Is Yahoo’s Ban on Telecommuting a Betrayal of Trust?

May 10, 2013

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By Elayne Savage, PhD

Something has been bugging me ever since I heard about Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's plans to end telecommuting effective June.

Much has been written in the media about pros and cons of this new ban. And there is lots of available research on the issue. However, I want to focus on some points that have not much been addressed.

Those of you familiar with my writing and workshops know I see things through the lens of rejection, disappointment and taking things personally. So it's not surprising I see some distortion and lopsidedness to Mayer's reasoning. Nor is it surprising that my first response was: "Loyal staffers might see this policy switch as a betrayal!"

Mayer's new rule trounces on sensitive emotional territory: unfairness, disappointment, betrayal, distrust, and perhaps a presumption of laziness.

I have to say these happen to be my most sacred hot-button issues, guaranteed to get a gut response. Have you, too, had experiences with feelings like these?

Apparently this new ban will affect even the one or two days per week work-from-home arrangements. Even part-time work at home arrangements are not for everyone. And if it's not working out it will show up in that person's production figures.

"More Productive, Efficient and Fun"
The memo extols increasing productivity through face-to-face communication and collaboration:

"Yahoos,
Over the past few months, we have introduced a number of great benefits and tools to make us more productive, efficient and fun. . . . 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. . . .Yahoo isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only possible in our offices."

Idealistically this seems partially true. I agree that in-person meetings can generate exciting energy and creativity. However, in my consulting work with business clients I also hear story after story about the development of major people problems when interactions go awry.

More Unproductive, Stressed-out and Resentful?
What if those "exciting" face-to-face "impromptu team meetings" generate toxic energy? What if a participant has an 'attitude' that gets on your nerves, or displays one-upmanship, or takes credit for your ideas, or turns complaints into character assassinations? What if you feel offended, slighted and take this behavior personally?

Communication failures and people problems are the reason I'm called in to consult and train because taking things personally leads to decreased motivation, morale and productivity.

Dwelling on Perceived Slights
For example, when someone says something you perceive as offensive, it's easy to fill in the blanks with what you imagine they might mean. Back at your desk you may find yourself unable to concentrate because you're ruminating about your imaginings the rest of the day . . . or week.

Implementing Mayer's ideas of on-the-job interactions may decrease productivity rather than increasing it – especially if resentment begins to build.

Decreasing Flexibility and Increasing Stress
Mayer's directive involves more than the additional stresses of rearranging complicated juggling of home and office schedules. For many it involves tacking on an hour or two to the workday with the addition of exhausting commutes and searching for parking. These problems are the more obvious fallout. There's more.

There may be complicated emotional reactions too. Her dictum provides larger-than-life examples of loaded issues for many of us: unfairness, disappointment, betrayal, distrust, and the presumption of laziness.

How many Yahoo employees were tempted to take the job because of the possibility of a partial work-from-home arrangement? How many might now feel the rug is being pulled out from under them?

Are any of these feelings as loaded for you as they are for me? Am I the only one who cringes if someone insinuates I'm "lazy" – a word flung at me since early childhood.

Most of us have some of these experiences in our past. Each new one stockpiles, triggering reactions when something similar happens in the present.

The resulting emotional stress can be debilitating.

Why do work arrangements have to be all or nothing? What about limiting the number of days per week for working from home. What about making sure there is easy access to teleconferencing? What about adding a requirement for in-person attendance at important meetings?

I know how problematic and insidious workplace stress can be. I hear all kinds of stories from my clients, I've contributed to hundreds of articles about overcoming stress and I've worked with businesses to control poor morale and absenteeism by controlling stress and anxiety.

I'm at a loss to understand why Yahoo has made a decision that could make things more stressful for many employees. Why add to the problems of an already problem-ridden company?

I'd very much like to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Until next time,

Elayne Savage is the author of ground-breaking relationship books published in 9 languages.

You can order books and CDs directly from my website:
http://www.QueenofRejection.com/publications.htm

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Categories: Anxiety, betrayal, Disappointment, Disappointments, lazy, Marissa Mayer, morale, Rejection, Rejection, resentment, Resentment, Stress, telecommuting ban, Trust, work from home, Workplace, workplace stress, Yahoo

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Comments

4 responses to “Is Yahoo’s Ban on Telecommuting a Betrayal of Trust?”

A reader

May 24, 2013

What an interesting perspective — that our early experiences with disappointment and betrayal might affect our reactions to this kind of situation.

Reply
Gail Glassberg

May 24, 2013

Interesting view of Yahoo’s decision. Unfortunately management makes the rulesI guess it’s Yahoo’s choice whether or not to demand that its staff be present at headquarters. t’s always disappointing when a promise is made and then revoked; but, I would guess that most of the affected employees are still grateful to have a job with Yahoo and can make this new requirement work for them. Flexibility is key, don’t you think?
I’m not sure I see that as a betrayal of trust. I see it more as a way for the bright people it’s hired to be together to brainstorm new and innovative ideas…a thinktank concept. No doubt it will inconvenience many who do some of their most creative work in their pajamas at their home desks but I think that if one has been lucky enough to be hired by Yahoo, one must do what the company asks of him/her.

Reply
Suzanne Forbes-Vierling

May 24, 2013

Hi Elayne, I read your article. Very nicely written and well argued on the side of the employee!
I’ve read several articles on the CEO’s decision and I find it fascinating because I do feel that Gender is a significant cultural variable – should it have been a male that made this decision I feel that he would have the heat but not the fire that Mayer’s has encountered. That said, I just had to say that because I do disagree with the backlash received by the CEO. I do support her bringing everyone back to the physical work space.
What she is not saying – in part because she doesn’t want to throw her employees under the bus and also in part because she doesn’t want to “out” the true concerns of who she really answers to – the Board and Shareholders – thus showing the weaknesses of the company – is that her employees are comfy and no longer innovative. Yahoo is number 4 behind Google, Bing and Baidu (a super big, hot Chinese search engine). Yahoo used to be number 1.
She has been in place for a while now and more than likely does not have a handle of what everyone is doing! She has more than likely asked for updates on all the multimillion dollar projects in place to try and get Yahoo back to number 1 and alas – no one is collectively responding to her emails and requests for online meetings enough for her to get a handle. In my opinion, due to her Gender, people are not responding to her as quickly as they would a tough Male CEO. The female employees are thinking “oh she’s a woman – she understands that I’m on a playdate with my friends and their babies. bonding is important and she understands. I’ll email her a summary of my work tomorrow.” The men are thinking “i’ll get to her. I’ll just send her a email summary of my progress to date – she understands.”
The board is saying “get us a status report ASAP or your done.” Something to that effect. She is saying wow – look at this line item called “salaries” – She sees the exorbitant salaries but not the results in terms of productivity and innovation.
Be reminded that Yahoo employees are in a class of the most privileged employees on the planet. These are not struggling employees – say the housekeeping unit of a hotel chain or part time workers who are never given the 40 hours so that a company can avoid paying basic medical benefits. These are not the employees who are women struggling without basic needs in order to cover childcare so that they can work. This is Yahoo. They have exquisite salaries and benefits. Driving in is not going to kill them.
They can always prove their worth by coming up with powerful, innovative ideas in order to bring people back over to using Yahoo – at the end of the day, if no one uses your search engine or your website, you hold no relevance in the marketplace.
I’m sure she will allow the flexibility once she is confident that her staff is innovative and sharp and most of all responsive.
Just my thoughts – let me know yours in response to this. Thank you for sharing your article.
Suzanne

Reply
Long-time Reader

May 24, 2013

Thanks for this article. I’ve been called lazy, and I resent it. I’ve also been called indifferent, uncaring and not trying hard enough.
Apparently if you are shy, quiet and unassuming these are labels that can get attached to you by people who think that one should be constantly hyper and demonstrative.

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