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At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

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Re: At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

#21

Post by ghaff »

jedberg wrote: post #7

> Richard Siklos, a Netflix spokesman, said the company only fires employees for performance reasons, not because managers don’t like them That's not true at all. The company fires people all the time because their skills just aren't necessary. I mean I guess technically it's a layoff, but a layoff and getting fired are functionally the same at Netflix as they both come with the same severance. When we moved to AWS,…

That's really a third category and happens all the time when companies shift strategies or just evolve product lines over time. Sometimes there's a transition path to a new role but, even (or especially) if you're the world expert in X and there's no need for an expert in X any longer, there just isn't a place for you (especially at a salary commensurate with world expert status) any longer.

It doesn't need to be about not being willing to learn new things. It can be about having expertise and there still being a market for continuing to develop that expertise elsewhere.

Re: At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

#23

Post by stephengillie »

strict9 wrote: post #8

>Many employees say they see the keeper test as a guise for ordinary workplace politics while some managers say they feel pressure to fire people or risk looking soft. I worked for a place like this. Regular firings, sometimes every month. The CEO (who also self-funded the company) believed that regularly letting people go was a way of eliminating bad apples and forcing people to work harder and smarter. Similar to N…

> The CEO ... believed that regularly letting people go was a way of eliminating bad apples and forcing people to work harder and smarter.

Microsoft called it Stack Ranking.

Re: At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

#24

Post by gonehome »

southphillyman wrote: post #20

Not to rationalize the environment there but I feel like Netflix is pretty transparent about being a difficult place to work and compensates for the potential stress with above average pay. I feel like most people who can get hired there are well aware of the work environment they will be entering.

The pay is extreme - top of market, but I think more than people realize (even people in silicon valley).

I've heard 400k cash is not that uncommon.

Re: At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

#25

Post by bradknowles »

throwaway4195 wrote: post #15
stevenjohns wrote: post #6

> Richard Siklos, a Netflix spokesman, said the company only fires employees for performance reasons, not because managers don’t like them Oh how I wish I could have had that. I've had an experience in the past where I was dismissed because my manager decided he just didn't like me anymore. Although I was the best performing, most senior developer on the team and was doing all the hiring and mentoring of others, it d…

I had the exact same experience with a well known startup in SF. I got a glowing "Outstanding" review in the previous quarter. My manager left and the new manager who came in took just 15 days (with a single one on one meeting) to decide she din't like me and fired me without offering much of a reason.

UT Austin was much like that for me. Highest possible ratings from the previous manager, and then the new manager was hired.

Technically, I was caught in the campus-wide 10% across-the-board layoffs, but it's very clear why I was made eligible for that list.

Funny that it happened to be the same month that I was recovering from surgery to remove my cancerous thyroid gland.

Re: At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

#26

Post by bradknowles »

refurb wrote: post #4

“When life gives you lemons,” he said, taking a swig on stage, “you make lemonade.” Are you serious? What is it with the trite theatrics?

Okay, so I will pee in the cup -- on stage, right in front of them.

Now let's see if they drink that lemonade.

Re: At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

#27

Post by perseusprime11 »

Reed thought he was creating a high performance culture without accounting for the very nature of humans. The Netflix culture deck became a blunt instrument for managers to fire people in the name of performance and radical candor. I can’t wait for the lone Netflix engineer to write a great article tomorrow about the great Netflix culture he/she is personally experiencing. Kind of become a standard PR response these days.

Re: At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

#28

Post by rednerrus »

After working in organizations where terrible performance is tolerated, this seems like a breath of fresh air. We've all worked with some asshole/fuck-off who we wish someone would fire. It starts to eat away at morale. I'd rather take my chances an not have to work with the problem children.

Re: At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

#29

Post by dunpeal »

crazygringo wrote: post #14

> Richard Siklos, a Netflix spokesman, said the company only fires employees for performance reasons, not because managers don’t like them From what I've seen, managers give poor performance reviews or "metrics" when they don't like people. This feels like a distinction without a difference.

I've never seen an employee getting fired "because their manager didn't like them".

I've seen plenty of employees getting fired because their manager, who didn't like them, gave them a bad review.

In fact, across companies and even industries, being disliked by your manager is the single most reliable way to get fired.

Anyone claiming you can be disliked by your superior yet reliably keep your job - is BSing you.

Since this is, essentially, what the spokesman is stating, then I call typical PR BS.

Re: At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings Unsettle the Ranks

#30

Post by stephengillie »

refurb wrote: post #4

“When life gives you lemons,” he said, taking a swig on stage, “you make lemonade.” Are you serious? What is it with the trite theatrics?

A problem with that old saying is it ignores the vast amount of sugar needed to make lemonade.
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