Re: IBM is having a Yahoo moment: No more working from home

[Jody Zolli <jody -dot- zolli -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I wasn't at DEC early enough to know about turkey farms, but I was told
that they unintentionally created a policy that helped ensure they retained
underperformers.

I heard that, when an employee was deemed underperforming (I think you had
to get a 4 or 5 on your performance review), your manager was required to
bring up your performance a minimum of 3 before you could be transferred to
another department. I heard that many managers would give underperforming
employees a 4 in order to ensure they could be transferred to another
department, thus making the employee someone else's problem. I do recall
hearing that when the first round of layoffs came (the golden parachute /
most generous layoff package), many of the people who were let go probably
should have been let go long ago.

-Jody


On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 10:38 AM, Peter Neilson <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>
wrote:

> On Fri, 10 Feb 2017 08:50:43 -0500, Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au>
> wrote:
>
> If cutting payroll really is the unstated goal ...
>>
>
> In ancient times Digital Equipment had a corporate "no layoffs" policy.
> They (most likely Ken Olsen himself) were trying very hard to be good guys.
> But of course you sometimes have to let a bunch of highly unproductive
> people go without having solid grounds for firing them. DEC's solution, or
> so I have heard? The Turkey Farm.
>
> You, targeted for removal, would be assigned to a new project with no
> manager, in an office with other turkeys, somewhere like in the fifth
> sub-basement of The Mill. You would have a phone and a subscription to a
> newspaper. (This was before any Internet.)
>
> Maybe the turkey farm was just a fabrication. I never worked at DEC, so I
> wouldn't know first hand. But it sure made a good story.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
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