Feedback

The Office: Making It Work

Our Special Report on workplace issues ("Business@Work," Aug. 25 & Sept. 1), created in collaboration with our readers, drew comments that were as candid as the feedback we elicited when we polled 4,000 of you to identify the top problems at work—and their possible solutions. The wisdom-of-crowds approach prompted skepticism among some readers, who said they liked their advice to come from experts only. Others appreciated the voices raised from all those cubicles and corner offices. Still others weighed in on some of the topics we tackled: toxic bosses, bureaucracies, the generation gap at work, and ways to have a career and have a life.

Seems you were seduced by buzzwords like "collaboration," thinking some experimental interaction with the audience might translate into a worthy cover story. Not quite.

There is no useful off-the-shelf fix for what ails the work environment.... To the extent that most places are bureaucracies, most people are going to be dissatisfied most of the time.

Arthur Piccolo
NEW YORK

I agree with the mantra of rewarding results over hours ("Count Results, Not Hours"). That said, I've worked in environments where assignments were handed out unevenly and some people could skate by on five hours of work a day. It comes down to good management. Trust me, you can't always count on that.

Screen name: BJR

I like the idea of raising the happiness quotient inside companies ("Glum Chums? Call in the Happiness Police"). But with those fun, one-off events, the happiness tends to wear off once the ice cream tubs are empty. What works well is combining these celebratory events with substantive recognition efforts that congratulate employees on an ongoing basis.

Screen name: Derek Irvine

Organizational culture has a lot to do with work-life balance ("How to Get a Life and Do Your Job"). Having gone from a company that almost demands the 24/7 working lifestyle to one where working beyond 5:30 p.m. is strictly frowned upon, I find the difference staggering. Which is better? I'd say I'm significantly more productive now.

Screen name: Aziz Musa

The main problem with my generation ("What's Eating Gen X?"): For years our parents preached company loyalty while counting on their pension funds. Then one day the pensions went away, job security went away, and mutual loyalty went away. This left us lost between what our parents told us to expect and reality.

Screen name: Uhuh

If Third Parties Could Buy Pension Plans

Although overly sensationalistic, "Wall Street Eyes the Pension Pot" (News, Aug. 18) highlights some key issues that would arise if companies with frozen pension plans were able to transfer responsibility for these plans to third parties.

Unfortunately, the article mischaracterizes my views. I have supported the concept of pension buyouts in appropriate, limited circumstances. I've never advocated or proposed that plans be allowed to be acquired by small, independent, undercapitalized, and unregulated entities.

To the contrary, I believe any acquirer must have substantial capital and be regulated at least under ERISA and federal securities laws. It should also employ lower-risk investment strategies than corporations typically do. Appropriately structured transactions that increase protections for participants and the federal insurance program should be encouraged; those that pose greater risks should not be allowed.

Bradley Belt
Palisades Capital Advisors
NEW YORK

The article quotes Charles Millard as saying, "These deals should only be permitted when the acquiring entity has a higher credit rating than the seller." Now, who does the rating? S&P (MHP), Moody's (MCO), and Fitch? Aren't these the same firms that enabled the current credit crisis by slapping AAA ratings on junk debt? This sounds like a rerun of a really bad horror movie. I suppose I can write off my pension now.

Mike Fitzsimmons
CROSSVILLE, TENN.