Yahoo in ‘damage control’ after leak of memo banning telecommuting
The company’s head of HR sent out a memo Friday telling employees who work from home that they’ll have to start coming into an office in June. Communicators say the memo lacks some key elements.
The first sign that Yahoo HR director Jacqueline Reses’ memo informing employees that telecommuting will soon be a thing of the past may not have been an overwhelming success is that it leaked.
A banner across the top of the email states the message is proprietary and confidential. “Do not forward,” the text warns in all-caps. But, as All Things D reports, “a plethora of very irked Yahoo employees” made it public.
The directive that telecommuting will end in June comes from CEO Marissa Mayer, who has been at the online services company since July. Donna Lubrano, adjunct professor of management and communications at Newbury College, says the plan and the memo are going to force Yahoo’s management to do “a lot of damage control.”
She and other communicators offered their takes on the situation.
Dissecting the message
Reses’s message to employees contends that occupying the same space is a requirement for collaboration.
“Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings,” she wrote.
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