Tech World: The Value of a Virtual High Five

Hannah Kuchler

In Dave Eggers’ novel The Circle, tech employees at a Google-like company are ranked by “zings”, public displays of appreciation. How much they “zing” colleagues and how much others “zing” them is compiled into a score that the company uses to value employees – and which, when fully indoctrinated, employees use to value themselves.

Eggers may be mocking such internal propaganda but his portrayal comes eerily close to the truth. Friends who work at tech companies are encouraged to use online programs to give and receive digital pats on the back. These link tasks, however mundane, to the company’s oft-repeated core values. Values range from “fun” (at Salesforce) to “embrace the adventure” (at Airbnb) and being “superpumped” (at Uber).

The tech world pays its workers well, handing out stacks of equity in some of the most successful public companies and private start-ups. But money is not enough. Companies have turned to mission statements, mottos – and their own “zings” – to retain young “type A” workers in a tight talent market.

Software such as “You Earned It” gives employees points to award to colleagues so they “get in the habit of gratitude”. This is accompanied by harassing emails if workers do not fully appreciate their office mates, and charts that track what percentage of the company has used the site. Peeking into one employee-only site, I see workers giving each other points for things such as “pushing for great each and every day” and “putting so much effort and time into preserving our team identity”. Hashtags and virtual high fives proliferate. Although points can be redeemed for actual rewards such as vouchers, for wealthy tech employees, it is the cheering that counts.

Tech companies also hope such programs will influence behavior. Good Ripple is a software application that can be used to advise employees on how to be kind to colleagues, compiling scores for goodness and happiness. Rama Veeraragoo, Good Ripple’s co-founder, says it helps companies if employees feel they are good people. Some companies are already using similar systems, with Yelp giving out teddy bears as prizes for being nice.

Employers go the extra mile because their workers are their wobbliest constituency. Customers have become dependent on products like Google for their work, and Facebook for their social lives. The first major consumer protest against a tech company earlier this year did not hurt Uber’s business. Shareholders have even less influence, generally turning a blind eye to extensive spending on the pet projects of founders. In many companies, their shares come with few votes for them to voice opinions.

So, tech companies are left with just one group to worry about: employees. Keeping them invested in a corporate “mission” is essential. In the weeks after the inauguration of Donald Trump, I realized that employees really believe in these missions. It was pressure from employees that pushed tech CEOs to speak out against Trump’s immigration ban. Workers badgered leaders, coalescing in online groups, speaking to the media and holding a protest on Google’s campus. One after another, tech leaders expressed their horror out loud.

The identity of employees is often tied to their workplace. Watching the Gay Pride march in San Francisco, you see people wearing T-shirts on which the rainbow flag adorns the logos of Apple, Facebook and Google. Since the immigration ban protests, companies are trying harder to show they represent their employees: Facebook, a $432bn company, told staff they could take time off on International Workers’ Day.

Internal propaganda is one way to create true believers. Missions are repeated like chants, offices wallpapered in slogans, and branded T-shirts bring corporate identity to the bar. Programs that make praising peers almost obligatory complete the circle. Employees see their CEO not as the person who pays their wages but as the living embodiment of their values. Now, these leaders have a challenge that can’t be solved by high fives and zings: how to live up to employees’ expectations in darker times.