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June 05, 2006
HP yanks telecommuters
HP has been a pioneer in telecommuting and flexible work schedules, but now nearly all IT employees must report to work at the office:
- The decision shocked HP employees and surprised human resource management experts, who believe telecommuting is still a growing trend.
…
By August, almost all of HP's IT employees will have to work in one of 25 designated offices during most of the week. With many thousands of HP IT employees scattered across 100 sites around the world -- from Palo Alto to Dornach, Germany -- the new rules require many to move. Those who don't will be out of work without severance pay, according to several employees affected by the changes.
…
The architect of the HP division's change, Randy Mott, is regarded by Wall Street as a mastermind of operational efficiency based on his days as chief information officer at Wal-Mart Stores and Dell. Since joining HP as CIO in July, Mott's philosophy on building a strong IT workforce starkly contrasts with that of competitors, who encourage telecommuting to retain skilled workers who desire better work/life balance.
Mott said by bringing IT employees together to work as teams in offices, the less-experienced employees who aren't performing well -- which there are ``a lot of'' -- can learn how to work more effectively.
In an office, ``you're able to put teams together that can learn very aggressively and rapidly from each other,'' he said.
Sure. But you also risk losing talented people who wouldn’t work for you if telecommuting weren’t an option. One woman has worked at HP for about 20 years and she says she’s not going to uproot her family and move across the country to her designated California office:
- ``Why is HP telling us we can't do this when everybody else is saying, `Please do'? That's kind of bizarre,'' said the employee, who didn't want to be identified for fear of retribution. ``I like my flexibility. The only reason I've stayed with HP this long is because I've been telecommuting.''
Some problems HP had with telecommuting:
- one of HP's former IT managers, who left the company in October, said a few employees abused the flexible work arrangements and could be heard washing dishes or admitted to driving a tractor during conference calls about project updates.
Admitted to driving a tractor? Seems like operating heavy equipment isn’t really a sensory gray area. But all this is easily fixed with a simple rule that is so obvious that most people don’t need it spelled out for them: No loud background noises while you’re on a conference call.
- The former manager, who declined to be identified because he still has ties with HP, said telecommuting morphed from a strategic tool used to keep exceptional talent into a right that employees claimed.
Sounds like this has more to do with bad management than with telecommuting itself. Managers who make it clear that telecommuting is a privilege find that employees work hard to earn the right to stay home and they also work hard to keep the valued perk.
It’ll be interesting to see how much talent HP loses and to see if this move will have any sort of ripple effect.
Article here.
My recent piece on why managers should give telecommuting another look is here.
Posted by tedb at June 5, 2006 10:29 AM
I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten63700 at January 26, 2007 07:56 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten43116 at January 26, 2007 03:36 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten15657 at January 26, 2007 10:42 PM
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My mind is like a bunch of nothing, but I guess it doesn't bother me. I haven't been up to anything recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing to speak of.
Comment by: Sten61708 at January 27, 2007 11:56 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten67596 at January 28, 2007 04:05 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten43450 at January 28, 2007 10:43 AM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten27913 at January 28, 2007 05:01 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten96042 at January 28, 2007 08:05 PM
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Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.
Comment by: Sten38939 at January 29, 2007 05:52 AM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten18729 at January 29, 2007 04:15 PM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten1424 at January 29, 2007 06:50 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten65803 at January 30, 2007 07:50 AM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten23566 at January 30, 2007 09:44 PM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten92064 at February 1, 2007 10:24 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten27002 at February 1, 2007 04:06 PM
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Hello makakas!!!
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Comment by: Bredd at February 2, 2007 04:43 PM
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Hello makakas!!!
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Comment by: Zerita at February 3, 2007 12:21 AM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten88417 at February 3, 2007 01:17 AM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten42791 at February 3, 2007 09:38 PM
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I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. I guess it doesn't bother me. Shrug. I haven't been up to anything. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten95405 at February 4, 2007 12:19 AM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten74930 at February 4, 2007 06:49 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten82955 at February 4, 2007 04:50 PM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten13065 at February 4, 2007 11:04 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten16122 at February 6, 2007 03:32 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten46575 at February 6, 2007 08:21 AM
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