They had just spent the last ten hours cramped together in a tiny room, sitting on short stools and hunched over buckets. The room was hot, and the stench of sweat and dead fish lingered in the air.
The three Thai men moved the buckets of fish – 90 pounds in all – that they had spent the day washing, gutting and filleting into a neighboring room. Then they scrubbed the floors with bleach to remove the smell of the dead fish.
It didn’t work that well.
As cockroaches scurried out from the cracks in the walls, the men pulled cots into the center of the room, and settled down for a night’s sleep. The next morning, they would wake up early and take the fish to market, where they would make a grand total of $10.
The Folly of “Best Place to Work” Lists
That was a scene from a show I watched last week, Blood, Sweat and Tears. The show follows a group of six young people from the UK through Thailand, as they work alongside poor, migrant workers and gain a better understanding of the food industry.
Contrast that with the latest issue of Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work list, which had arrived in my mailbox just a day earlier.
I read a few pieces of the article. As was expected, the author went on and on about indoor pools and instructor-led yoga and on-site massages and dry-cleaning.
And all I could think was, “This is bullshit.”
Over-Engineering Human Resources
Perks are way, way overrated. They have nothing to do with a great workplace.
The migrant workers highlighted in Blood, Sweat and Tears put up with horrible conditions and horrible pay because they don’t have a choice. I’m in no way advocating that we should treat workers like crap.
There’s a happy middle, somewhere between the fish-gutters and the free yoga. We need to find it.
I’ve never seen Frank Roche and Sarah Chambers’ organization, iFractal, on a best places to work list. But it is one.
Frank keeps it simple. He hires great people. He pays them fairly. He puts people in roles that align with their passions and their strengths. He creates an environment where people can connect and collaborate and share great ideas. He communicates, openly, honestly and clearly.
He documents the whole thing and puts it up on their Flickr stream.
To my knowledge, there’s no pool or on-site massages at iFractal (though in fact-checking this article, I found out they are looking into instructor-led yoga – no joke!). But it doesn’t matter. Those things have nothing to do with a great place to work.
We over-engineer HR.
We fixate on employee engagement scores and perks and swag. We create 17,000 policies and treat our employees like children, and then we talk about empowerment. We call them resources instead of people.
This HR thing, it’s not really that hard. Hire great people, treat them like adults, and then get the hell out of the way and let them do amazing work.
Image by Michael Porter
The premise of “over-engineered” HR is the foundation to everything I try to focus on as an HR professional. If there is a recipe, Frank appears to have found it. It really is that simple…most of the time. I always say, “respect and treat your employees as human beings and 90% of everything else will take care of itself.” Thanks for the validation…
Great points Chris. It’s about the people and how you treat them. All that extra ‘stuff’ is a bonus but worth nothing if culture is horrible. I would add helping people develop as very important too.
Charlie,
To give credit where credit’s due, I definitely stole that phrase from you! Thanks for the inspiration!
(And you’re spot on – Frank has the secret sauce!)
- Chris
Nathaniel – good one that I missed. Thanks!
I feel like this post needs the “Hallelujah” chorus being sung as the soundtrack…when you get it, you get it.
haha… thanks Emily!
Hi Chris,
I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for recognizing all of the hard work Frank does (along with his partner, Sarah) to keep IFRACTAL a dynamic, proactive place to work. As a Fractal, I’ll admit that though certain perks (like an unlimited supply of Cheetos) are pretty nice, it’s not the reason we come to work every day. It really is a refreshing break to come to a place that values their employees for the things that make them special. Thanks for the call out! Feel free to stop by anytime when we get that on-site yoga instructor.
Bethany,
Thanks for reaching out! From everything I’ve seen, Frank and Sarah do a great job with iFractal (thanks for mentioning Sarah, btw – I didn’t mean to neglect her!). It’s great to have all of my perceptions about the place validated by someone who actually works there.
As for yoga, I’m not sure I’d look good in yoga pants!
Chris
IFRACTAL is an awesome place to work. I’m happy. Thanks for the shout out.
Sarah,
So sorry for neglecting you in the original post – just fixed that! Thanks for stopping by!
Chris
IFRACTAL really is a fabulous place to work. I feel lucky… everyday. And after reading your post, I feel even luckier. Thanks!
I work at iFractal. I can’t imagine wanting to work anywhere else. It feels like a bunch of really exceptionally competent friends doing what they enjoy.
Frank & Sarah, how much are you paying your employees to come comment here? Wow! Talk about company pride!
Charlie and Jessica, thanks for validating my perceptions of iFractal!
Chris,
Thanks for looking out for IFRACTAL! Maybe next year it will be on the top 100 list.
My pleasure, Shawn!
You’ve heard it all from other Fractals, but it’s true. I’m both valued and respected here.
And while I’m lucky it’s never come to it, I’d have no problem scrubbing up fish guts for my amazing coworkers.
Chris,
Good stuff and nice read. As I was reading a thought came to me that I have had several times in my career. Just because a company is on the 100 Best Places to Work does not mean the employees are the best in the business or it truly is a best place to work. I have worked at a couple and sure the on-site daycare, gym, sleep rooms, countless food options, free sodas, etc is nice but the culture sucked. Why? Because the culutre had changed from “cool place” to “entitlement place”. As with anything the experience will be different for everyone but your point is on the mark that HR should keep it simple.
Thanks,
Mark
Mark – You bring up a lot of great points. And as you point out, everyone’s experiences are different. I really worry that these lists cause people to focus on the wrong things. Thanks for commenting!
Amen.