to maintain team energy and focus when people are not together.

I have managed highly skilled teams where I had people reporting to me on every continent except for Africa and Antarctica. But I had my pick of the most senior people in the enterprise, and I had a big budget to pull the team together 4 or 5 times a year for a week at a time. It can work, but as a general solution, I'd say that is not a good idea for most companies and most positions.

Whitman has never impressed me. She seems like your typical overpaid empty suit. But I'd have to agree with her on this one.

They referred to Yahoo. I think that's a very good example of a company that became lethargic. I can't say that telecommuting was the only cause of Yahoo's hubris, but it certainly can be a contributing factor. To win in the high-tech industry, you have to be really geared up, and I just do [edit] not associate that with the work-at-home lifestyle. Yahoo seems to be in a turn-around now. Again, I'm not saying that terminating the telecommuting is the one and only thing that is causing the turnaround, but it does send a very clear signal that employees need to step it up a notch or two if that company is to survive.

[tofuandbeer]

3. Thanks for the insight BlueStreak.

An ex-coworker of mine was just laid-off. I asked why, and he said the company was laying off all workers who were working remotely.
This was just 2 days ago.
I guess it's becoming the new trend.

[BlueStreak]

4. That seems like a strange management edict

Last edited Sat Oct 12, 2013, 01:02 AM - Edit history (1)

Perhaps that was a business that structured the work-at-home positions so they were intentionally expendable. For example, I've run call centers where I had a central pool of "permanent" workers that were the best trained and most accountable. And then I also had people working from their homes to take overflow calls on a piecemeal basis. If the arrangement was something like that, then there would be some logic in shutting off the remote workers, especially if it is felt they don't have the same quality, productivity, or commitment to results.

But I suspect you are right. It is just becoming the new trend. Lots of managers just imitate what they others doing.

[tofuandbeer]

5. We had a splintered conversation via FB,

so you could be right. He was wrong about his insurance as well, so I'm beginning to think that he may just be spouting steam.
Take care!

[kwolf68]

6. Telecommuting can be great

To even imply Yahoo had trouble because of remote workers shows a bias because there is no evidence this was the cause (even partly) of yahoo's problems.

"Face time" is such an over-rated business school concept. Sure, there are positions that absolutely must be 'in office', but tons of other's lend themselves to remote working, which reduces traffic congestion, helps the environment and produces happier employees.

I work from home and work with other people who are virtual and they are great workers and we get plenty done and create for our company. A good friend of mine wanted me to come to work for him and I told him I wouldn't leave for anything less than 25,000 a year more than what I was making (simply because my company allows me to work remotely). He was stunned I said this, but eating dinner with my family, coaching my kids hockey team, being at all concerts and functions is priceless and I won't go without it if at all possible. So companies that offer virtual work (even on a limited basis) actually can lure the best talent to their firm. The archaic cube days are maybe not numbered, but they are due for a terrific modification.

My company gets me for below market value because they offer that perk of working from home. Not only am I NEVER late to work because of traffic, but I also work odd hours, even extra hours. By being a virtual employee I am ALWAYS plugged into work. I answer blackberry and email messages during my son's hockey games, etc. My boss gets more efficient work and more responsive feedback. Virtual work -for many positions- is a huge win for an open minded business that wants to thrive. We have the technology now where all parts of the globe can be linked in a second. It's senseless not to proceed in that direction. Employees that don't produce at home will be treated as employees who don't produce at the office. Simple as that. My company is highly successful, innovative and profitable and accepts telecommuters, it hasn't destroyed us yet.

Some managers have a built in bias against virtual workers (I guess a manger isn't a manager unless they can act like Bill Lumberg in Office Space) and no study exists that produces results that 'in office workers' are more productive.

[BlueStreak]

8. Offshoring can be great too

It depends on how you look at it.

Certainly I have never had any reluctance to using home-based people for projects that were easily measurable. For example, if I need business graphics, it doesn't matter to me if the artist does that work in the bathroom or in an elaborate studio. But that's because I know what I am getting and what I am paying for.

For everyday work, it takes a certain personality for people to produce as effectively on their own as they would in an office setting. And if you don't have just the right situation, the manager has to spend a great deal more time and energy keeping the results coming. When one is removed from the office environment, there often is a big dropoff in intensity. And in any work that has a creative element, the availability of nearby teammates to act as a sounding board is invaluable.

Regarding Yahoo, I suppose there are some routine tasks that could effectively be done at home, but I would expect most of those to be automated anyway.

This is not a new debate. I recall exactly this debate happening vigorously in my second real office job around 1978. I can think of 15 or 20 times over the years where I have been closely involved with work-at-home attempts, including my own working at home for a period. I'd say about 30% of these times were highly successful, 30% they were so-so and eventually discontinued, and 40% they were a big mistake.

One situation I have found highly successful is when there is a temporary disruption in a key employee's life (a health issue or something) where coming into the office daily would be a real hardship. In about 90% of these cases. the employee has been very committed to making this work -- and actually went above and beyond, in appreciation for the company's flexibility during their time of need.

Having said that, there are plenty of occupations where employees are naturally "out in the field" anyway -- such as reporters, service people, trades, sales, etc. Forcing these people to report in to an office every day is not necessarily helpful.

[Massacure]

9. I'm going to disagree with you on face time being over-rated.

I've worked in IT for about three years now since graduating school, and yes I can crank out a lot more code if I shut down e-mail and instant messaging on my laptop. Sometimes if I have to go "balls to the wall" to meet a deadline I'll even go hunt down an empty cube or head home to work just so people cannot to a drive by on me while I'm at my desk. That being said, instant messaging, e-mail, and phone calls are no substitute for face to face interaction when I have design questions for folks in the business or technical questions for the more senior developers. There is no official policy on telecommuting and it is left to the discretion of the managers; however, the workplace culture is such that we spend more time working in the office than out of it, and that is the way I like it.

[moriah]

2. They're going to have increased costs.

The reason for the telecommute program with HP for night shift American on-call was that it was cheaper to pay for a land line, a computer, and a shared office space for several people when they did have to come into the office than to keep lights and AC at levels for staffing all night.

In call centers where there are a lot of people, that works, but several of the night shift technical people only had 2 people working in their group overnight, and they might be in different states.

Unless they've decided to fire all those people and make US Mission Critical customers deal with India overnight....

[davidpdx]

7. HP's choices of CEOs have been pretty crappy

First Fironia then Meg Witless.

[DireStrike]

10. Why is this company so long in the dying? Is ink monopoly really that profitable?

Who keeps buying their trash?