Managing People With Home Program In Yahoo
A frame, such as Bolman and Deal define it, is a lens through which a leader in an organization interprets and understands every day’s behavioral challenges. It provides him/her with the capacity to understand, conceptualize, control and solve problems. When analyzing the situation at Yahoo!, we used the frame approach to understand the motivations behind each of the two parties in conflict and in this way be able to provide a recommendation whether to continue or not with the policy. What we came to understand about the two parties is that Yahoo! feels that the work-from-home policy compromises its ability to create a strong organizational structure because of inability to establish bonds and power relationships at a physical space, detracts from pursuing short-term goals in an aggressive manner due to disengagement from company culture and events and reduces productivity of employees since there is insufficient accountability and management.
Employees, on the other hand, feel they are becoming increasingly controlled and their contributions to the business are not valued, their motivation is reduced because of the perception of management not abiding by what they promised at the moment of hiring and job satisfaction is reduced because of reduced work/life balance caused by increase in commute, poor working conditions at the office and potential conflicts with coworkers. Having this results in mind, we were able to recommend Yahoo! a course of action that provides Yahoo! and the employees solutions that meet both parties’ criteria: provides Yahoo! with the amount of control and engagement they want from their employees while at the same time allowing the workers to maintain work/life balance, the benefits promised by management and increased responsibility and involvement in the company´s results.
This set of solutions include but are not limited to the use of virtual tools and technologies to improve management, accountability, task allocation and time-tracking; making intensive use of centralized, collaborative environments, as well as video-conferencing, instant messaging and virtual marketplace of ideas to move forward work-related discussions. Other solutions include improving job’s description in order to make them more attractive by redrafting responsibilities, goals and deliverables. This includes establishing clear chain of command, responsibilities, goals and results expected and attainable time frames. We will first understand the problem Yahoo! is facing and provide recommendations for solving the issues using the structural frame. We will then attempt to understand the problem employees are facing under the HR frame lens, and provide recommendations to solve their concerns. Finally, we will find a common ground of understanding in order to find a solution for both parties.
Yahoo! has recently experienced important changes that aim to turn around the operational and financial problems it faced. In this respect, the company has implemented a series of initiatives aimed to make the company more efficient. New management has been brought on-board to be able to meet a series of challenging goals and objectives. For these goals to be accomplished the entire organization needs to organize itself accordingly. Under this context, the structural frame is the best way to look at the problems the company is facing. This frame looks at a company as a well-oiled machine, organized in a way where interactions are controlled by a rational and structured chain of command, all responsibilities and functions are clearly defined and the focus is put on efficiency and productivity. For Yahoo!, having employees working from home generates various problems. Some of them are explicit in the memo sent to workers by management. Some others can be inferred from what management wants Yahoo! to become. In a nutshell, Yahoo! management believes it faces an inability to create a strong organizational structure because bonds and power relationships at a physical space are not being created, short-term goals are not being pursued in an aggressive manner due to employees’ disengagement from company culture and a reduced employee productivity related to insufficient accountability and management.
In more detail, the problems the company is facing are:
- Reduced “communication and collaboration”: the company understands that on-site, face-to-face interaction has no substitute in a work from home environment.
- Not enough involvement in company culture and disengagement of rapid changes: employees working from home do not feel as part of the company as on-site employees.
- Detriment of “speed and quality” in daily tasks: reduced productivity brought by the impossibility of controlling the daily work of employees.
Solutions to these problems include the implementation of a “culture boot-camp”, where employees attend seminars and lectures about the culture and the company management would like to create. Also, regular and mandatory in-company meetings that create a sense of community and constant video-conferencing with management and colleagues where changes and results are communicated. Finally, new job descriptions and a more structured internal organization could be drafted, where functions and responsibilities, chain of command, communication strategies and goals and objectives are clearly defined. These changes could take time, and be cash consuming. Withdrawing the telework policy could be a fast, easy solution to many of these problems, but they come at the expense of employee’s motivation and satisfaction. Employees in the tech industry are usually very well taken care of. Companies in this industry go above and beyond to try and attract the best talent, compensate them accordingly, provide goals and responsibilities that motivate workers, create beautiful and livable “campuses” (headquarters and offices) and generate different career tracks for employees to follow looking for professional and personal growth.
Overall, companies want their employees to feel they have a good work/life balance so their productivity and motivation peaks, thus producing great results. For this reason, it is important to approach the employees’ sentiment using the HR frame, which centers itself on people, caring for employees as people before parts of a big and relentless machine. To look after their personal and professional needs, as well as their skills and concerns is paramount for this lens. An essential part of the previously mentioned HR frame/strategy is the work from home program, present in many organizations. At Yahoo! this program is in danger and employees feel that their work conditions will be deteriorated. Yahoo! employees believe that the elimination of the work from home program increases the control management exerts over them and can interpret this as if their contributions are not valued: if my work has to be controlled and revised, it means there must be something I’m doing wrong.
In addition, employees could face the realization of dealing with a dishonest leadership, that can withdraw previously acquired benefits without consultation and disregarding the effects on employees. This can be a major source of job dissatisfaction and reduce motivation. Finally, employees also face the fact that their work/life balance could be disrupted by commute, deteriorated work environment (i. e. compared to one’s own house) and thus job satisfaction can decrease.
Management could address these problems in a series of ways, while looking to care for employees’ needs. In order to reduce the perception of control felt by employees when mandated to go back to a physical office space, the same tools suggested in the previous section can be implemented: centralized task distribution, messaging and management environment. Video conferencing, instant messaging and virtual forums and ideas exchange that provides management the sufficient amount of control and visibility while allowing enough freedom to pursue more strategic projects. An improved communication between management and employees can also reduce perception of dishonesty, as well as increase a sense of belonging and community. Additionally, to reduce the effects over work/life balance, initiatives such as monthly or regularly spaced in-office meetings can be implemented.
Reduced motivation
Reduced job satisfaction establishing clear goals and challenging the individual to be always better while providing them with adequate tools and skills for the job. A set of insights into the motivators of each of the parties at play arise from this analysis. Even though the problem for Yahoo! and employees is the same, elimination of work from home program, the effects can be different to those the company had in mind. It is understood that while Yahoo! looks for ways to improve the operational and financial results of the company, the employees want to continue feeling valued and motivated to do their jobs. Under the traditional theory, these two objectives are exclusive of each other.
We would like to propose two solutions that we believe will meet the interests of both parties and will help maintain the program. The first solution aims to provide management with the amount of control they crave, while giving employees a sense of empowerment that aligns with motivation and satisfaction at the workplace. The solution is the implementation of a centralized, collaborative environment where management, accountability and control can be attained. The second solution aims to resolve management’s concerns regarding lack of communication and diminished sense of community while at the same time providing employees with adequate work/life balance. It includes the implementation of a set of mandatory activities on-site that will provide employees with the necessary time to bond with colleagues, learn about the culture management is trying to implement and be informed directly and in-person about their work, their team’s and their own performance.
