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Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

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Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#211

Post by ryanchants »

_huayra_ wrote: post #195
geofft wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop having boards and shareholders then. Or, at least tell them, our growth target this year is 2%, our growth max is 10%, if we grow more than that I'm concerned about the pressure on my employees and my goal is to have a great and sustainable place to work and not to fill the universe with paperclips, and I'm going to start laying off sales and marketing if we're taking on more commitments than we can handle. We'r…

I wonder if anyone works in a worker cooperative software company. I'd imagine there are some, but I wonder what kinds of software they do / products they make. From what I've read about co-ops, I would definitely love to work at one one day. Even having to work more hours would feel more meaningful because I'd by benefitting my own bottom line in a way, not just going towards the CEO's private island fund.

I've actually thought about starting one. It seems like a software consultancy would probably be the best fit.

Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#212

Post by AussieWog93 »

chasd00 wrote: post #149
AussieWog93 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think middle class society in the West has already reached this stage. I was talking about this the other day with my wife, after stewing about it bitterly for hours into the night. The most common form of interpersonal interaction has changed from genuine offers of assistance to displays of status and evaluations of said displays. It's unthinkable to do something as basic as ask your neighbour to "borrow" an egg o…

some people are jerks. period. If you were stewing on this for a couple hours then you probably had a bad experience earlier in the day with someone. Not everyone is like that, in fact, jerks are sort of rare but they do exist.

>If you were stewing on this for a couple hours then you probably had a bad experience earlier in the day with someone

You've hit the nail on the head there, but what made me so angry about it wasn't that it was an out-of-the-ordinary experience but the norm.

Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#213

Post by geodel »

myWindoonn wrote: post #167
ReactiveJelly wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I told my manager that if they want more than 40 hours per week, we can negotiate overtime. And considering my tax bracket, I'd rather be compensated with vacation days than money. I don't understand why _anyone_ should be on a salary model of compensation. It doesn't feel like a privilege awarded to me as a middle-class white-collar worker. The privilege is the fact that I can tell my manager to stick it and I won't…

As a lifelong salaryperson: Salaried employees don't work for hours, they work to get specific tasks done. If your work only takes 4hrs, then you get a short day. If your work consistently only takes 4hrs, then you work fewer hours as a lifestyle. Of course, employers hate this, but the privilege of salary is being able to tell your manager to stick it to them on a daily basis by pointing to the tasks and showing tha…

> but the privilege of salary is being able to tell your manager to stick it to them on a daily basis by pointing to the tasks and showing that they're done

Maybe at some enlightened place. But all places where I have worked in last 15 years, if it is more that 8 hrs its requirement of job but when its less, one still need to be at office for at least 8 hrs.

The sticking part may be true for once in a while but on daily basis, I need to just suck it up and stay at office regardless.

Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#214

Post by Copernicron »

craig_asp wrote: post #5

Every time someone (usually someone from HR) tries to point out how great a company is because of its great perks like awesome couching sessions (not actual training), great team-building events, the best coffee machine ever, table tennis, etc. and how these somehow compensate for a subpar salary offer, I tell them: you just pay me well, give me more time off, and I'll handle all that myself.

I got suckered by this once and only once. What seemed to be a great environment and culture on the surface, with lots of good perks, ended up being the most toxic and dysfunctional workplace I've ever been at. I was completely miserable and left in two months. I just couldn't take it. Ever since any office that tries to advertise how "awesome" they are by showing off all the trendy perks they offer immediately gets lowered in my estimation.

Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#215

Post by Copernicron »

cdogl wrote: post #105
Rompect wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree completely. As someone who is a "loner", these "perks" of a workplace are actively an argument against it. Just let me choose how and with whom I spend my time, thanks.

I'm not a loner - I'm quite a social person - but I nonetheless agree. My work can be rewording and enthralling but it's also draining and it's full of people who I would (mostly) never spend time with outside of that setting. I've lost count of the number of retros / all hands over the years where people have bemoaned the breakneck delivery pace, change of priorities from above, chaotic management etc., and leadersh…

I'm with you. I may be an introvert but I'm actually quite social. The key for me is that I'm social on my own terms. Mandatory fun events and forced team bonding do nothing but alienate me from everyone else. The harder my manager tries to force me to be friends with my colleagues the more I refuse to.

Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#216

Post by eitland »

ryanchants wrote: post #211
_huayra_ wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if anyone works in a worker cooperative software company. I'd imagine there are some, but I wonder what kinds of software they do / products they make. From what I've read about co-ops, I would definitely love to work at one one day. Even having to work more hours would feel more meaningful because I'd by benefitting my own bottom line in a way, not just going towards the CEO's private island fund.

I've actually thought about starting one. It seems like a software consultancy would probably be the best fit.

I work for a employee owned software consultancy in Oslo, Norway.

It is in deed ideal in many ways or ay least has been while I've worked there.

(It doesn't hurt either though that it is the first place I've worked for more than two - three years without spotting an a__hole or two. Take this into account.)

Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#217

Post by johnchristopher »

quietbritishjim wrote: post #13
varispeed wrote: post #3

This is so true. If a company has any wellbeing programs or even "free lunch" or "pizza Fridays" it's a big red flag. It basically means they don't pay enough for you to afford a pizza or lunch, not to mention a private therapy if stress gets onto you. Probably some managers are feeling guilty they pay so little, so they come up with these virtue signalling schemes. It doesn't bother them that they take private jets…

What you're describing sounds totally different from the wellness program described in the article. What the article describes is something that seems to be totally targetted at individuals. If you desire them, and get paid enough, you could just get them yourself - there's no reason for the company to get involved. What you're describing are more like team building. Enforced lunches or dinners with coworkers are not…

In none of the job I had did my colleagues discuss work at lunch. It was and is a kind of big no no. Might be a cultural thing.

Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#218

Post by iamacyborg »

reader_mode wrote: post #203
iamacyborg wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In SV, sure, but I don't think that holds true in other parts of the world, even in major cities like London.

So I just did a quick google on London and I don't know if I'm missing something but it seems like senior software developer salary is less than the avarage salary (senior developer 77,500, avarage is 86,400). On glass door I see 50-70k GBP for senior developers. This sounds horrible, but I have a feeling London/Wester Europe is unique in this regard, I can make that kind of money remoting from Croatia.

I think your average salary figure is wrong

Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#219

Post by _huayra_ »

ryanchants wrote: post #211
_huayra_ wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if anyone works in a worker cooperative software company. I'd imagine there are some, but I wonder what kinds of software they do / products they make. From what I've read about co-ops, I would definitely love to work at one one day. Even having to work more hours would feel more meaningful because I'd by benefitting my own bottom line in a way, not just going towards the CEO's private island fund.

I've actually thought about starting one. It seems like a software consultancy would probably be the best fit.

Yes it seems like software consultancy would be the most obvious choice. I wonder if such a structure could expand to build a complicated B2B product, for instance. The example that comes to mind is some sort of enterprise wifi / networking thing. Could a co-op grow to encompass a manufacturing supply chain?

I just wonder how one would handle this beyond ~Dunbar's number. I've only heard of the company that makes Gore-tex handle this in a creative way [0], essentially splintering organizations into separate orgs once they became large enough.

[0] https://blog.gembaacademy.com/2011/06/21/dunbars_number_span...

Re: Workplace Wellbeing Is a Scam?

#220

Post by _huayra_ »

eitland wrote: post #216
ryanchants wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've actually thought about starting one. It seems like a software consultancy would probably be the best fit.

I work for a employee owned software consultancy in Oslo, Norway. It is in deed ideal in many ways or ay least has been while I've worked there. (It doesn't hurt either though that it is the first place I've worked for more than two - three years without spotting an a__hole or two. Take this into account.)

Do you think a worker co-op either/both avoids hiring a-holes in the first place and/or avoids bringing out a-hole tendencies in otherwise normal folks?

Being ~8 layers deep in the corporate hierarchy at my current place is very frustrating, and I think it probably affects my current a-hole level just due to apathy...

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