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The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

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Re: The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

#51

Post by RubenSandwich »

HenryBemis wrote: post #9

Self note: never do business with the person that says: Bonus more important that weekend family time. If projects are behind, re-group, re-train, re-focus. Waving the whip and telling people "work on the weekends" was never my style (to instruct or to receive).

Not only that, but by not having a consistent schedule, for example 40 hours a week, makes it impossible to know how long an upcoming feature is going to take. Because there are people who are willing to do those herculean tasks in the ridiculous timeframe and then burn out. So mangement never really learns anything and continues pushing features at the same pace. It is in your companies best interest to have a predicatable schedule.

Re: The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

#52

Post by apercu »

I have never been very productive when trying to do knowledge work for more than 4-5 hours a day and more than about 28 hours a week. When I start working 50+ hours a week my productivity drops below what I would have gotten done in a 20 hour week, Things become harder, you get less creative, you start brute forcing your solutions. You write bad code or documents. These are things you typically learn with experience.

Re: The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

#53

Post by [deleted] »

stagas wrote: post #25

So the strategy is this: Assemble teams with a low salary, then offer the withheld salary as bonus promises as an excuse to have people working on weekends and justify firing. Yes, that sounds like something it'll work for long term and is not toxic at all for the employees.

[deleted]

Re: The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

#54

Post by forgotAgain »

NoblePublius wrote: post #37

Never ceases to amaze me how friggin lazy and entitled are the British when it comes to being told they need to work long hours. It’s a high growth startup. They are vesting you with stock. Hell yes you need to come in on weekends, bruv.

Given the attitude displayed in the message I think its more than likely that they will be screwed out of their stock.

Re: The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

#55

Post by lewiscollard »

maaaats wrote: post #40
dougmwne wrote: post #21

I am very pro work life balance and think anything over 35-40 hours per week will just lead to eventual burnout and reduced performance. Having said that, I can't bring myself to be too bothered about this tweet. At least the expectation is clear: hit your KPI goal or else. If you were to find yourself behind, you could either work harder, lobby to change the goal, lobby for more resources, pivot your strategy, or st…

But what if the KPIs are unreasonable? I would say they are, given that it seems multiple teams are failing to meet them.

> But what if the KPIs are unreasonable? I would say they are, given that it seems multiple teams are failing to meet them.

Yep. Unless the employees are slacking off in their work week (I have no reason to think this is the case) this seems true by definition.

Re: The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

#56

Post by dullgiulio »

adlpz wrote: post #11

If people are behind the expected performance due to excessive workload or poor higher-level management, then this is unacceptable. If people are behind the expected performance due to incompetence, wasted time or poor self-management, then this is reasonable. We are all adults here.

There is no such a thing as incompetence, just people in the wrong position without the proper guidance. (I'm an engineering manager, I would get the blame for such situations, not my employees.)

Re: The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

#57

Post by chmod775 »

NoblePublius wrote: post #37

Never ceases to amaze me how friggin lazy and entitled are the British when it comes to being told they need to work long hours. It’s a high growth startup. They are vesting you with stock. Hell yes you need to come in on weekends, bruv.

Do you think I'm a walking charity?

That's what an employment contract is for.

If you want me to work on weekends, put that in the contract.

I can then negotiate an appropriate wage.

If it's not in the contract, get lost.

Alternatively propose a new contract so we can re-negotiate my compensation.

If we negotiated for 160 hours of my time / month, then that's what you're getting.

And if you can't wrap your head around that, you are not qualified to run a company and probably shouldn't be trusted with any kind of business transaction at all.

Re: The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

#58

Post by apercu »

dougmwne wrote: post #21

I am very pro work life balance and think anything over 35-40 hours per week will just lead to eventual burnout and reduced performance. Having said that, I can't bring myself to be too bothered about this tweet. At least the expectation is clear: hit your KPI goal or else. If you were to find yourself behind, you could either work harder, lobby to change the goal, lobby for more resources, pivot your strategy, or st…

Working on an assembly line, sure 40 hours a week is fine. Trying to do creative problem solving with complex issues? I have met very few people who can maintain peak performance at even 40 hours a week, week after week. In my experience most people burn 8-10 hours a week on water cooler chats and personal issues that need to be dealt with during the business day.

Reasonable KPI's are good, and people should be able to work as much or as little (within reason) to meet those targets. The problem is ownership always wants more.

Re: The CEO of RevolutApp on Slack: “Why Aren’t You Working on Weekends?”

#59

Post by chrismeller »

kemiller2002 wrote: post #5
lohszvu wrote: post #2

I appreciate the CEO being direct. It gives you a chance to find another job before you get fired.

Honestly, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but I really think you're absolutely right. Some people really like working in that environment. Personally, it's not for me, but at least the CEO is upfront about what he expects. Really, he's being a good leader in that respect. I wouldn't want to work for him, but he's clear about what he wants which a lot of people in management miss. EDIT Let me explain why this…

When I was 22 I would gladly have doubled down for the money. Over a decade later... not so much.

People forget that there are others not like them. There are plenty of companies that set deadlines and expect you to meet them, even if that means working the weekends when you’re behind. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, lots of people love the money and/or don’t have families. No one is forcing you to work there, so let them be.

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