Yahoo employees demoralized over leadership woes

Employees at digital media portal Yahoo! have little reason to go "Yahoo," according to a just-released annual poll of workers there. Tech site All Things Digital said the Yahoo Employee Satisfaction Survey (YESS) paints a picture of a deeply demoralized workplace. "One major drop was the employee assessment of senior leadership, under the question of whether 'Yahoo is an effectively managed well-run organization.' That dropped 11 percent from last year," AllThingsD reported. Record number of negatives AllThingsD said this YESS is Yahoo’s highest percentage of negatives for departure intent in several years. It noted the YESS questions went out to employees the week that the company fired CEO Carol Bartz, with most of the responses gathered in the ensuing weeks. "The uncertainty has put its employees on edge and there has been a spike in attrition throughout the company. And worry," it said. Also, it cited numerous sources who said 19 percent of employees planned to leave the company within less than a year, in case a better opportunity arises. "This is a large figure for any tech company for such a survey, which is commonly done throughout the industry. Typically, those numbers are around 10 percent, according to several human resources execs I queried, although Yahoo’s chart noted that the industry benchmark was 14 percent," it said. The signs of dissatisfaction appear higher in the product unit, where most of Yahoo’s engineers work and which is key to any technology company’s viability. Intent not to stay is 21 percent in the division, AllThingsD said. Positive, hopeful signs Despite the turmoil, AllThingsD noted some hope among those in the survey - 79 percent feel proud to say they work for Yahoo. Also, AllThingsD also noted the survey showed numbers for manager effectiveness, teamwork and accountability did grow year over year in the product unit. At a recent meeting with its staff, interim CEO Tim Morse was buffeted with questions about the fate of employee stock options and other similar issues. Despite all the turmoil, Yahoo has surprisingly not yet put an overall new plan into place for retention, although it has given some employees more money and other benefits. Other findings When asked "Yahoo is innovative": 42 percent agree, 27 percent neutral, 31 percent disagree. But on the statement "Yahoo anticipates changing customer needs and wants": 33 percent agree, 37 percent disagree, five points worse than the previous year. — TJD, GMA News