Now, I'm fairly new to the corporate world, so I won't claim that I know the "right" way to do things or anything like that. But some stories I've read lately, along with some events that I have experienced first hand have caused me to ask a couple of questions.
First, what is the most important asset a business can have? Is it the physical assets (computers, buildings and so on), or the personnel, or is it the company's intellectual property? Now, the smart money will tell you that the intellectual property is the most valuable thing a company can have. People come and go, but the IP will continue to be a viable source of money after everyone who worked on it is dead and gone. I mean, look at Mickey Mouse, or any of a hundred other pieces of intellectual property that will continue making money basically forever.
This all sounds very reasonable, respect your IP, make it the most important asset your company has and you'll be successful. Well, I'm of another opinion. An IP is valuable, sure, but companies are people, and disgruntled people will do the minimum amount of work that will let them keep their jobs. You can have a great IP, that if mismanaged can lose its value and then you're really in a hole.
I am of the opinion that employees should be treated well and kept content. I recently read a story about Google charging its employees for childcare to the tune of 50,000 dollars a year. Some employees have understandably become upset and the story hit the news. This cannot possibly have a good impact on Google's public image and in the search engine business, image can be important. So my personal opinion is that they should have ate the losses and then made a public announcement of how they were ok with the loss of money as long as the employees had a safe place to leave their children during the day. That would have made them look like saints, but now Google looks like the rest of us, watching that holy bottom line.
So what if an employee likes to shoot a few instant messages to their significant other to feel like they did something to connect during the day? So what if an employee like to check up on tech news a couple of times a day to feel like they are part of the world around them and not just working in a room with no windows for 12 hours a day? These are concessions that a company should make, within reason, to ensure that their employees feel happy.
Is the employee doing their job? Have their tasks been making their deadlines? Is the quality of their work up to the standards of the company? These are the questions that should be asked, not "Are you working at least 8 hours a day?"
Now this might seem like a bitter rant, but it isn't. I'm just concerned that companies in this country are treating their employees like lower priority assets than the work which the employees produce. As a simple analogy, a flower that receives sunlight and water will grow and produce better petals than one which is in the shade and has very little water. So too will an employee that feels appreciated and valued produce more, higher quality work than one which feels like a cog.
First, what is the most important asset a business can have? Is it the physical assets (computers, buildings and so on), or the personnel, or is it the company's intellectual property? Now, the smart money will tell you that the intellectual property is the most valuable thing a company can have. People come and go, but the IP will continue to be a viable source of money after everyone who worked on it is dead and gone. I mean, look at Mickey Mouse, or any of a hundred other pieces of intellectual property that will continue making money basically forever.
This all sounds very reasonable, respect your IP, make it the most important asset your company has and you'll be successful. Well, I'm of another opinion. An IP is valuable, sure, but companies are people, and disgruntled people will do the minimum amount of work that will let them keep their jobs. You can have a great IP, that if mismanaged can lose its value and then you're really in a hole.
I am of the opinion that employees should be treated well and kept content. I recently read a story about Google charging its employees for childcare to the tune of 50,000 dollars a year. Some employees have understandably become upset and the story hit the news. This cannot possibly have a good impact on Google's public image and in the search engine business, image can be important. So my personal opinion is that they should have ate the losses and then made a public announcement of how they were ok with the loss of money as long as the employees had a safe place to leave their children during the day. That would have made them look like saints, but now Google looks like the rest of us, watching that holy bottom line.
So what if an employee likes to shoot a few instant messages to their significant other to feel like they did something to connect during the day? So what if an employee like to check up on tech news a couple of times a day to feel like they are part of the world around them and not just working in a room with no windows for 12 hours a day? These are concessions that a company should make, within reason, to ensure that their employees feel happy.
Is the employee doing their job? Have their tasks been making their deadlines? Is the quality of their work up to the standards of the company? These are the questions that should be asked, not "Are you working at least 8 hours a day?"
Now this might seem like a bitter rant, but it isn't. I'm just concerned that companies in this country are treating their employees like lower priority assets than the work which the employees produce. As a simple analogy, a flower that receives sunlight and water will grow and produce better petals than one which is in the shade and has very little water. So too will an employee that feels appreciated and valued produce more, higher quality work than one which feels like a cog.
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