Over at Creating Passionate Users Kathy Sierra comments on Mrs. Fields Cookie and their policy which forces employees to toss all left over cookies at closing. This made me think how I’ve been treated as an employee at various companies.
I’ve never felt more trusted than when I worked at Microsoft. From day one, I felt like I was able to make decisions and employ resources in order to get my job done. When I needed a new laptop, I got one. When I wanted to play around on Linux I was able to order a machine on which to install it. I felt empowered to learn about Microsoft products as well as competing products. And I wasn’t some hotshot manager either. I was a brand new product manager on the low end of the company org chart.
Another company I worked for had little trust for anyone. This company was a start-up in the Seattle area, and we had a person counting the free sodas to ensure nobody was taking a stash home at night. Not sure how anyone would be able to tell, but the company thought it was a big enough problem to assign a controller to monitor our pop intake.
How a company handles my expense reports has been a pretty reliable gauge in how well it trusts its employees. How many layers of management does your expense report pass through before it’s approved? How long does it take before you see your money? At Microsoft my manager would approve my reports quickly, and I had my money back within three days max. It was a very simple process in which I felt trusted. Companies that exhibit trust like this make me never want to give them a reason not to trust me. I’m very careful with my expenses in this type of setup. But companies that have hassled me over expenses have made me want to spend the very maximum when they question everything.
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