HR Leader Mike Murray's 30-Year-Old Letter A Reminder For Choosing Values Over Perks
Top companies around the world are known for offering something extra to their employees, it could be something as simple as a Sodexo meal coupon to a reimbursement of an employee's educational loan.
However, the present global economic downturn is forcing companies to put a full stop to their cherished employee perks.
Amid the layoff season, corporates are on a cost-cutting spree to maximise their operational efficiencies.
That means a company like Google which is known for its iconic perks is using data points to scrutinise the effective and ineffective employee benefits.
That means doing away with free onsite snacks and massage therapy programs.
News mills are going crazy over leading companies taking the conservative route to trim employee expense from their balance sheets but key voices from the C-Suite and HR community have pointed out that the approach is cyclic and nothing new. To put things in perspective, Microsoft had to cut down on its employee morale budget in the 90s as part of the process to ward off recession.
Steven Sinfosky, Microsoft's former President for Windows business recounts leading HR Mike Murray's letter on lavish employee spending three decades back and it is winning the internet for its relevance in today's times.
An excerpt from Murray's letter reads,
"T-shirts can and should be a great team building device for a group … (i.e., shipping a product on time). On the other hand, we need to halt the growing practice of handing out random T-shirts…for simply attending a required business meeting."
Major tech companies today are facing flack for their 'efficiency approach' but does that mean companies are compromising on the employee experience? Not necessarily.
When companies are riding the economic downturn curve, cutbacks are a part of the healing and recovery process. It is in these times that corporates become more self-aware and work with more focus to build on the core values that made them and their employees successful.
While employee benefits and perks enhance the employee experience, not all of these benefits are useful to the company and the employees alike. Knowing what works and what can be chaffed out like a weed from the grain is a good starting point. Not to forget, the enormous amount of data available at the click of a button for companies today to take the right calls.
The other aspect of the layoff and efficiency story is that when iconic companies like Google and Microsoft are involved, the public and the tech community's interest piques because the stakes are high. The said companies are perceived as trendsetters in not just the technology they bring but also how they run their organisations. And running an organisation of this scale revolves around managing and enhancing the employee experience to a greater degree.
Perks mean a sense of entitlement and ownership for an employee. So when these employee benefits are trimmed down, employees, at least in the short term, can feel a sudden sense of dissatisfaction. Because, for them, the extra benefits made the company stand out from the ordinary ones and raised their employee experience 10x.
"In a company with private offices, casual dress (a thing), and prided itself on being modern and lean this was a big huge deal. Every company was experiencing “belt-tightening” but this seemed different because we were a symbol of national success," writes Murray in his letter.
Well, at a time when major corporates are realigning their priorities, the letter could not have resurfaced at a better time. It sets the right precedent, one which the current crop of HR managers and the tech community will appreciate even more when the current phase of economic recession becomes a thing of the past.
