Yahoo homeworkers: an endangered species?

March 1, 2013 at 11:05 am | Posted in collaboration, digital workplace, engagement, social media, value | 3 Comments
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I have read with interest the comments made upon the Yahoo! message about homeworking by HR head Jackie Reses.  It is the 2nd paragraph that intrigues me most:

“To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together.”

This tends to fly in the face of the overwhelming evidence I have found from clients I have worked with, expert views I have read, and my own first-hand experience when I was homeworking at BT.

My recent post ‘Great examples of Digital Workplace productivity savings‘ showed clear benefits gained by individuals, other employees, and their organisations from homeworking.  In the comments there is more detail.

It reminds of the story about King Canute,  seated on his throne with the waves lapping around his feet. “Go back, sea!” he commanded time and again, but the tide continued as expected.

I wonder if in 2014 the policy will still be the same and homeworking will be a thing of the past at Yahoo!?

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  1. Yahoo homeworkers: an endangered species? | Mark Morrell Intranet Pioneer…

    This article has been submitted to Intranet Lounge – Trackback from Intranet Lounge…

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  2. [...] I was working in Yahoo! or Google I would want to consider how this evidence stacks up with their policies on [...]

    Pingback by Reduced staff turnover savings in a digital workplace | Mark Morrell Intranet Pioneer— March 20, 2013 #

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  3. [...] there are some surprising examples of organisations like Yahoo! and Google reacting negatively (in my view) to this trend, many are starting to test the waters by putting a [...]

    Pingback by Letting the mobile genie out of the bottle | Mark Morrell Intranet Pioneer— May 7, 2013 #

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