Looooooots of red flags for my current employer, when I see your canaries posted here. :-D
Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
31–40 of 104 posts
Re: Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
#32In a similar vein I visited Cyprus some years ago. In the middle of nowhere was a shaded spot with a few tables, a fridge and a plastic tub. You took a beer out of the fridge and put the money in the tub. That was how it worked.
I lived in a city where Little Free Library system worked really well. There were library boxes all over the city. You take a book and you leave a book. Or bring it back next time. Or put it in the different box. There were people who scavanged those libraries for books they could sell, but overall the system worked well. There was always something random to take and read, something you'd normally not read, but because it was there and it was free I read many books I otherwise wouldn't have.
Re: Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
#33If its hard to find out the owner of the company, cause everyone could be it.
People who are self-secure, are empowered to solve problems on there own, do not get bogged down in useless hierarchys, can be easily mistaken for the boss of the shop.
Re: Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
#34How jokes are reacted to. Jokes can be unfunny or tasteless, but when someone argues big concepts that a joke must not be made, its a big red flag.
At an old office we had a bit of a meme around yomamma jokes.
They were always nonsensical and certainly not graphic or directed at any actual mothers but one person randomly got super mad about it and complained to upper management and such jokes were explicitly banned on company property.
Then the nerf guns were banned.
Then all lights had to be on 100% migrane inducing brightness.
Then all desks had to be clean and free of any non-essential objects.
Most of engineering quit around that point.
Re: Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
#35The difference between plebs' and bosses' seating arrangements. If plebs get second hand, barely functional chairs/desks, hand-me-downs as computing equipment and insufficient lighting while bosses get a corner office and a $10K desk, it's pretty clear who they value and who they don't, which normally also extend to how seriously the plebs' opinions/suggestions are taken.
Once in a company we moved and people found out it would be open office layouts - coming from team offices. My boss took a lot of effort to explain how nice open office is, how productivity will benefit, and better working together. When we moved we found out he had his own office
Re: Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
#36How jokes are reacted to. Jokes can be unfunny or tasteless, but when someone argues big concepts that a joke must not be made, its a big red flag.
Exactly. The difference between a joke and bullying is that if it's a joke, the mark gets a laugh out of it as well. Also that the honor of being the mark rotates around the group somewhat fairly. If you're either never the butt of the joke, or always the butt of the joke, you know that the people around you either don't respect or trust you.
When I -stop- finding silly things to make fun of people for, then they know I am actually upset at them.
Re: Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
#37Mine is when human beings working at the company start becoming referred to as “resources” instead of people.
I am starting a new forum ResourceNews where resources can gather around and discuss anything that irks them in their workplace.
Re: Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
#38https://steveblank.com/2009/12/21/the-elves-leave-middle-ear...
Once they cut benefits that are widely lauded. Holiday-free PTO, exercise and health benefits, stuff that makes sense to anyone to attract talent when times are tough. You can cut corners, you can cut bonuses when times are tough - but you can't cut benefits. It's a short-term way of thinking, and you'll lose your best employees over it.
Re: Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
#39In a small growing company, when someone starts leaving the toilets in a mess, there is a bad hire. Knowing you work with at least one uncivilized person changes the feel of the company.
Same for piling dirty dishes in the sink.
I've always been one for doing dishes. BUT, a cleaner can usually be hired for minimum/living wage. An extra couple hours of the cleaners time so everyone comes in to a clean office strikes me as likely being worth it in the long run.
Re: Ask HN: Work Culture Canary?
#40Mine is when human beings working at the company start becoming referred to as “resources” instead of people.
You can do both: "resources" and "people" are two different point of views of the same thing. I’m in a 5-person company and we refer to people as "resources" when we’re allocating times to each project. We refer to people as "people" outside of that.