When ‘cool’ workplaces are very, very uncool

WE all want similar things from our workplace no matter what industry we’re in. We want decent pay, a fair boss and good people around us. If we’re lucky, we’d all love a few extras like flexible working hours or perhaps a gym on site.

If your workplace offers the majority of these things, chances are it’s a pretty good place to work.

It might also be a lot “cooler” than some of the companies out there which present themselves as cool hip places to work — but which in reality, can be nightmares.
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Of late, stories have begun to emerge of modern “hip” workplaces which are actually home to some pretty poor work practices.

A little earlier this year, Apple employees revealed that the famed tech giant wasn’t exactly the greatest place to spend the working week.

For example, if you happened to be developing the iPad a few years back, you could expect to work in a windowless room all day with prototype devices bike-locked to the desks so that no one could smuggle one out.

[caption id=”attachment_24813" align=”aligncenter” width=”300"]

Some employees have taken a bite out of Apple’s crisp image[/caption]

There was also a culture of extreme secrecy, long hours and 24/7 availability, as well as one-way communication, paranoid management, disrespect and constant tension.

Also, Apple’s base, in the Silicone Valley town of Cupertino, has been described as easily the most boring town in the South Bay area.

Google is said to be a great place to work. Its website (the corporate one, not the actual search engine) proudly boasts that “Fortune Magazine and the Great Place to Work Institute named Google the 2014 “Best Company to Work For.” This marks our fifth time at the top of the list.”

Wait a minute, the Great Place to Work Institute? Sounds about as real as the Ponds Institute if you ask us.

And of course, there are always two sides to any story. Current and former Google employees have unloaded on the company in various spots, including here.

There are a variety of complaints but the main thread seems to be that the company is so big, and hires so many people with such excellent qualifications that many people spend years doing unchallenging work in order to get ahead in the long run.

Of course, an obvious way to avoid that sort of trap is to work for a smaller start-up company. But here, too, there are often pitfalls.

The website news.com.au recently exposed the not-so-glamorous reality of life at an Australian start-up in a piece entitled “What it’s Really Like to Work for a Cool Company”.

One young Australian woman, who worked in phone sales, detailed her frustration at her ongoing casual contract which meant she couldn’t ever take a sick day without losing money.

Management also once cut workers’ commissions just days before announcing a record profit. There was also a sexual harassment complaint that wasn’t taken seriously when she reported it. Yeah, really cool company.

The moral of this story?

Well, it’s a bit like the truth we all learn eventually in life. People who try hard to act cool usually aren’t the coolest. It’s the same with companies too. If your workplace treats you with dignity and respect and rewards you for effort and initiative, well, that’s probably about as cool as it gets.