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Stupid HR Tricks: Yahoo Phones It In
According to The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo’s board of directors phoned CEO Carol Bartz and fired her. The reasons and justification for canning Bartz will be debated, but one thing is clear: Yahoo has a bunch of wussies on its board of directors whose stupid “HR” trick will probably cost the company some good hires.
Stockholders might be pleased that Bartz got the boot, but they should be worried that the board didn’t demonstrate the guts or dignity to meet with Bartz and fire her in person.
What’s the big deal? It’s that stupid HR tricks, like firing by phone, reflect a company’s character. It’s no longshot to guess that Yahoo’s HR department treats employees and job candidates the same way. The larger problem is Yahoo’s board has signaled to the professional community from which it recruits that it’s not a company that respects its employees—much less the people it tries to recruit. When a CEO gets dissed like the “common” job candidate, the bottom has fallen out of the company’s integrity. The Yahoo board should have met with Bartz face-to-face.
Job hunters recount similar stories of impertinent employers that avidly recruit them, then totally ignore them (“Rude Employers: Slam-Bam-Thank-You-Ma’m”). While the marketing department works to build a positive corporate image, it’s undermined by gutless leaders who are not mindful of the opinions of their professional communities. Smug HR departments and cowardly boards send a loud signal: This is not a company worth working for or doing business with. Pity the CMO and public relations officer whose jobs are to shape the company’s image.
Say what you will about Bartz’s tenure at Yahoo, but in her stellar career she has never “phoned it in.” She deserved better. So do Yahoo’s customers and stockholders—and so do Yahoo’s managers, who need to recruit the best people they can. But after seeing such a display of disrespect, why would top talent want to interview at Yahoo?
Job hunters will laugh. They’re frequently subjected to such treatment when they are recruited or interviewed for a job. Now they can giggle, watching a top executive face it. Wherever Bartz goes next (and I wish her well), I hope she's in a position to nix this kind of stupid HR trick—or it could cost her some great hires.
What’s your take on this? Join me on the Discussion Forum.
About Nick Corcodilos
Nick started headhunting in Silicon Valley in 1979. His contrarian "Ask The Headhunter" media properties feature his radical approach to winning jobs and to hiring great workers. On CMO.com, Nick shows you how to tackle the daunting obstacles that job hunters and managers face when trying to work together. Join Nick on the discussion board to talk shop and get an edge in the C-suite. In addition, his newest books, How to Work with Headhunters and How Can I Change Careers?, are available as PDFs.
