Read the following Netflix case study and then answer the three questions at the

Question

Read the following Netflix case study and then answer the three questions at the end of this post: Netflix has a unique approach to the performance of its employees. It employs a culture with few rules and no tolerance for average or poor performers. Workers can earn top-of-the-market pay but no bonuses, development, training, or career planning. Vacation is at the discretion of the employee. The focus is on what people get done, not how many hours or days they worked. Netflix officials maintain that when employee discretion rules, employees can be trusted to do the right things. Reed Hastings, the CEO, says “We are more focused on the absence of procedure—managing through talented people rather than a rule book.” There is no policy on vacation time. Workers decide, for example, how much vacation and sick leave to take. The only rules are being out sick for more than five days requires a doctor’s excuse, and time-off beyond 30 days per year requires HR approval. The HR Director interviewed an applicant who expressed surprise at the company's vacation time approach. He said, “I am a workaholic and never take time off. I need someone to make sure I take my time, or I won’t use it.” He was told, “We hire adults and if you do not know how to manage your vacations, you won’t fit in." If someone does something wrong, they are told it was wrong. After that they either “get it” or they are gone. Hastings says, “We try to be fair, but the length of an employee’s Netflix career is not our primary concern. If someone is not extraordinary, we let them go.” If a person is rated as average or mediocre during the performance review process, he or she is dismissed. The HR officer notes that really good workers get frustrated at working with average performers. They feel it is important to get rid of those who do not perform even though other companies often do not. Annual 360-degree reviews provide “direct and honest feedback.” Another HR official notes, “In many companies when I want you to leave, my job is to prove you’re incompetent. Here I write a check. We exchange severance for a release.” The company does not “coddle” employees and does not ask how someone “feels.” When they are dismissed, people usually find new jobs quickly, and to date, no one has sued. Netflix's culture is designed to stimulate and maintain employee creativity. If efficiency were the goal, more structure and rules would be needed, the CEO notes. As the company has grown, it may be more difficult to allow the same amount of freedom. As one observer noted, "Good people can do things and can be relied on to police themselves.” The lack of rules coupled with a serious performance culture makes Netflix an attractive place to work.

Questions: Based on this and earlier case studies that we have studied this semester, would you find working at Netflix exciting or frightening? Why? Can everyone in a company be above average? If so, how can you tell if someone is truly above average? How does Netflix's approach to performance evaluations important affect its organizational culture? Explain your answer.

Explanation / Answer

I find working with Netflix to be frightening because there is no job security and the company do not care for the people. For them, the employees are like machines that can work hard generate the revenue for the company. They do not mind what the employee is going through and all they care is the performance. The company that is ready to fire employees so easily are very difficult to work with. Any company would try to retain the employees and build a good team. But here they are ready to fire the employees if the performance is average. Usually, the companies will design training programs to help the employees fo better in the coming days. But I do not see that kind of work culture at Netflix. The unlimited vacation is just one attractive element and it becomes pointless after a point of time. So the main thing the employees worry is about the work culture and how well the company can help them grow over the next few years.

Not everyone in the company can be above average because they come from different backgrounds and some people take more time to get adjusted to the company work environment. The company needs to have the patience to guide them in the right direction and help them grow professionally. The companies have the training program for the same reason. To tell someone is above average the company needs to create a benchmark that we can take as a reference and compare to see the performance of the employees. Just saying that someone is above average makes no sense and the company also needs to be accurate with their benchmark because the people might lose their jobs if there is a mistake and their performance becomes below-average. It is wrong to expect that the everyone will be above average but it is good to expect that everyone is willing to learn if we teach what needs to be known to excel on the job.

The performance evaluation method used by the company shows that they have a very fast paced work environment where there are no values for the human emotions. All that works is the performance and numbers at the end of the month. This practice will start demotivating people and the employees will lose interest in working for the company for a long time. They will start looking out for jobs after completing one year at the company. The people will feel insecure to work and they will stop giving importance to their personal life worrying about their performance at work.

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