Direct link to the PDF for Scribd Haters: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2577298/Hiring-for-Happiness.pdf
Thanks for that.
Hiring for Happiness
11–20 of 23 posts
Re: Hiring for Happiness
#12"My hope is that our employees never, ever feel patronized, belittled or small." Anyone applying to your company after having read that pile of patronizing crap are probably genetically incapable of feeling patronized or belittled. (Seriously, I don't think I know a single highly qualified person who wouldn't quit the same day if you showed up and told them that this is how the company will be run from now on, and ha…
Studer. How do you run your company? Or are you an employee? I put this online for feedback and help.
Re: Hiring for Happiness
#13"My hope is that our employees never, ever feel patronized, belittled or small." Anyone applying to your company after having read that pile of patronizing crap are probably genetically incapable of feeling patronized or belittled. (Seriously, I don't think I know a single highly qualified person who wouldn't quit the same day if you showed up and told them that this is how the company will be run from now on, and ha…
Studer. How do you run your company? Or are you an employee? I put this online for feedback and help.
It sounds like one way to make money working there would be for debt-free employees to assume some debt at less than 5% interest so that the higher real wage and 5% top-up payments kick in. There are some interesting ideas here with the exception of section 4 which sounds like a cult. Not everyone wants their workplace to function like a commune.
Re: Hiring for Happiness
#14This all looks excellent. I'm not sure about the debt management part though.
First of all, something about your math just isn't right:
"All employees who want to sign up to the programwill have a percentage of their debt paid off each fortnight. So instead of getting$70,000/year they might get $23,000/ year and be debt-free in the next 4 years."
Why would I spend a total of $188k to pay off an average of $24k in student loans in 4 years? I mean, I know that interest rates are a bitch and all, but that's a bit much. Plus, I don't know where you guys are located, but $23k/year in San Francisco isn't a whole lot. I understand that these are probably all hypothetical numbers, but you might want to choose numbers that are a little bit less scary.
Another thing:
"If groups of employees live, work and party together our hope is that they will love their entirelifestyle, not just their work."
...I don't think it's necessary to be that intimate with my coworkers. In fact, it could arguably be bad to encourage people to be that close. A workplace needs some level of conflict to discourage groupthink, and it's much easier to disagree with someone you're paid to do a job with than someone who's your best friend and roommate.
Re: Hiring for Happiness
#15This all looks excellent. I'm not sure about the debt management part though. First of all, something about your math just isn't right: "All employees who want to sign up to the programwill have a percentage of their debt paid off each fortnight. So instead of getting$70,000/year they might get $23,000/ year and be debt-free in the next 4 years." Why would I spend a total of $188k to pay off an average of $24k in stu…
I agree with j_baker -- I was thinking that this document was kind of nice until I got to the part where everyone has to take a holiday together. No matter how you tweak this, what it means is that the company is impinging on the employee's personal life and leisure time.
Another thing to remember is that there's a difference between personal and work relationships. You can (and should!) have great work relationships with people who you have little in common with, personally.
"Forced fun" is always as bad as it sounds.
Re: Hiring for Happiness
#16i applaud you for trying to be innovative about how to run companies, and hire and keep people.
Re: Hiring for Happiness
#17This all looks excellent. I'm not sure about the debt management part though. First of all, something about your math just isn't right: "All employees who want to sign up to the programwill have a percentage of their debt paid off each fortnight. So instead of getting$70,000/year they might get $23,000/ year and be debt-free in the next 4 years." Why would I spend a total of $188k to pay off an average of $24k in stu…
I agree with j_baker -- I was thinking that this document was kind of nice until I got to the part where everyone has to take a holiday together. No matter how you tweak this, what it means is that the company is impinging on the employee's personal life and leisure time. Another thing to remember is that there's a difference between personal and work relationships. You can (and should!) have great work relationships…
Definitely agree with these points. I will make it more clear that these would be optional things that the company put on rather than mandatory corporate events. I would hate those.
Re: Hiring for Happiness
#18This all looks excellent. I'm not sure about the debt management part though. First of all, something about your math just isn't right: "All employees who want to sign up to the programwill have a percentage of their debt paid off each fortnight. So instead of getting$70,000/year they might get $23,000/ year and be debt-free in the next 4 years." Why would I spend a total of $188k to pay off an average of $24k in stu…
Agreed. I haven't thought the numbers through properly at all. Essentially I just like the idea of helping our employees out more than your average company by trying to get them into a strong financial position. I will need to do a lot more research into this area.
Re: Hiring for Happiness
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Studer. How do you run your company? Or are you an employee? I put this online for feedback and help.
It sounds like one way to make money working there would be for debt-free employees to assume some debt at less than 5% interest so that the higher real wage and 5% top-up payments kick in. There are some interesting ideas here with the exception of section 4 which sounds like a cult. Not everyone wants their workplace to function like a commune.
Very good point. Need to work on the numbers more carefully but I hope you agree with the intention. Section 4 is definitely the least carefully thought out but probably the most well-intentioned. Right now Happy feels a bit like a commune as lots of students come to our Tiki House and enjoy our parties and help with the project. I guess I'd just love to maintain that vibe if at all possible.
Re: Hiring for Happiness
#20i applaud you for trying to be innovative about how to run companies, and hire and keep people.
Thanks mkramlich. I am just putting a few ideas out there for criticism to see if they could work so that when I have the revenues to support them I can make it happen.