Hot answers tagged employees
36
Focus on Results/Value Instead of Hours
Instead of focusing on the hours worked, I would strongly suggest judging the employee on the value that he is delivering. Since you're happy with his work, you can have a relatively positive discussion with him about how you would like him to take on more work/responsibility and make a bigger impact within the ...
33
Good answers all around, but I feel one aspect deserves more attention:
Get it under your skin that employee != founder.
Founders have a rich set of emotions to draw strength from, they are energized by their own vision of the company's future, and by their social standing as entrepreneurs in society.
Founders share richly in the future profits of the ...
21
I've always had an open policy.
If the company is small, everyone knows if someone is taking advantage, so either they don't (of course) or when they do and you reprimand/fire, everyone else agrees.
If you can't trust your employees to break wisely, why do you think they're using time wisely while physically sitting at their desk?
19
At Blue Fish, I started out with more of a "take what you need" approach to benefits, but over the years, it has changed to a more structured, well-defined benefits program.
What I found was that when my company was smaller (less than 10 people) and each employee was young, had no children, and was very committed to the success of the business, the less ...
19
You are sadly deluded in thinking that your employees should work so much for you just because you think they should.
Why do you think making them work more hours is going to be a net benefit? It likely will not.
You think 55-60 is reasonable because you have a huge stake in the company. They do not. What makes you want to work there for so many ...
19
An employee abusing sick leave is obviously an annoyance, but it also has many other toxic effects on the rest of your team. For example:
Other employees start to wonder why they aren't getting more time off
Other employees resent that employee for not being a team player
Other employees resent you for letting him get away with the abuse
One of the ...
18
I'd take Joel's advice and go with private offices for each developer. You can have some open spaces where people can gather to brain storm and collaborate, but the purpose of doing this is to focus on what each developer is going to be doing in the near future. They'll need quiet to do it.
Programmers need uninterrupted quiet in order to work. I repeat, ...
16
I've always viewed it as a positive when interviewing people that have created startups themselves (irrespective of whether they're still running or not). It shows an entrepreneurial spirit which should be valuable to most companies. If they don't value it, you probably won't like working there...
16
Ramping up your employee hours to 55-60 hours is going to end up ruining your startup. I get you think more hours equals more work which in turn equals a faster turnaround time for completion, but you're setting yourself up to fail.
An employer of which I will not name I previously worked at, well more-so the manager I worked with thought this was a good ...
15
Reasons to work in a startup.
(The traits you would look for are in brackets)
Do you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond (Ambition)
More flexibility (Flexibility)
Less process, red-tape, bull shit. (Unconventional, Wants to get things done, Enterprising)
Chance to work on something that really excites them,ie it is more ...
15
I think you are overreacting: no one was scheduled to be in the office on that day, so this key employee, who apparently is allowed to work from home sometimes, made the executive decision that he would work from home instead.
I would have done the same. The only thing you really can complain about is that he should have told you ahead of time, so you know. ...
13
I've been in similar situations.
Situation 1: I had an offer to join YCombinator company. I got the offer shortly after they were accepted to YCominator, but before they had a product, customers, or any other funding. I negotiated the offer to ~23% of the company (which was an equal share as the founders) and zero salary (not even living expenses).
...
12
Putting myself in a potential employer's shoes, I would definitely be impressed when hiring by someone who's shown the initiative to start a small business. I'd think that you would be a very valuable addition if I could capture dedication, but it might be harder to do that than for other potential hires. However, if I have confidence in my job being ...
12
My guess would be, it is unlikely to be worth it. If we greatly simplify the calculations on this we can shed a little light on it. And these are truly simplified, don't take them as an absolute, but it would break down like this.
You are taking a paycut of over $70K/year. You did not say how much your bonuses average, but the base salary goes from $120K ...
11
This forum is a little biased on this one; we all (me included) value entrepreneurial spirit -- creating something, trying something, initiative, etc..
So I'd say it depends on the employer. If this is a company that makes you sign documents that says everything you think or say forever is owned by them (whether legally enforceable or not, it belies the ...
11
Headphones! Just buy an inexpensive pair of the "cup" style (over the ear) phones for everyone... they're comfortable to wear for a long duration and they insulate fairly well against outside noise. Plus you can even plug them into your computer or ipod and listen to music on them!
The headphone rule is simple: if someone is wearing them, don't go up to ...
11
cover my expenses but not to actually pay me or offer any equity
What's that -- they pay you a salary which, after tax, just matches your minimum living expenses?
Well, it doesn't matter, this deal is IMHO still broken beyond repair. Either you are
a co-founder, in which case foregoing salary can be reasonable (because you get major equity)
or your ...
11
How do I motivate someone who values his time significantly more than money to come to work on time?
Is the problem that he is just coming in late and that you like punctuality (in which case YOU should consider adapting) or does his coming late make a difference in the overall output?
Plenty of people think things should be done a certain way and expect others to do it that way. That's unfortunate because a) it may not be the best way and b) may be the ...
11
I work at The Motley Fool, so I can share what I've seen with you.
The concept of 'unlimited vacation' by itself does not attract Talented employees. Talented employees are attracted to other talented employees. So how do you attract talent? Here at The Motley Fool, we do the following:
Have a 'food fridge', where food is brought in twice weekly. ...
10
Is it legal where you are to ask for so many hours? If you are in the USA you could get into lots of trouble, since it has been determined time and time again that programmers are not exempt employees (they are not management, basically, and so the employer cannot pay them only their fixed salary without overtime) and so they are due overtime if they work ...
10
I agree with much of the above, especially the need to manage the work being done and the responsibility handled, rather than hours.
Also, consider these issues:
Sitting at your desk does not equate to working.
Some of the best problem solving and thinking happens when you are away from work.
Seek engagement and results.
The best people solve problems ...
10
First - I'd suggest you take a big vacation! Not a "blackberry vacation" but a real one. Three years is a LONG time to be buried in all the details of a business and a long time to do the same thing day after day.
When you come back, figure out a way to hire someone to do the things you don't enjoy and focus your time on the things you DO enjoy. If that's ...
10
I'd advise you to judge people based on how they meet their deadlines, not the time they leave for home. I managed people whose 16 hour work day produces less than what other people do in 5 hours. After 20+ years as a developer and development manager, I can tell you no one really codes efficiently 16 hours a day, at least not continuously.
Wanting to amp ...
10
But it's a double-edged sword. The sports team has a contract with the person to pay them no matter what (with very few exceptions). Do you really want to hire someone, commit to pay them $1M over 5 or 8 years, and then find out after 18 months that your startup is going to pivot and this person is suddenly no longer valuable?
I also believe that your ...
9
Clearly this is a personal issue, as evidenced by the diverse opinions, and I'm going to weigh in with yet another.
So really, I think the answer is: Whatever matches the culture of your company!
For us at Smart Bear, shared offices with just two people were perfect.
We started with everyone in one room. Information flowed nicely and it was fun, but ...
9
I just had to drop a note here to say that you should consider yourself lucky that you've found an employee that values health and balance in life and at that produces good results!
I would say that there is a significant performance drop when you start working that many hours regularly. Add to that the cost when health is giving in.
Find a balance!
9
We just completed the process of selecting a new PEO for Blue Fish. We looked at Administaff, ADP TotalSource, and TriNet.
For the past 10 years, we've been with Administaff, one of the originators of the PEO concept. They are considered the "cadillac" PEO provider - they tend to be the most expensive option, but they have a higher quality offering than the ...
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