A TOXIC WORKPLACE

Do you agree or disagree? Why?

1. A company's work environment should be supportive.
2. The turnover rate of employees isn't very important.
3. Money and stock options are the best employee motivators.
4. I would want to work for an international company like Amazon or Apple.
5. I would want to start my own company someday.

If the veracity of an article can be trusted, pressure, stress, and job insecurity form the
foundation on which Amazon is built. In its quest to become the company where people
can discover anything they want online, employees are encouraged to work well after
midnight; complain at slow responses regardless of the time of day (or night); bicker
and argue in meetings to poke holes in any suggestion; and rat one another out. The
corporate philosophy permeates every level of the organization, and it ignores all that
gets preached and practiced as good management these days.
Over one hundred former employees provided information on the article, providing
such personal accounts of grown men crying as they exited meetings. Each month,
employees must justify their performance on a variety of metrics, with the bottom
performers culled.
What results is a ruthlessly competitive environment. It has been called "rank and
yank," which alludes to ranking the performance of employees and yanking the least
productive. And evidence in other organizations demonstrates that such a system
sows distrust. After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back, teamwork and
knowledge sharing get thrown under the bus.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article, explaining that the
environment at Amazon is friendly but intense. He explained that he couldn't recognize
the toxic workplace portrayed in the article, and doubted any tech company could
survive, let alone thrive, with such practices. He concluded that callous management
practices would not be tolerated.

1. Complete the sentence from today's article.

If the veracity of an article can be trusted...
Each month, employees must justify their performance on...
And evidence in other organizations demonstrates that...
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article, explaining...
He concluded that callous management practices...

2. Talk about the following questions. Remember to support your answers!

If the article were true, why would anyone want to work in such an environment?
Would you want to work at a company like Amazon? Why/not?
What is the best place you have ever worked at? How about the worst place? Why?
Who is the best manager you have worked for? How about the worst manager?
What are some ideas and practices to create a positive, supportive environment?