Yahoo!'s new CEO, Marissa Mayer started quite a brouhaha in February with her announcement that work from home would no longer be allowed. Well, to be honest, she started getting a lot of press attention when she was hired not only because of her age but also because she was five months pregnant. There was speculation about how long of a maternity leave the new corporate officer would take. Just as startling as her ban on telecommuting was her decision to be part of all of the screening and hiring interviews, as well as the decisions about who to hire. And the criticisms about her decision to go through all reports would have broken the back of even the strongest elephant.

It seemed most of the criticisms were with regard to poor use of a CEO's time. But just as compelling was the criticism about absolutely no work from home, no telecommuting. An after-volley took a shot at her decision to have a small office added to her executive space where her new infant is attended, things began to settle down with some aftermath grousing and grumbling.

I must admit, it's difficult to recall any CEO who has drawn so much fire over so many issues as has Mayer. Perhaps it's because of her innovative style. Perhaps it's because she's the exception for her age (or gender). Or maybe it's because she's determined to be fiscally responsible and wants to see those financials, quarterly, and annual reports showing some sound judgment and not just going along with what everybody's done before that keeps folks comfy and stagnant. She's shaking things up in a big way.

Her decisions about running her company have me sitting on a fence because I have a unique seat at this production. I am a business owner and do contract work. That work comes from my home office (wherever home office resides at any particular time of the day). I have some non-visible disabilities which are impacted by commute matters. Because door-to-door transportation is extremely unreliable for people like me, working from home is almost required. And because my doctors have been aware of my condition since 2006 but never provided counseling nor rehabilitation to help me return to an office setting, I've battled in the dark about how to manage my own accommodations through trial and error.

However as an independent contractor, I finally reached a point where taking on an intern made business sense. There have been other instances where I've been among other businesses that chose to use remote workers. In observing the practices of my colleagues, it was easy to spot when hours were being padded and the techniques to do so. It was pretty annoying to find myself being gently accused of padding hours when in reality the work was legitimate as far as addressing the needs of the constituents. By by that time my patience with the entire situation had gone and my decision to leave was irreversible.

Seeing Mayer's need to pull in the waste and padding that was showing up in the financials makes her ban on work from home very understandable. It also means Yahoo! is not one of the contracts a person with my challenges and ethical standards would seek.

But from a business owner's perspective, there are many dynamics that drive the edict to come back to the office to do your work. There's also accountability. I lost a short-term virtual employee. In the ensuing months of their departure, an increasing appreciation of the fact that they were doing nearly none of the things I asked them to do, followed through with little if any of my instructions, and then began to disparage me all became very plain. What I thought I had gained and what I thought I was teaching proved to be in my imagination. That's probably what Marisa discovered on her own through her own reports. There's concern about those who do work from home, have no challenges, but are only using the convenience of telecommuting as an excuse to pad their time and manufacture work product that is actually zumba classes and photoshop with the kids time. Then they throw some gobbledy-gook together and call it a report after they get through posting their whinnings on Facebook. Mayer is moving toward cutting that rot out of the fruit.

After a while, it's time to call everyone back into the fort and have them do boot camp for a while. It's a type of retraining and mind re-sync. It's also a time to observe work habits. This is an opportunity to excise the wasteful actions, nurture the healthy attitudes, and also allow employees to attack skills that are needed for this organization to continue to grow and thrive.

The other dynamic that's driving her decision is how time is spent in the office and how it impacts office interactions. That's time when we are not only learning the various trails to the coffee room but also the faces that go with the names, the voices and personalities. There are the passing by the cubicle moments latched onto the water cooler stop or the kitchen snack moments that create happenstance encounters that lead to co-worker collaborations and projects. I dare say, Marissa saw that those opportunity costs were becoming opportunity losses and wanted to stem them. So Mayer's decisions are necessary at this time. However, these changes don't seem to be in the nature of permanent. Not at all. Actually, they appear to be geared toward getting things back under control.

Mayer has also been criticized for building (at her own expense) a nursery adjacent to hers for the sake of her child's care. Is it possible that Marissa is a lactating mother? If so, that accommodation makes sense. Where would she express the milk so that it can be safely be placed in a bottle and then transported home if she does not take a break from her CEO duties to privately nurse the child onsite?

If having a lactation area is the case, wouldn't it be beneficial for all female workers to have that benefit? It would definitely make sense while not stretching the budget to disproportionate size. It's just a little disappointing that the Yahoo! budget can't extend a little so that childcare can be offered. Let's face it, that could create a daunting expense. There's insurance, credentialing, staff increases, meals, exercise space, and equipment costs. So perhaps childcare support can be provided up to a certain age.

Mayer has made some sweeping and dramatic changes in Yahoo! work life. Ultimately, they're aimed at creating positive turnaround. It's definitely not about draconian screening and monitoring and making Yahoo! the Big Brother environment that some would have us believe them to be.

Resources:

* Marissa Mayer Reviews Every New Hire At Yahoo (September 4, 2012)
* Marissa Mayer Is No Fool (February 26, 2013)
* No More Working From Home for Yahoo Employees (February 23, 2013)
* Marissa Mayer — A Man in Woman’s Clothing? (February 27, 2013)
* Yahoo! boss Marissa Mayer under fire for building personal nursery next to her office - before telling employees they can NOT work from home (February 27, 2013)
* Marissa Mayer Loves Paperwork, And It's Driving Some People Nuts (March 19, 2013)
* Yahoo: The Marissa Mayer Turnaround (March 24, 2013)