In a Results-Only Work Environment, managers must do the work of defining ‘results’
Jessica Swanson
is managing editor of the Vancouver Business Journal.
Just thinking about ROWE makes me want to, well, work.
ROWE, or Results-Only Work Environment, was the subject of a December BusinessWeek special report. The piece provided an inside look at Minneapolis-based Best Buy’s non-geographic workplace model, where employees come and go at any hour of the day and night, there are no scheduled meetings, and accountability presents in the form of a single question: Is performance exceeding expectations?
ROWE isn’t attractive to me as an individual and a manager because it allows true flex-time for staff and the ability to see the new Martin Scorsese film during its premier. It’s attractive – and inspiring – because it places results squarely in the driver’s seat as the prime indicator of employee performance.
The report indicates that C-level managers are the last folks to support an initiative such as ROWE. This is not, obviously, because results are a low priority, but because of a strong disbelief that untethered workers could produce results without complicated management oversight. In short, the thinking goes, loss of management control equals loss of productivity.
As I see it, to make a workplace ROWE-successful, only two factors are not up for discussion. These essential factors are 1) a clear definition of "results" for each employee and each department and 2) an uncomplicated system of results measurement – in other words, the same things that are integral to any successful work environment. In establishing these elements, managers take complete control over their department’s outcomes without taking control over their employees’ lives – which is what we all want, yes? The problems arise when a company hires managers that do not want to do the upfront work of creating clear performance expectations and measurements for their staff members.
In the Best Buy example, a manager could measure how many orders his staff was processing no matter where they were, and he agreed to put everyone back in their cubes as soon as a dip in productivity was evidenced. In this case, productivity went up, as well as job satisfaction and retention.
Most employees do more complicated work than processing orders, but this does not mean that that work can’t be quantified and measured according to company standards. In a perfect world, this is already happening in all of your offices.
International competition and the tech-given ability to communicate 24/7 demand that employees work when it’s necessary, which is no longer 8-to-5. Combine this electronic global work climate with skyrocketing real estate prices and a skilled-worker shortage and smart companies will be hiring employees that will work where they want when they want – as long as they get the job done right.
Best Buy recently launched a subsidiary called Culture Rx to teach its concepts to other businesses. Click on www.culturerx.com to learn more about the movement. Visit www.businessweek.com for the complete story by Michelle Conlin and feedback from readers.
