Yahoo Orders Home Workers Into the Office

 

Yahoo Orders Home Workers Into the Office

CLAIRE CAIN MILLER and CATHERINE RAMPELL February 27, 2013

雅虎叫停在家辦公為創新？

CLAIRE CAIN MILLER,  CATHERINE RAMPELL 聯合報道 2013年02月27日

Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press

公司人力資源部的一份備忘錄說，員工間面對面的交流有助於培養合作的文化。

自從擔任雅虎(Yahoo)首席執行官之後，瑪麗莎·梅耶爾(Marissa Mayer)就一直努力使這家互聯網先鋒公司起死回生，再次成為一個創新者。
她首先學習前任僱主公司谷歌(Google)，給每一位員工提供免費食物以及新智能手機，畢竟去年以前梅耶爾一直在谷歌工作。但是，雅虎現在卻做出驚人之舉：廢除了在家工作的政策，讓每個員工回到辦公室上班。

該公司人力資源部的一份備忘錄對這項政策的解釋稱，員工之間面對面交流可以培養更加合作的文化。而這正是谷歌運作方式的特點。
為了東山再起，雅虎正在着手處理美國職場最大的問題之一：在家工作以及其他一些能夠吸引並留住員工的靈活安排，是會帶來更大的生產力，還是會抑制創新和合作。
分析人士稱，員工，特別是年輕一點的員工希望能遠程工作。而且現在所有的趨勢是工作地點的靈活性越來越大。但是，像美國銀行(Bank of America)這樣採納了一個頗受歡迎的遠程工作計劃的公司，也在去年決定，要求擔任特定職務的員工回到辦公室來工作。
經營着一家人力資源顧問公司的舊金山州立大學(San Francisco State University)管理專業教授約翰·沙利文(John Sullivan)稱，研究顯示，在家工作的員工有着大得多的生產力，但創新能力卻較低。
他說，“如果需要創新，就要互動。如果需要生產力，就讓員工在家工作。”
雅虎的這一政策變化反映了這些對立情況，並引發了來自支持工作地點靈活化的人們的大量批評，他們稱，這是一個退步，尤其是對那些要在工作時間外照顧 老人和孩子的人來說。而且，他們曾希望今年懷上了第一個孩子的37歲的梅耶爾在出任首席執行官後，能讓職場環境變得對有孩子的員工更加友善，為此，他們感 覺更加失望。
加利福尼亞大學(University of California)女性史榮譽教授魯斯·羅森(Ruth Rosen)稱，“具有諷刺意味的是，她打破了玻璃天花板，但似乎卻不願意讓其他女性過上平衡的生活，在專心發展技能和職業的同時照顧好家庭。”
然而，工作地點靈活化的受益人並非只有女性員工。根據美國勞工統計局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的數據，遠程工作的男性數量幾乎與女性一樣多。
勞工統計局稱，24%的美國員工稱自己在家工作，或者至少每周在家工作一段時間。研究工作地點變化的非營利性組織，家庭與工作協會 (Families and Work Institute)的一項研究稱，有63%的僱主稱，去年他們允許員工在家工作，而2005年只有34%的僱主這麼做。
從視頻聊天到即時消息等硅谷研發的技術，已經可以讓美國各地的員工遠程工作。但是，很多像雅虎這樣的技術公司認為，在固定地點上班會驅動創新能力。
雅虎一名女發言人薩拉·戈爾曼(Sara Gorman)拒絕對此發表評論，只是稱該公司不公開談論內部事務。
雅虎的備忘錄是由人力資源部總監雅姬·雷塞斯(Jackie Reses)起草的，並被發表在了數碼科技博客All Things D上面，備忘錄稱：“一些最好的決定和看法通常來自走廊和餐廳里的交談、接觸新人和即興團隊會議。在家工作往往會犧牲速度和質量。”
BGC Partners公司的分析師科林·吉利斯(Colin Gillis)表示，從某種程度來說，這份備忘錄似乎想把谷歌的精神帶到了雅虎。BGC的研究範圍包括谷歌和雅虎。
“瑪麗莎試圖增加公司的能量與產出，並改變公司文化，”他說。“她把谷歌的經驗教訓都搬了過來，而谷歌非常注意讓你的生活繞着他們的辦公地點運轉，這樣你就可以把大量的時間花在工作上。”
但是，谷歌和Facebook還是會根據具體情況允許員工遠程辦公。而且這兩家公司非常強調人際合作。
像提供免費食物的餐廳、班車、健身館、雪糕店和乾洗店等標準的硅谷員工福利，不僅會讓員工的生活更加輕鬆，而且還能保證他們整天都在公司活動，並促進員工之間的交流。在幾乎所有的科技公司，辦公桌都被緊密地擺放在一起，中間沒有隔斷牆，它們的公共工作區也都有沙發和豆袋。
亞馬遜(Amazon.com)旗下的電子商務公司Zappos曾允許一些客服代表在家辦公，但現在制定了一條反對遠程辦公的規定。公司把辦公室所 有的門都鎖上，只留下其中一扇，這樣員工在出去的時候就會被迫碰見更多人，公司為每名員工安排的空間不足100平方英尺（約合9.3平方米），而標準空間 為120平方英尺及以上。
“這是為了將無意間的美好邂逅的機會最大化，”該公司負責工作地點發展的扎克·韋爾(Zach Ware)說。“公司的成功建立在我們的文化之上，而我們認為根本無法通過電子郵件做到這一點。”
有些科技行業之外的公司也在重新衡量靈活的工作安排。除美國銀行以外，醫療和金融等處理敏感客戶信息的一些行業對遠程辦公有更多限制。
然而，也有更多公司對這種靈活性表示歡迎。如今，美國安泰保險金融集團(Aetna)有47%的員工都在遠程辦公，2005年這個比例僅為9%。公 司為員工提供安全的網絡和電話連接，帶鎖的文件櫃和碎紙機。公司的女發言人蘇珊·米勒里克(Susan Millerick)說，該政策在這段時期為公司在辦公場所方面節省了7800萬美元（約合4.9億元人民幣）的開支。
博思艾倫諮詢公司(Booz Allen)的員工既可以在家辦公，也可以通過登記，在另一家分支機構的辦公室辦公，這種做法叫做“旅館式辦公”(“hoteling”)。博思艾倫人力 資源方面的資深合伙人克里斯托弗·卡爾森(Christopher Carlson)說，這項政策對於留住員工至關重要。為了照顧年邁的父母，他從華盛頓特區搬到了佛羅里達州，然後在家辦公。
“這種政策使我能夠將工作和生活結合起來，並在兩方面都取得成功，”卡爾森說。“我的油錢也少了。”

翻譯：張亮亮、陳柳



Since Marissa Mayer became chief executive of Yahoo, she has been working hard to get the Internet pioneer off its deathbed and make it an innovator once again.
She started with free food and new smartphones for every employee, borrowing from the playbook of Google, her employer until last year. Now, though, Yahoo has made a surprise move: abolishing its work-at-home policy and ordering everyone to work in the office.

A memo explaining the policy change, from the company’s human resources department, says face-to-face interaction among employees fosters a more collaborative culture — a hallmark of Google’s approach to its business.
In trying to get back on track, Yahoo is taking on one of the country’s biggest workplace issues: whether the ability to work from home, and other flexible arrangements that help attract and retain employees, leads to greater productivity or inhibits innovation and collaboration.
Employees, especially younger ones, expect to be able to work remotely, analysts say. And over all the trend is toward greater workplace flexibility. But Bank of America, for example, which had a popular program for working remotely, decided late last year to require employees in certain roles to come back to the office.
Studies show that people who work at home are significantly more productive but less innovative, said John Sullivan, a professor of management at San Francisco State University who runs a human resource advisory firm.
“If you want innovation, then you need interaction,” he said. “If you want productivity, then you want people working from home.”
Reflecting these tensions, Yahoo’s policy change has unleashed a storm of criticism from advocates for workplace flexibility who say it is a retrograde approach, particularly for those who care for young children or aging parents outside of work. Their dismay is heightened by the fact that they hoped Ms. Mayer, who became chief executive at 37 while pregnant with her first child, would make the business world more hospitable for working parents.
“The irony is that she has broken the glass ceiling, but seems unwilling for other women to lead a balanced life in which they care for their families and still concentrate on developing their skills and career,” said Ruth Rosen, a professor emerita of women’s history at the University of California.
But not only women take advantage of workplace flexibility policies. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly as many men telecommute.
The bureau says 24 percent of employed Americans report working from home at least some hours each week. And 63 percent of employers said last year that they allowed employees to work remotely, up from 34 percent in 2005, according to a study by the Families and Work Institute, a nonprofit group studying the changing work force.
Technologies developed in Silicon Valley, from video chat to instant messaging, have made it possible for employees across America to work remotely. Yet like Yahoo, many tech companies believe that working in the same physical space drives innovation.
A Yahoo spokeswoman, Sara Gorman, declined to comment, saying only that the company did not publicly discuss internal matters.
The company’s memo, written by Jackie Reses, director of human resources at Yahoo, and published on All Things D, a blog on digital issues, said: “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.”
In part, the memo looks like an effort to bring a Google spirit to Yahoo, said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners who covers both companies.
“Marissa’s trying to increase the energy and output and change the culture of the company,” he said. “She brings all the Google lessons to the table, and Google is very focused on having your life revolve around their campus so you can spend a significantly larger chunk of time at work.”
Still, Google, as well as Facebook, does allow people to work remotely on a case-by-case basis. But both companies also strongly stress in-person collaboration.
Standard Silicon Valley perks like cafeterias with free food, shuttle buses, gyms, ice cream parlors and dry cleaners not only make employees’ lives easier, but keep them on campus during the day and promote contact with other employees. Nearly all tech companies have desks packed tightly together without walls and communal work areas with sofas and beanbags.
Zappos, the e-commerce company owned by Amazon.com, previously allowed some customer service agents to work from home, but now has a rule against working remotely. The company locks all office doors except one so employees are forced to run into more people on the way out, and budgets fewer than 100 square feet per employee, versus the standard 120 square feet or more.
“It’s to maximize those serendipitous encounters,” said Zach Ware, who oversees campus development at the company. “The success of our company is built on our culture, and our perspective is you can’t really do that on e-mail.”
Some companies outside the tech industry are also re-evaluating flexible work arrangements. In addition to Bank of America, certain industries that deal with sensitive client information, like health care and finance, have more restrictions on working remotely.
Yet more companies embrace flexibility. At Aetna, 47 percent of workers telecommute, up from 9 percent in 2005. The company provides secure Internet and phone connections, locked file cabinets and shredders. During that period, the policy has saved the company $78 million in real estate costs, said Susan Millerick, an Aetna spokeswoman.
At Booz Allen, employees can work at home or sign up to work at a desk in another branch, called “hoteling.” The policy has been vital to employee retention, said Christopher Carlson, a senior associate in human resources at Booz Allen. He works from his home in Florida, where he moved from the Washington, D.C., region to care for his aging parents.
“It allows me to integrate my work and life and be successful at both,” Mr. Carlson said. “And I spend less money on gas.”