[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Yahoo's CEO checked VPN logs before work-from-home ban here

[ML2376]

My guess? She's in over her head as a CEO and she's panicking. There will probably be a number of additional edicts like this one, none will do any good, and she'll be fired and given a huge severance package.

[corwinteach]

I still can't get over how messed up Yahoo's page is now that she redesigned it. What information did she look at before she did that?

[malcarada]

Someone should look at her VPN logs too.

[jihosong]

I'm curious as to what these logs were showing. One can do work without logging into VPN. You just can't access email. Sounds like the equivalent of having a time clock for employees to punch in and punch out. Not sure how that measures actual productivity. If they do their job well regardless of VPN activity, what's the big deal.

[Timk1j5]

It's up to each company to set its policies in regards to things like this. Evidently the employees that were using the ability to work from home were not employees she was afraid to lose.

If you were in that position, of course you probably wouldn't quit immediately even if you wanted to. You'd start coming into the office as requested in the short term - but also dust off that resume.

[brainout]

Timk1j5, on 16 April 2013 - 06:24 AM, said:

It's up to each company to set its policies in regards to things like this. Evidently the employees that were using the ability to work from home were not employees she was afraid to lose.

If you were in that position, of course you probably wouldn't quit immediately even if you wanted to. You'd start coming into the office as requested in the short term - but also dust off that resume.

I keep on thinking about this. To me, telecommuting is vital. That's how I've been operating for years. The measure of productivity is how much GOOD work you produce, not how often you log in or how much time you spend at the office. Even IRS knows that; it has a very good policy of having its employees check in once a week, in person, at the local office. Else, they are working out of the house or whatever. So we know that there are procedures and testing mechanisms in place to measure the WORK put out, not how many hours logged in or present at an office. And these procedures have been in place for years, viz salesmen who rarely come to the office.

If you're running a web-based company, I'd think that the ability to measure employee quality and output would be easier and would NEVER have to be measured in terms of physical presence. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that a company such as Yahoo builds web-based programs and runs webhosting, etc. I use Yahoo as my webhost since 2001 or so, and have always been happy with the service. One phone call or email and I get an immediate call back from someone who is usually operating from his home, and who knows how to answer my question in minutes. Very happy camper. It only costs me $7 per month, too. So again, I don't see why VPN logs or anything else would motivate a CEO to demand an in-presence rule.

The stated reason, was for joint collaboration. So maybe the personalities involved in the core business require face time, to work together better. That can happen. Or, maybe there was jealousy among those who couldn't work at home? Kinda doubt that. Some people prefer to work at the office.

Granted, working at home is regarded as a perk, but really it's more time-consuming, although also more productive. Anecdotal evidence: I've been working out of the house for 20+ years; frankly, seeing the work the minute I get up, means I rather forego showers and food, than forego work. (Embarrassing to admit, but truth is what it is.)

Yet some people work better in an environment where they see other people working, too. Gets their creative juices, flowing. I'm not one of them. The office politics that result, are too much of a distraction.

Finally, maybe the idea is to forge bonds between people, and then the policy will relax again. Who knows. But the facile treatment of Ms. Mayer's action in the press (whether pro or con), is disturbing. It's just one company's decision. She didn't make that decision alone. No company's CEO operates in a vacuum.

One swallow doesn't make a summer, either. Just because Yahoo is doing this, doesn't mean it's a trend. So why are the pundits so anal, especially Business Insider, which seems preoccupied with Ms. Mayer?

This post has been edited by brainout: 16 April 2013 - 07:42 AM

[estevancarlos]

It's hard to be mad at that face.

[sceneinthecity]

Quote

Timk1j5 said
It's up to each company to set its policies in regards to things like this. Evidently the employees that were using the ability to work from home were not employees she was afraid to lose. If you were in that position, of course you probably wouldn't quit immediately even if you wanted to. You'd start coming into the office as requested in the short term - but also dust off that resume. I keep on thinking about this. To me, telecommuting is vital. That's how I've been operating for years. The measure of productivity is how much GOOD work you produce, not how often you log in or how much time you spend at the office. Even IRS knows that; it has a very good policy of having its employees check in once a week, in person, at the local office. Else, they are working out of the house or whatever. So we know that there are procedures and testing mechanisms in place to measure the WORK put out, not how many hours logged in or present at an office. And these procedures have been in place for years, viz salesmen who rarely come to the office. If you're running a web-based company, I'd think that the ability to measure employee quality and output would be easier and would NEVER have to be measured in terms of physical presence. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that a company such as Yahoo builds web-based programs and runs webhosting, etc. I use Yahoo as my webhost since 2001 or so, and have always been happy with the service. One phone call or email and I get an immediate call back from someone who is usually operating from his home, and who knows how to answer my question in minutes. Very happy camper. It only costs me $7 per month, too. So again, I don't see why VPN logs or anything else would motivate a CEO to demand an in-presence rule. The stated reason, was for joint collaboration. So maybe the personalities involved in the core business require face time, to work together better. That can happen. Or, maybe there was jealousy among those who couldn't work at home? Kinda doubt that. Some people prefer to work at the office. Granted, working at home is regarded as a perk, but really it's more time-consuming, although also more productive. Anecdotal evidence: I've been working out of the house for 20+ years; frankly, seeing the work the minute I get up, means I rather forego showers and food, than forego work. (Embarrassing to admit, but truth is what it is.) Yet some people work better in an environment where they see other people working, too. Gets their creative juices, flowing. I'm not one of them. The office politics that result, are too much of a distraction. Finally, maybe the idea is to forge bonds between people, and then the policy will relax again. Who knows. But the facile treatment of Ms. Mayer's action in the press (whether pro or con), is disturbing. It's just one company's decision. She didn't make that decision alone. No company's CEO operates in a vacuum. One swallow doesn't make a summer, either. Just because Yahoo is doing this, doesn't mean it's a trend. So why are the pundits so anal, especially Business Insider , which seems preoccupied with Ms. Mayer?

It seems like you're really productive with all the time you're spending thinking about and commenting about this. Everyone needs to grow up, the people that are griping about this are the ones that do literally nothing and now they're annoyed they need to do something. If Yahoo employees don't like the new requirements then they can go get a job where they can telecommute, since these are all of the massively productive 'all stars' it shouldn't be a problem finding a new gig quick.

[btadlock1]

That sounds like a legitimate reason to take away the privilege, if the slacking was widespread enough. Why did she wait so long (and catch so much crap), before mentioning that?

[tygerzwoof]

This article states that because she even knows what a VPN is marks her as unique. That's silly! Somebody told her what VPNs are and she used that information...funny how we assume things.

I've worked from home for 5 years now, been given most valuable employee just this past year and I've always delivered my projects on time with 100%. I agree, some people can't work from home and do the job...but if you put me into an office my productivity drops exponentially.

[Derfman]

Quote

This article states that because she even knows what a VPN is marks her as unique. That's silly! Somebody told her what VPNs are and she used that information...funny how we assume things. I've worked from home for 5 years now, been given most valuable employee just this past year and I've always delivered my projects on time with 100%. I agree, some people can't work from home and do the job...but if you put me into an office my productivity drops exponentially.

Wow, I don't know if your statement is sexist or classist. Marrisa Mayer has a Masters degree from Stanford University in get this, Computer Science. And to top it off she specialized in Artificial Intellegence. That makes her an engineer. The first female engineer hired at Google no less. I am pretty sure she did not need someone to show her what a VPN is. Let alone how to interpret the logs.

[PaulTurner]

company can buy an employee's time, it cannot buy loyalty, it has to earn that. Only very few companies have loyalty. Yahoo has decided to depense with that it seems

[HeyNonnyNonny]

jihosong said:

I'm curious as to what these logs were showing. One can do work without logging into VPN. You just can't access email. Sounds like the equivalent of having a time clock for employees to punch in and punch out. Not sure how that measures actual productivity. If they do their job well regardless of VPN activity, what's the big deal.

My guess is that she got a bug in her ear about what VPN is, and that she could see logins with it. I think she never realized that people don't login to work the whole time they are working - most of what they need to do likely doesn't involve having access to their work computers/system. Like most people, they probably just used it when there was something they needed, and then logged out. She's taking the logged in time to mean "time worked".

This is not the action of someone who "knows how to use VPN".

[breiter]

I think it is a sad commentary on the American work ethic that people are universally panning this woman for asking her employees to show up for work. If productivity was high, there would be no need to change the status quo, but obviously it is an issue. Laziness in this country has reached an all time high when people feel that being told to show up for wotk is too much to ask. It is up to the company to dictate what the job they are offering entails. If they say you need to work on site, you need to work on site. They are the ones paying you, so you pretty much have to do what they say, provided it isn't illegal or immoral. I don't think going to the office qualifies as either. If you don't like it, quit and let them hire someone who is actually willing to do the job.

[breiter]

HeyNonnyNonny said:

jihosong said
I'm curious as to what these logs were showing. One can do work without logging into VPN. You just can't access email. Sounds like the equivalent of having a time clock for employees to punch in and punch out. Not sure how that measures actual productivity. If they do their job well regardless of VPN activity, what's the big deal. My guess is that she got a bug in her ear about what VPN is, and that she could see logins with it. I think she never realized that people don't login to work the whole time they are working - most of what they need to do likely doesn't involve having access to their work computers/system. Like most people, they probably just used it when there was something they needed, and then logged out. She's taking the logged in time to mean "time worked". This is not the action of someone who "knows how to use VPN".

It varies from job to job depending on the company you work for and what your responsabilties are. I need to access specific programs and data that are on the servers at my job, so I can't really accomplish anything if I'm not on the VPN. I am sure she is aware of what the employees are asked to do and what they need to do it. It also never says in the articel that she considers hours logged into the vpn=hours worked. She could be basing this on the fact that someone is "working from home" and hasn't logged into the vpn in days.