New ‘fun’ office culture rankles veteran staffer

Smart implementation key to drawing young talent, keeping others.

Q: The office where I’ve worked for 20 years has turned into a playground. Our new general manager hired six recent college graduates who play stupid games, throw balls across the room and lounge around on our recently purchased sofa. On top of that, they have all been given the latest iPhones.

Last week, these youngsters had some type of contest where the loser got his head shaved. The general manager just stood by and watched, laughing right along with everyone else. He says people can have fun and still be highly productive, but I don’t see this happening.

Many older employees feel as I do, but management doesn’t want our opinions. Because I find this foolishness to be disruptive and distracting, I have now started looking for a more professional place to work. What do you think is going on here?

A: I can certainly sympathize with your frustration and bewilderment. After two decades in a traditional workplace, you undoubtedly feel as though you’ve landed on another planet. But while this culture shift seems bizarre to you, it’s actually par for the course in some organizations.

These “work hard, play hard” companies make fun and recreation readily available, but also expect employees to work long hours. Typically, their top executives are either fairly young themselves or trying to attract a younger demographic.

Since a change in management often produces a change in direction, odds are that your new general manager has decided to acquire some different skills and abilities by bringing in recent graduates. The toys, sofa and iPhones are simply provided as bait.

Regardless of whether this was a wise move, your boss clearly botched the implementation. In his eagerness to appeal to younger folks, he just let the games begin with little planning or explanation. If valuable long-term employees begin taking their talents elsewhere, he may eventually choose to revisit that decision.

Q: I was recently asked to evaluate my boss’s job performance. I report to the president of a nonprofit organization, and each person on the management team has been asked to prepare a summary of her strengths and weaknesses. This request came from our board of directors. Since we have been given no additional information about the process, I’m nervous about participating. How should I proceed?

A: The short answer to your question is “carefully.” This unexpected development could reflect a power struggle between your boss and the board, an event which is all too common in the nonprofit world. On the other hand, they might simply wish to provide her with some useful feedback.

Regardless of their motives, your first priority should be self-preservation. Since you have no idea how these comments will be used, avoid saying anything which might reveal your identity. And do not presume confidentiality, even if that was promised, because people are often much too careless with sensitive information.

When describing strengths and weaknesses, assume that your boss will be given these comments verbatim, attempt to guess who said what, and react badly to pointed criticism. So you should not write anything that you wouldn’t say to her face.