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As if there weren’t enough tech battles, last week Wired alerted us to a new battle: “The Google vs. Yahoo HR Smackdown…”
Intrigued that a major publication like Wired was mentioning HR and smackdown in the same sentence I read on.
The article discusses the different tactics Google and Yahoo have taken towards their employees as evidenced by changes in Google’s employee screening process and Yahoo’s recent ban on telecommuting. Despite what seems like two different problems the author believes Google and Yahoo are trying to solve the same problem: how to attract and retain productive, successful employees.
The author sees two stark differences: at Yahoo Maris Mayer “took a sledgehammer” to the iconic benefit of working from home, while Google started research on how to make managers better, noting that employee satisfaction is closely tied with their direct manager. In this logic Yahoo (Mayer) is an evil corporate dictator and Google is the enlightened employer.
IF only it were that simple.
Google and Yahoo are in different situations. Google is flush with cash, a performing stock and is a destination employer. Yahoo is not in such a plum position. It has been mired in a downturn for years and Mayer was recently brought in, after multiple CEO changes, to turn around the company.
In Yahoo’s situation Mayer needs all hands on deck. This is a “go to the mattresses” moment for Yahoo (sorry, I love the Godfather to much not to mention it). Mayer is trying to stop the bleeding, and getting everyone in a physical Yahoo office is one way to start doing that.
The notion that there are sacred cows or “iconic” benefits in the middle of a crisis is unrealistic. It is that kind of dangerous thinking that stops companies from making the tough decisions necessary to survive a downturn. Best Buy, another company facing financial headwinds, made a similar decision when it cancelled the ROWE it initially championed.
Despite the articles title this isn’t really a smackdown at all…I’m not sure it is even fair to compare two companies in drastically different circumstances: one flush with cash and accolades and the other struggling for survival.
What do you think? Are the two issues Yahoo and Google trying to solve really the same problem? Or are they completely different?
