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老派CEO支持马斯克的“硬核”策略,员工的抱怨让他们感到厌烦

老派CEO支持马斯克的“硬核”策略,员工的抱怨让他们感到厌烦

Chloe Berger 2022-11-24
这位特斯拉公司的首席执行官已经成为同行们的偶像。

埃隆·马斯克的强硬策略吸引了一些首席执行官。图片来源:BRITTA PEDERSEN—GETTY IMAGES

埃隆·马斯克在接管推特(Twitter)后树敌不少,包括至少一半的推特(目前已经离职)员工和推特用户,他们认为这个平台正在走向灭亡。然而,一些更传统的首席执行官正在热衷于马斯克的管理方式。

据《华尔街日报》(Wall Street Journal)的卡勒姆·博彻斯报道,这位特斯拉公司(Tesla)的首席执行官已经成为同行们的偶像,他们厌倦了员工强调工作与生活平衡的新理念,以及员工们渴望摆脱疲于奔命文化。纽约投资公司First Level Capital的首席执行官迈克尔·弗里德曼对博彻斯说:“我认为每一位成功的首席执行官,包括我自己,都对所有的抱怨感到厌倦。”

在远程工作时代,员工们都强调灵活性和工作与生活的平衡这种最新流行趋势,他们希望在雇主们强推重返办公室办公的同时保持这种平衡。麦肯锡(McKinsey)今年6月的一项调查显示,当有居家办公的工作机会时,87%的人会抓住这个机会。

但马斯克不同意。在通过电子邮件或者锁定电子邮件账户解雇了50%的推特员工后,马斯克在午夜给留下的员工发了一封关于创建“推特2.0”的电子邮件:一种“极端硬核”、涉及“长时间高强度工作”的新文化。那些不赞同的人将被解雇,并获得7个月的遣散费。

他一刀切的做法被人力资源经理们批评为不专业和缺乏同情心——有人甚至称他的行为“软弱、可悲、残忍”。一些人认为,他当时如果能够以马克·扎克伯格一周后在Meta公司那样的方式裁员(扎克伯格承担起了个人责任),那么情况会更好。该公司的初步数据显示,多达1,200名的推特员工拒不接受马斯克的最后通牒,离开了公司。一位名叫德米特里·博罗达安科的癌症幸存者因为希望远程工作而被解雇,他们提起了集体诉讼。

好雇主的终结

几年来,员工们在新冠疫情期间穿着运动裤,轻松地进行Zoom电话会议,而经理们也一直在尝试做“好人”。但对于马斯克这样的领导者来说,这种新工作方式已经过时了。博彻斯写道,他可以按照与其他首席执行官不同的规则行事,这些首席执行官正在旁观马斯克的“硬核”策略的成效,并希望自己也能够像马斯克一样行事。弗里德曼承认,他的身价不高,这让他无法像马斯克那样发挥影响力。

这都是一些雇主正在经历的“行善疲劳”的一部分,一位高管猎头告诉《金融时报》(Financial Times):如今,“他们的感觉是,我们需要回到业务上来。”

但并不是每个人都是“火枪手”。今年夏天,当马斯克向特斯拉的员工发出最后通牒,要求他们每周在办公室工作40小时时,许多首席执行官都表示反对。Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC的首席执行官克雷格·科恩对《财富》杂志表示,工作效率并不完全取决于面对面交流。他说:“公司高管不应该追逐自己的名声或者形象,而是应该关注可及性。大多数员工不需要——或者不希望——他们的主管在他们身边工作。”

支持马斯克对待员工的方式的领导者和批评他的方式的领导者之间的分歧是新冠疫情后首席执行官文化分裂的象征,随着经济衰退的逼近,公司越来越不关注员工的愿望和需求。

推特及其员工能否坚持到马斯克的硬核愿景实现,对那些想按照他的规则行事的首席执行官们来说,这将是一个教训。(财富中文网)

译者:中慧言-王芳

埃隆·马斯克在接管推特(Twitter)后树敌不少,包括至少一半的推特(目前已经离职)员工和推特用户,他们认为这个平台正在走向灭亡。然而,一些更传统的首席执行官正在热衷于马斯克的管理方式。

据《华尔街日报》(Wall Street Journal)的卡勒姆·博彻斯报道,这位特斯拉公司(Tesla)的首席执行官已经成为同行们的偶像,他们厌倦了员工强调工作与生活平衡的新理念,以及员工们渴望摆脱疲于奔命文化。纽约投资公司First Level Capital的首席执行官迈克尔·弗里德曼对博彻斯说:“我认为每一位成功的首席执行官,包括我自己,都对所有的抱怨感到厌倦。”

在远程工作时代,员工们都强调灵活性和工作与生活的平衡这种最新流行趋势,他们希望在雇主们强推重返办公室办公的同时保持这种平衡。麦肯锡(McKinsey)今年6月的一项调查显示,当有居家办公的工作机会时,87%的人会抓住这个机会。

但马斯克不同意。在通过电子邮件或者锁定电子邮件账户解雇了50%的推特员工后,马斯克在午夜给留下的员工发了一封关于创建“推特2.0”的电子邮件:一种“极端硬核”、涉及“长时间高强度工作”的新文化。那些不赞同的人将被解雇,并获得7个月的遣散费。

他一刀切的做法被人力资源经理们批评为不专业和缺乏同情心——有人甚至称他的行为“软弱、可悲、残忍”。一些人认为,他当时如果能够以马克·扎克伯格一周后在Meta公司那样的方式裁员(扎克伯格承担起了个人责任),那么情况会更好。该公司的初步数据显示,多达1,200名的推特员工拒不接受马斯克的最后通牒,离开了公司。一位名叫德米特里·博罗达安科的癌症幸存者因为希望远程工作而被解雇,他们提起了集体诉讼。

好雇主的终结

几年来,员工们在新冠疫情期间穿着运动裤,轻松地进行Zoom电话会议,而经理们也一直在尝试做“好人”。但对于马斯克这样的领导者来说,这种新工作方式已经过时了。博彻斯写道,他可以按照与其他首席执行官不同的规则行事,这些首席执行官正在旁观马斯克的“硬核”策略的成效,并希望自己也能够像马斯克一样行事。弗里德曼承认,他的身价不高,这让他无法像马斯克那样发挥影响力。

这都是一些雇主正在经历的“行善疲劳”的一部分,一位高管猎头告诉《金融时报》(Financial Times):如今,“他们的感觉是,我们需要回到业务上来。”

但并不是每个人都是“火枪手”。今年夏天,当马斯克向特斯拉的员工发出最后通牒,要求他们每周在办公室工作40小时时,许多首席执行官都表示反对。Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC的首席执行官克雷格·科恩对《财富》杂志表示,工作效率并不完全取决于面对面交流。他说:“公司高管不应该追逐自己的名声或者形象,而是应该关注可及性。大多数员工不需要——或者不希望——他们的主管在他们身边工作。”

支持马斯克对待员工的方式的领导者和批评他的方式的领导者之间的分歧是新冠疫情后首席执行官文化分裂的象征,随着经济衰退的逼近,公司越来越不关注员工的愿望和需求。

推特及其员工能否坚持到马斯克的硬核愿景实现,对那些想按照他的规则行事的首席执行官们来说,这将是一个教训。(财富中文网)

译者:中慧言-王芳

Elon Musk has made some enemies since taking over Twitter, including at least half of Twitter’s (now former) staff and Twitter users who believe the platform is dying. Yet, some more traditional CEOs are warming up to Musk’s ways.

The Tesla CEO has become a figurehead for peers who are tired of workers’ new emphasis on work-life balance and their employees’ desire to disengage from hustle culture, reports Callum Borchers of The Wall Street Journal. “I think every successful CEO, including myself, is tired of all the whining,” Michael Friedman, chief executive of the New York investment firm First Level Capital, told Borchers

Workers have placed a newfangled emphasis on flexibility and work-life balance in the era of remote work that they want to hold onto as bosses push for an office return. When offered the chance to work from home, 87% grabbed at it according to a survey from McKinsey this past June.

But Musk isn’t having any of it. After laying off 50% of Twitter’s workforce via email or locked out email accounts, Musk sent a midnight email to remaining employees about creating “Twitter 2.0:” A new culture that would be “extremely hardcore” and involve “long hours at high intensity.” Those who didn’t agree would be laid off with seven months severance.

His unsubtle approach has been criticized by HR managers for being unprofessional and for lacking compassion—one even called his actions “weak, pathetic, and cruel.” Some suggested that he would have been better off laying off workers the way Mark Zuckerberg did at Meta a week later, who took personal responsibility. Preliminary data at the company shows that as many as 1,200 Twitter workers left in response to Musk’s ultimatum. One worker, Dmitry Borodaenko, a cancer survivor who was laid off due to his desire to work remotely, filed a class action lawsuit against Twitter.

The end of the nice boss

Managers have tried out being “the nice guy” for a couple of years as the workforce relaxed into sweatpants and Zoom calls during the pandemic. But it’s getting stale for leaders like Musk who are over the new way of work. He’s able to play by a different rulebook than other CEOs, Borchers writes, who are watching Musk’s “hardcore” tactics from the sidelines and wishing they could act the same. Friedman admitted that the lack of zeroes behind his name prohibits him from having the leverage Musk does.

It’s all part of the “do-gooder fatigue” that some bosses are experiencing, an executive headhunter told The Financial Times: These days, ”the feeling is, we need to get back to business.”

But not everyone is a “Musketeer.” When Musk delivered one of his ultimatums to Tesla employees over the summer about spending 40 hours a week in the office, many CEOs pushed back. Productivity isn’t all about being in person, Craig Corn, CEO of Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC, told Fortune. “Instead of chasing their own celebrity or brand, company executives should focus on accessibility,” he said. “Most employees don’t need—or want—their executives working beside them.

The division between leaders supporting the way Musk is treating workers and leaders who are criticizing his ways are emblematic of the post-pandemic CEO culture split, in which companies are focusing less on an employee’s wants and needs as a recession looms.

Whether or not Twitter and its staff will stick around for Musk’s hardcore vision to be realized will be a lesson to the CEOs who want to play by his book.

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