Life Meets Work Blog

Apparently, people have known for a while now about the Netflix vacation policy: “There is no policy.” Cool, right?

But the recent release of an internal presentation on company values has put renewed focus on the company’s workforce management.

Netflix seems to be manic about attracting and retaining high performance people. And by that they mean the very best of the best. And by that they mean that if someone ‘adequate’ is standing in the way of someone really good, they have the balls to say goodbye to the former and keep the latter.

The slide deck is inspiring really. Show it to your employees and see if you don’t see a quick spike in energy and all-around responsibility. (Is that a piece of trash on the floor? Well of course I’ll pick it up.)  Show it to your managers and see if they ‘get it’ enough to act on it.

Netflix management is called upon to make the hard choices.

Slide 26: Adequate performance gets generous severance.

Netflix understands it’s hard to be a results-based organization, but they’re trying away.

Slide 33: It’s about effectiveness – not effort – even though effectiveness is harder to assess. We don’t measure people by how many evenings or weekends they are in their cube. We do try to measure people by how much, how quickly and how well they get their work done – especially under deadline.

Netflix treats its employees like responsible adults.

Slide 39: Responsible People Thrive on Freedom and are Worthy of Freedom

Slide 106: Give people big salaries and the freedom to spend as they think best. (e.g. no bonuses, no free stock, no charity match, high health co-pays)

Netflix recognizes its value in an employee’s career—wherever it takes them.

Slide 117: An individual’s economic security is based upon their skills and reputation. We try hard to consistently provide opportunity to grow both.

Hell yeah.

Posted by Jaime Leick

A newly released report from CareerBuilder and USA Today reveals six employment trends. Among them:

#2 - Upgrading Talent Rosters - Twenty-three percent of employers said they are taking this time, when hiring has slowed, to replace lower-performing employees with top talent that may not have been available in a healthier economy. Job seekers who stand to benefit the most include those operating in sales, accounting/finance, retail and customer service.

Bad news for poor performers and bad news for companies that aren’t doing anything to keep their top staff engaged. Your best performers are also the most mobile. Do what you can now to keep those employees connected and engaged.

Don’t believe it? Check out this story from World at Work:

The fast growing biotech company offered a sweet package: higher pay, a move up the corporate ladder and great career building opportunities. But Bill MacGowen, senior vice president of human resources at Sun Microsystems, said it still wasn’t enough to land one of his key employees. She turned the company down flat when she learned she’d have to trade her flexible work schedule at Sun for one that kept her in the office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week.  “Once you have a taste for it, you don’t want to go back,” said MacGowen.

Work-life options appeal to every demographic. Now is the time to trial telecommuting, contracting, job sharing, flexible hours and even sabbaticals. Use these tools as an alternative to layoffs and then leverage them for workforce retention once the economy turns around.

Posted by Jaime

Our Returning to Work news feed picked up two different Babies-At-Work stories last week. This small credit union did it and so did this multi-million dollar ad firm.

Not familiar with Babies-At-Work policies? Basically, new parents are allowed to bring their infants with them to the workplace—usually until the babies are mobile. This isn’t an on-site childcare arrangement. Parents care for the infants and work at the same time.

Advocates suggest it’s an effective way to retain talent, foster employee teamwork and boost morale. It can even build customer loyalty. The credit union (above) regularly receives positive customer comments on the practice.

Will this be a growing trend? Judging by other recent media coverage (“Bringing Up Babies at Work” – Boston Globe; “Bringing Babies to Work” – Time, and “The Littlest Cubicle Warriors” – People) we think it will be.

More info at: Babies in the Workplace and the Parenting in the Workplace Institute.

Posted by Jaime

By 2010, about 64 million workers in the U.S. will be ready for retirement. That’s 40% of our workforce. Forty percent by 2010!

Thankfully, many of those workers won’t actually retire, just because they’re “of-age.“ According to an August 2007 survey of 50- to 65-year-old workers, approximately 29% of 55- to 59-year-olds plan to work beyond 65.

Cool. Now the job is to convince those employees to come work for you. Right? We’re all busy talking about boomer recruitment and flex time policies and temporary executive programs, aren’t we?

No, sadly, many of us aren’t. According to the Wall State Journal, older employees are still getting an uneasy welcome some places. And Working Longer, a new book from the Brookings Institute suggests why: Employers fear older workers “cost too much, lack current skills and don’t stick around long.”

Scot Herrick has a few interviewing tips for boomers over at the Cube Rules blog. Herrick suggest workers over come those negative perceptions by emphasizing skills, past job performance, and—above all—a willingness to learn. Whatever you do, you must not appear set in your ways.

So let me ask you this: Are employers willing to learn too? How about some tips to recruit and retain boomers? Here’s a start:

• Flexible scheduling and job sharing
• Telecommuting
• Contract or project work
• Phased retirement plans
• Cafeteria style benefit plans that include part-time workers
• Eldercare benefits
• Training to eliminate age-bias within company
• Company retiree network

For more ideas, download this 2008 report from the U.S. Department of Labor with Current Strategies to Employ and Retain Older Workers. Lots of great ideas including a snowbird program at CVS which transfers older workers south for the winter (along with plenty of customers). How innovative is that?!

Posted by Jaime