Bad Enterprise Software Prompts Viral Resignation Rant
The latest epic resignation letter to go viral on the Internet was prompted in part by an employee’s frustration with his company’s enterprise software.
This week, an employee of the Whole Foods Market in Toronto sent a 2,000 word resignation letter to everyone at the company that refers to the natural foods store as “a faux hippy Walmart” and accuses them of everything from environmental irresponsibility to employee abuse—including, among other indignities, being forced to wear “poorly made, ugly t-shirts.”
While most of the letter is focused on interpersonal complaints, there is one point that the anonymous author makes that is interesting for managers to consider. Halfway through the letter, he launches into a diatribe about Whole Foods’ software, which he charges with not living up to the company’s value statement of “Supporting team member happiness and excellence”:
“Oh, you’ve somehow created the worst computer program I’ve ever used to run your entire buying system? IRMA is some Windows 95 era stuff, guys. I could design a significantly better interface in 30 minutes on a pad of paper. I know several students who could create a superior program in their spare time. Was someone actually hired to create that thing? Was it the Realplayer dudes? Even Captain Picard couldn’t facepalm hard enough to express the amount of failure in that… that, thing…”
He’s not alone. More than 65% of executives under the age of 35 said they would be at least somewhat likely to change jobs due to a negative experience with their customer’s enterprise software, according to a recent study by IFS North America.
Given the role that technology plays in the life of a modern worker, this data should come as no surprise. And with the battle for talent heating up—particularly in Silicon Valley and other technology hotbeds—the solution seems patently clear: Stop making people use technology they hate, and you will have a better opportunity to retain the top performers in your organization. If your company’s software sucks, people will leave—though hopefully they won’t try and embarrass the whole company in the process.
To learn more about finding enterprise software that doesn’t suck, read this.