3 ms·

Instant turnoffs: - Boasts of "epic" nerf gun (and/or laser tag) battles, foosball tables, office kegs, or other non- or anti-perks; - Group selfies of your w

Instant turnoffs: - Boasts of "epic" nerf gun (and/or laser tag) battles, foosball tables, office kegs, or other non- or anti-perks; - Group selfies of your whole team wearing brightly colored T-shirts and forced smiles at some company outing. What is this, day camp? - Mandatory linked-in profiles and / mug shots on the company website. Where did this trend come from? What happened to privacy? - Tightly-packed open plan offices - "unlimited vacation"

danpalmer 10y ago
Can I ask your opinion on these in a bit more detail? - non-perks: we mention that we hang out on Friday evenings and sometimes have a drink, and we celebrate when we do important things, is this too much? Are there better ways of writing that? - Interesting point, I see what you mean, and we do have a team photo (no matching t-shirts). Will think about this. - Profiles: We want to link for those who want it, which currently happens to be the whole team - how do you suggest we convey that those are optional? - Office: This is a tricky one, the open-plan office is currently under discussion among the team, although we aren't that tightly packed. - Unlimited vacation: I think we might just not mention this one. We do have unlimited vacation, but the founders set a very good example, and it's used much more as a 'flexible' vacation policy. I think we can explain how it gets used, but maybe not on first read of a hiring page. What do you think?
- kafkaesq 10y ago
  Perks: the point I was trying to make is many ostensible culture perks that startups like to run up their flag poles tehse days have a decidedly "bro"-ish bent (that, and that effusive mentions of alcohol consumption at the work place aren't necessarily taken as positive signs... even by those, like myself, who do like to drink). But the wording you've chosen is far more restrained, and I see no problem with it. Profiles: a little phrase to the effect of "These are just the team members that like having their profiles posted posted on the company's website. If you join us, having your profile listed here is strictly optional" would do quite nicely. I'd be delighted if more companies would include a similar disclaimer -- otherwise, one really has to wonder about risking a butting of heads (or worse) by objecting to such a form of public disclosure. Vacation -- "We offer competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits and a flexible vacation policy." None of these requires further explanation on the website itself (provided they are meant as they sound), but it's good to have detailed responses ready when people ask. I actually specifically look for the phrase "flexible vacation policy" because I like to ask for exactly that (i.e. some possibility of negotiating for more than the woefully default offered in the U.S.), again without raising eyebrows or arising suspicions of being under-committed or work-shy (when in reality, it means exactly the opposite).
- random778 10y ago
  I don't see how the discussion around an open plan office is tricky. Simply googling it will give you droves of articles like this one http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/why-your-company-will-benefit-from-getting-rid-of-open-office-spaces-first-90.html http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/why-your-company-will-bene... as well as research such as this review of research on the topic: http://www.lapa.co.nz/assets/NewsAttachments/openplanofficeszengine.pdf http://www.lapa.co.nz/assets/NewsAttachments/openplanoffices...
  - danpalmer 10y ago
    I've read a lot of these things, and while I recognise there is some research in favour of private offices, I also think it's currently very 'trendy' to say that open spaces are bad, and I think a lot of the discussion is very developer-focused. Most of the people in our office are non-developers, and while the developers like quiet, our creative teams get far more enjoyment (and seemingly productivity) as a result of being able to talk and bounce ideas off each other much more.

danpalmer 10y ago

Can I ask your opinion on these in a bit more detail? - non-perks: we mention that we hang out on Friday evenings and sometimes have a drink, and we celebrate when we do important things, is this too much? Are there better ways of writing that? - Interesting point, I see what you mean, and we do have a team photo (no matching t-shirts). Will think about this. - Profiles: We want to link for those who want it, which currently happens to be the whole team - how do you suggest we convey that those are optional? - Office: This is a tricky one, the open-plan office is currently under discussion among the team, although we aren't that tightly packed. - Unlimited vacation: I think we might just not mention this one. We do have unlimited vacation, but the founders set a very good example, and it's used much more as a 'flexible' vacation policy. I think we can explain how it gets used, but maybe not on first read of a hiring page. What do you think?

kafkaesq 10y ago
Perks: the point I was trying to make is many ostensible culture perks that startups like to run up their flag poles tehse days have a decidedly "bro"-ish bent (that, and that effusive mentions of alcohol consumption at the work place aren't necessarily taken as positive signs... even by those, like myself, who do like to drink). But the wording you've chosen is far more restrained, and I see no problem with it. Profiles: a little phrase to the effect of "These are just the team members that like having their profiles posted posted on the company's website. If you join us, having your profile listed here is strictly optional" would do quite nicely. I'd be delighted if more companies would include a similar disclaimer -- otherwise, one really has to wonder about risking a butting of heads (or worse) by objecting to such a form of public disclosure. Vacation -- "We offer competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits and a flexible vacation policy." None of these requires further explanation on the website itself (provided they are meant as they sound), but it's good to have detailed responses ready when people ask. I actually specifically look for the phrase "flexible vacation policy" because I like to ask for exactly that (i.e. some possibility of negotiating for more than the woefully default offered in the U.S.), again without raising eyebrows or arising suspicions of being under-committed or work-shy (when in reality, it means exactly the opposite).
random778 10y ago
I don't see how the discussion around an open plan office is tricky. Simply googling it will give you droves of articles like this one http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/why-your-company-will-benefit-from-getting-rid-of-open-office-spaces-first-90.html http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/why-your-company-will-bene... as well as research such as this review of research on the topic: http://www.lapa.co.nz/assets/NewsAttachments/openplanofficeszengine.pdf http://www.lapa.co.nz/assets/NewsAttachments/openplanoffices...
- danpalmer 10y ago
  I've read a lot of these things, and while I recognise there is some research in favour of private offices, I also think it's currently very 'trendy' to say that open spaces are bad, and I think a lot of the discussion is very developer-focused. Most of the people in our office are non-developers, and while the developers like quiet, our creative teams get far more enjoyment (and seemingly productivity) as a result of being able to talk and bounce ideas off each other much more.