Show up in the office or else…

Marissa Meyer (Yahoo) has told telecommuters that they now have to work from an office.  That is a blanket order that demonstrate a significant lack of leadership.

Looking at this in black and white I'd say that under performers, out of alignment employees (call them what you want) should get a meeting with their manager and be told that it's office work or ship out. Maybe throw in a 1 month grace period if you feel kind.  Those that perform should be left alone.

A leader should not apply the same rule to everyone; be extra kind to good people and ruthless with underperformers.

What do you think? As always questions and comments are welcome.

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Comments

[Shim Marom]

Agree mate. Performance needs to be managed proactively not reactively. Those who perform needs to be left alone those who don’t need to be performance managed.

[Dave Gordon]

This isn't about performance; it's about culture. Apparently, the 60 hour work week is now considered to be a part-time schedule in Silicon Valley. Ms. Mayer is signaling that those who value their family more than their career should take their values elsewhere. Of course, the problems at Yahoo are not a consequence of the number of hours their people have been working, but the new CEO has decided that face-to-face interaction is the cure.

Welcome to the Perpetual Crunch. We realize it isn't sustainable, but fortunately, you can be replaced.

[Patrick Richard]

Gordon,

That is another interpretation. I also hear that is it about culture and that Ms. Meyer wants to revitalize innovation. You don’t have to be collocated for that; I have clients that I have worked with for years with but never met.

In my opinion it is about performance; some slack off some don’t. That also makes it a culture issue; some do get away with it. And, as I previously stated, it is a failure of leadership.

Somebody slack off on my shift, I get their head, and everyone knows why. Those that are capable or redeeming themselves do. Or else…