NOT trusting the workforce

So it would appear that Yahoo's chief exec really DOES NOT trust her workforce. Marissa Meyer, the CEO in question has informed workers who are employed remotely that they must relocate into the company buildings.

http://allthingsd.com/20130222/physically-together-heres-the-internal-yahoo-no-work-from-home-memo-which-extends-beyond-remote-workers/

This seems to be a reflection on the companies paranoia that they are not necessarily getting the productivity they should from home workers. This seems more than faintly ridiculous on a number of levels.

 First and foremost Yahoo are a tech based company, for them to oppose tech base remote working seems counter-intuitive and certanily won't help their brand reputation amongst the nerd elite.

 
                                   

Even setting this aside however, it is also seemingly wrong to judge your workforce in this manner. They are far from but automatons working as they do in a creative field and output cannot necessarily be measured from what an overseer can perceive from their desk aboard the good ship tradionalia.

Furthermore productivity and achievement are not mutually exclusive. Some can achieve what you want/obtain theirs and your company goals even IF they happen to go to the fridge a couple of times or wander off and do something else. you are paying them for their output/contribution/ability as much as their time these days.

Oh yeas and finally, - if you invest trust in your workers you are often rewarded. Some people with a reasonable amount of experience in the cutthroat world of capitalism even think so themselves.

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog/give-people-the-freedom-of-where-to-work