When Jackie Reses, Yahoo’s executive vice president of people and development, sent a memo asking employees who work from home to adjust their work environment by transitioning back to the office, the business bloggers and media went berserk claiming that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is taking the job market back to the stone ages with her company’s request.
Bloggers and business consultants berated Meyer for not considering the challenges of working moms who were afforded the flexibility of staying at home with their children and earning a living doing what they loved. The reality is, that is not Mayer’s problem. Mayer, who was brought in as CEO last year faces the daunting problem of reinvigorating a brand that has about as much appeal as the defunct video game company, Atari.
In order to flex her leadership muscles and attempt to turn around her company she has to take a different approach which may mean attaining and cultivating employees who are solely focused on her company’s growth. This is an executive decision by a woman who is not afraid to pull out all of the stops when it comes to focused attention on her company’s objectives. If you are a business leader with a burden of proof on your shoulders, you had better be equipped to pull a rabbit out of your hat.
Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO
Whether or not this new approach will work will only remain to be seen in the coming years. I will admit, I only use my yahoo address as a catch all for email subscriptions and I’ve given up on yahoo IM due to the easy access of instant messaging but hey, you never know. If Michael Jordan can offer the same shoe he debuted 15 years ago and still make millions, maybe Mayer can reinvent Yahoo too.
Good luck!
Te-Erika
