Netflix No Longer Wants to Treat Employees Like Family. No Kidding.

[97K15004WD]

https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-new-culture-memo-keeper-test-changes-2024-6?op=1

You know, we've talked a lot on BITOG about employers not being able to find employees. Blamed all kinds of things.

But there is no way I would like to perform "above expectations" and be paid at "expectation" level.

IOW, this to me is no different than "convenience stores" that hire a "manager", pay them a salary - and then expect them to work more than 40 hours a week.

This "idea" (to me) is just a different form of underpaying for people that over-perform. I hope Netflix suffers for this "wonderful" management decision and I hope all their workers "fully evaluate" their managers, and Netflix with the same criteria.

I'm sure the stockholders are loving this this - until the company begins losing marketshare. And then Netflix begins moaning about "can't find workers"...

 

[97prizm]

This happens alot in hospital security which I'm trying to get out. The company bids low and it looks good on paper.

 

[Pew]

Sounds like an easy way for managers to get rid of employees they don't like.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

The term "quiet quitting" came out a few years ago. I had to look it up to see what it meant. It basically means doing your work, no more, no less. Industry coined it, I'm sure, to shame employees who don't give 110% to be rewarded with degrading benefits.

Employees who quietly quit may do the minimum required to keep their job, but they may also:
Reduce communication with colleagues and supervisors
Lack enthusiasm for their job
Avoid working longer hours by limiting their tasks to their job description
Set boundaries to improve their work-life balance
Leave work behind when they go home and focus on other activities

 

[Falcon_LS]

You pay peanuts, you get monkeys; this is a decision that will eventually sting them.

 

[eljefino]

The term "quiet quitting" came out a few years ago. I had to look it up to see what it meant. It basically means doing your work, no more, no less. Industry coined it, I'm sure, to shame employees who don't give 110% to be rewarded with degrading benefits.

Sounds like Gray rocking in an abusive relationship... which employment certainly can be.

 

[nicholas]

There are much better way to treat your employees.......

 

[drtyler]

Based on what is written in the article, I don't see the big deal.

Netflix is just making it known, rather than keeping behind closed doors.

 

[John105]

I can’t read the article as I didn’t pay to subscribe. So all I can say is, since when is work, “family?” Did you ever have a “best friend” or a coworker as close to you as a real first “cousin?” I did last job. Female and male.

I think it’s because I was SINGLE and 30. Nothing to do with the corporate culture.

It’s been shown that most family businesses are out of business by the 3rd gen.

My brother works in insurance. 8 weeks off day 1. Unlimited sick. Nobody comes in the office. Forget about the pay it’s super high. Bonuses thst equate to new cars, additions on homes. It’s like a place where adults are coddled. But the health care does stink

Yet, they can’t retain anyone. Because other cos will pay more.

To me? Humans always want more. So family and business works to a point.

 

[atikovi]

I can’t read the article as I didn’t pay to subscribe.

I didn't read it but see it just fine.

Netflix just tweaked its famous 'keeper test' used to drive out underperformers​

Ana Altchek
Jun 24, 2024, 5:35 PM EDT
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Netflix executives with co-CEO Greg Peters in the center. David Becker/Getty

• Netflix added a new line about its "keeper test" in an updated version of its culture memo.
• The test is when a manager asks whether they'd fight to keep an employee. If not, they're fired.
• Netflix's culture deck is known in the corporate world for its directness in stating company values.

Netflix has overhauled its famous culture memo — which included adding a line about its "keeper test" used by managers to determine if they should fire an employee.
The keeper test was previously defined as: "If a team member was leaving for a similar role at another company, would the manager try to keep them?"
If the answer was no, Netflix said the employee was given "generous severance" and cut so that a stronger replacement could be found.
Netflix has long been known to operate its business like a sports team, not a family, and the keeper test is part of that culture. This also means that tenures there can be brief as the company seeks out top talent and quickly cuts underperformers.
The keeper test has since evolved to: "If X wanted to leave, would I fight to keep them?" or, "Knowing everything I know today, would I hire X again?" If the answer is no, the memo says it's fairer for everyone to part ways.
It's the same idea just worded a bit differently — but it's been updated to include a disclaimer.
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"In the abstract, the keeper test can sound scary," Netflix says in the latest version of its culture memo. "In reality, we encourage everyone to speak to their managers about what's going well and what's not on a regular basis. This helps avoid surprises."

In the abstract, the keeper test can sound scary. In reality, we encourage everyone to speak to their managers about what's going well and what's not on a regular basis. This helps avoid surprises. Managers also evaluate team members on their whole record, rather than focusing on the mistakes or bets that didn't pay off. On the Dream Team, you need people who challenge the status quo and try new things. So we stick with employees through short-term bumps.

Netflix's keeper test was first introduced in an over 100-page memo published in 2009. Netflix used to encourage managers to do the test once per quarter, its cofounder and former CEO Reed Hastings said. He reportedly used it to fire his product chief and longtime friend who worked at the company for 18 years.
The memo, which was originally considered blunt for a public corporate document, has undergone several revisions since its first release and is now only five pages.
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said in an interview with The Verge's "Decoder" podcast that the memo got shorter because the company became "better at articulating" its practices.
In the interview, published Monday, Peters said the original memo may have incorrectly communicated that Netflix "was a harsh and maybe cutthroat place," which he said it wasn't. In the three versions since, Peters said the company may have swung too far on the other side of the pendulum and become too soft.
The co-CEO said that in subsequent versions of the memo, employees misinterpreted the company's statement on "freedom and responsibility" — which essentially said that Netflix employees were trusted to act in the company's best interest and weren't micromanaged — and acted in ways that weren't in line with its corporate goals. It has since deleted that section and added a new one called "People Over Process," which says the company should hire "unusually responsible people who thrive on this openness and freedom."
The new memo also says, "Not all opinions are created equal," and that as the company has grown, it's no longer possible for everyone to weigh in on every decision.
The latest memo took 12 months to make and received 1,500 comments from employees, Netflix said in a press release. It was made publicly available Monday.
You can read the newest version of Netflix's culture memo here.
Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.

 

[nicholas]

Based on what is written in the article, I don't see the big deal.

Netflix is just making it known, rather than keeping behind closed doors.

Just because it's known does not make it right.

Nobody deserves to be under the microscope all day long.
Even surgeon Dr's, who are responsible for lives, don't need to deal with this nonsense.

 

[drtyler]

Just because it's known does not make it right.

What isn't right about it?

 

[himemsys]

IOW, this to me is no different than "convenience stores" that hire a "manager", pay them a salary - and then expect them to work more than 40 hours a week

I thought it was common knowledge that when you get paid a salary you're expected to put in more time than an hourly employee. I.e. come in early, stay late when necessary. But you can also come and go with a lot more freedom and flexibility. Not have to "clock out" for a doctor's appt, or be able to "sneak out" 10 minutes or even 2 hours early once in awhile.

I am in management (though not at a convenience store), I am paid a salary, and *I* expect to work more than 40 hours a week. My expectation, not my employer's.

 

[MrGraybeard]

I worked in a highly competitive, feast-or-famine-type business. Everybody wanted to get into a major market so you could earn a reasonably comfortable living. The knowledge that a bunch of people lusted after my job kept me on my toes. I saw people come and go -- some moved up to bigger and better things. Just because you don't fit a job doesn't mean you're a failure -- maybe you're too good for it.

Workers in technological environments today can't let life happen to them. The ground is shifting under their feet. Even in traditional sectors like the building trades, tools and materials are evolving with ever-increasing speed. Keep improving yourself or you may get left behind.

 

[UncleDave]

Netflix.......

Have a good friend that just left there. In 6 months he endured 4 rounds of layoff until finally they cancelled his project.

He was treated poorly. Promises and deals were made and broken.

Contrary to its revenue, the TV/film business is a small industry - we remember.

We know your names, and what you did, and to whom. We know which of you are good, and which are bad.

Whatever you want to call it, Karma, retribution, what goes around will come around to those who act uncaringly to our friends.

Good luck finding talented people - you do not deserve them.

 

[John105]

I thought it was common knowledge that when you get paid a salary you're expected to put in more time than an hourly employee. I.e. come in early, stay late when necessary. But you can also come and go with a lot more freedom and flexibility. Not have to "clock out" for a doctor's appt, or be able to "sneak out" 10 minutes or even 2 hours early once in awhile.

I am in management (though not at a convenience store), I am paid a salary, and *I* expect to work more than 40 hours a week. My expectation, not my employer's.

I’m like you. Maybe it’s generational.

As mentioned my younger bro makes big bucks at a euro insurance co. They are not allowed to work over 37.5 hours without approval. There are people not seen nor heard from in a month, until they’ve resigned. I would argue this didn’t exist pre pandemic but those who work there say not true.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I must be reading this wrong. The way I read it - correct me if I am wrong - if an employee puts in their notice, and there average at best, you say "thank you, best of luck in the future".

If your best employee puts in their notice you try to convince them to stay.

What am I missing? I thought every place was like this?

No idea if Netflix is good or bad, but this sounds no different than anywhere else?

 

[John105]

Netflix.......

Have a good friend that just left there. In 6 months he endured 4 rounds of layoff until finally they cancelled his project.

He was treated poorly. Promises and deals were made and broken.

Contrary to its revenue, the TV/film business is a small industry - we remember.

We know your names, and what you did, and to whom. We know which of you are good, and which are bad.

Whatever you want to call it, Karma, retribution, what goes around will come around to those who act uncaringly to our friends.

Good luck finding talented people - you do not deserve them.

I work in what was once the 5th largest city in the nation (maybe 7th now dunno). One would think there is some anonymity in a given industry. There is not.

When I came to my job? An account executive told me I know your leaving and I won’t say anything. I had not let my current employer know yet at this point.

It was because he was account exec for both cos. And they told him we’re getting a talented guy on board.

My wife was in banking no different. The world is incestuous by nature imho

 

[slo town]

I have no problem with Netflix’s policy. In fact, there is nothing new about it based on my 28 year career working for a Fortune 10 Silicon Valley company. These are high paying, high salary positions. It’s survival of the fittest. It’s a “zero sum game” (someone gets a raise, someone else doesn’t). Netflix employees are compensated very well. Put out or get out. I applaud Netflix for putting their policy in writing.

Scott

 

[John105]

I must be reading this wrong. The way I read it - correct me if I am wrong - if an employee puts in their notice, and there average at best, you say "thank you, best of luck in the future".

If your best employee puts in their notice you try to convince them to stay.

What am I missing? I thought every place was like this?

No idea if Netflix is good or bad, but this sounds no different than anywhere else?

Yeah my last job said let us know if there’s anything we can do. That’s open-ended—I took it as now or in the future. If I said well I want $25k more. They’d have said fine and I’d be in the very same situation with more salary. Not helping myself. There was an underlying reason why I would leave an ok job. Not money.

And a person more senior than the director said break a leg and if you ever want to come back just let us know. Unbelievably she passed away in her early 40s, I was shocked. A former coworker I never spoke to wound up at my current co and we laughed we worked 1 aisle apart yet never spoke at the last co. And he said nobody knows what happened to the VP.

This is my long-winded way of saying I agree with you.