Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Laughter is the Best Medicine - Tell us a joke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SIer formerly known as Joe B. who wrote (16131)	9/13/2000 10:11:02 AM
From: Mike 2.0	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 62554

Internet company goofy extravagance sighting.... This is from the real Fast Company, just a couple months back. Given the recent massive slowdown in internet consulting, one wonders whether this company regrets its decision to spend a pile of doneros on cute straw-covered lamps and Roman-style pillars (as seen in photo with the print version of this piece).... My Cubicle, My Self At Xperts Inc., employees design their cubicles to suit their tastes. by Keith Hammonds photographs by Barbara Gentile from FC issue 38, page 80 A knowledge worker's cubicle is his ( or her ) castle. Unfortunately, most cubicles make for pretty drab castles. When Xperts Inc., a fast-growing it consulting outfit, moved to new digs just outside Richmond, Virginia in June 1999, a team of employees proposed something new: They should be allowed to decorate their work spaces to suit their own tastes. So they were each given stipends of up to $1,500 to cover the cost of paint, furniture, materials, and, if necessary, the advice of an interior decorator. "My dad owns a big company down the road," says William Tyler, 38, Xperts's founder. "It's an expensive setup, antiques everywhere. And it leaves you cold, because it's not yours." Tyler's own office has a certain "men's club" appeal, what with the oriental rugs on the floor and the stuffed dead animals on the walls. ( Tyler is, after all, the great-grandson of John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States; the man has standards to uphold. ) But just down the corridor, Kendall Tyler ( no relation ), director of sales, technical staffing, has gone for an ethereal, underwater motif, replete with mermaid statuettes and brightly sponge-painted walls accented with glitter. Across the hall, Ellen von Reiser, director of systems and operations, who once studied classical art, has filled her office with Greek busts and swag curtains accented with clusters of grapes. William Tyler believes that allowing workers to create their own space has made them more loyal. It's been nine months, in fact, since anyone has left the 120-person outfit. The generous decorating policy at Xperts is a small part of a larger point: Companies do best when they recognize that employees are real people, with identities and lives outside of work. "When you're allowed to make something yours," says sales supervisor Kay Larkin, "it makes you feel more part of the company."