Flexible working arrangements are one thing. But the push for results-only work environments (ROWE) is tearing up the rulebook when it comes to the typical nine-to-six workday. HRM talks to the creators of ROWE about how stopping the focus on time can increase productivity and give employees the chance to pursue goals outside the office
Have you ever felt guilty leaving the office early or felt frustrated that you couldn't get to work on time because you got stuck in morning traffic? In the United States, a small revolution is changing corporate work environments. People are turning off their alarm clocks and hanging up their suits.
Like many large American companies, Best Buy's corporate culture was traditional and failing. Although staff showed up early in the morning and stayed late, employee turnover was high and satisfaction low. Realising that something needed to be done, two HR employees, Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, decided to find a solution.
"We threw out old ways and created new ideas," Ressler said. "We had two female leaders in the company who were willing to try something new in their departments. The leaders knew we were blowing up the HR rules and the status quo but they were willing to take a chance."
Ressler and Thompson started the transformation process by taking a hard look at current business norms. "For two years, we experimented with the 300 people in two departments to see how we could increase retention and productivity," Thompson explained. "We needed to figure out how to rewire their brains."
The biggest leap involved convincing employees that work didn't necessarily have to happen between 9am and 6pm. "We needed to shift their focus away from time to what needed to be done."
The power of technology
Thompson says it is technology that allows ROWE to be successful. "The traditional work culture is based on the industrial age where everyone needed to be in a factory or in the office," she said. "Now, with technology, work can be accomplished without being physically present."
But if employees no longer need to be in an office, why are so many people stuck behind a desk for 8 to 10 hours a day? Thompson says it is an issue of control, rather than trust. "Work environments are so tight and traditional because managers don't want to lose control of people," she said.
"Traditional business is really an environment of mistrust but if companies are planning to use ROWE they will need to start trusting their employees to get the work done."
Although similar flexible work arrangements have operated in other companies, Thompson believes that ROWE is unique. "We developed the system from scratch after taking apart our company and seeing what didn't work," she said noting that other companies still require employees to work in the office during busy or crisis periods. "This mentality of all hands on deck doesn't exist with ROWE."
Making the change
Making the change to a ROWE platform is best taken slowly. Ressler says the move requires a complete change in corporate culture and should be implemented over time. "If you have a large company of more than 1000 people, do not try making the change across the whole company at once," she said. "It
is better to use pilot groups of 100 to 300 people to slowly bring the culture into the organisation."
Thompson says the process will take at least six months, probably more. "It takes almost a year before the employees will be comfortable with the ROWE work environment," she said. Learning a new corporate culture takes time and migration is slow but both professionals believe once the transformation is complete, employees will not want to go back.
The results speak for themselves. At Best Buy, the departments using ROWE realised a 41% increase in productivity after migration, and enjoyed a significant drop in voluntary turnovers. Although retention increased, the new system also allowed management to identify people who were not performing. "The system doesn't give employees a place to hide," Ressler said. "It is a culture based on results."
The ROWE culture
One of the challenges employees face with ROWE is learning to reprogramme how they think and how they respond to each other. Both Ressler and Thompson say it is therefore important to avoid 'toxic' questions about how employees use their time. "Using this strategy, employees are encouraged not to explain where they have been," Ressler said. "So questions like 'where were you yesterday?' go unanswered."
Because ROWE focuses on goals, meetings are no longer compulsory. If an employee doesn't feel it is necessary, they are not required to attend. This does not mean that employees can isolate themselves. Meetings may be optional, but communication is still paramount. "It is essential that managers and employees keep in contact to ensure that everything is running smoothly," Thompson said. "Mangers and employees do not have to have daily contact but they need to send an email or chat with updates."
Setting goals
Part of the transformation process includes teaching managers and employees how to set clear and manageable targets. "The goals can't be fluffy." warned Thompson. "You must have concrete goals because people are no longer managed by time and presence." The results also need to be easily measurable. "If they can't be measured, you will not be able to manage them."
Although this might seem a bit daunting, it is surprisingly easy to implement. Thompson advises that the issue with goal setting involves expectations and accountability. "In the past, work just happened and managers were not held accountable. There was a false sense of security because there was an assumption that when workers were in the office, work must have been happening."
The benefits revealed
Although it is far from traditional, the ROWE work culture is already showing some real benefits to both employees and their managers. According to a study by the University of Minnesota, employees involved in the Best Buy ROWE experiment reported feeling more secure in their positions. They also found themselves doing less low-value work and feeling more energetic. Not only did ROWE employees experience fewer interruptions while doing their work, they reported more job satisfaction and viewed their work culture as being more family-friendly.
According to the study, ROWE is now a realistic alternative to traditional work arrangements. It has been developed in an actual working environment, but links in well with the theoretical models that academics have been working with. The innovations are supported by a large body of research that stresses the importance of flexibility and a sense of control in the workplace.
Professor Richard Arvey, Head of the Department of Management and Organisation at the National University of Singapore, believes that a version of ROWE may be applicable locally. "This system would work well in academia and higher skilled jobs," he said. "The challenge with a system like ROWE is getting the interaction between employees that you get in a traditional environment." Although Arvey says there would be cultural challenges, he believes implementing ROWE in Asia would help address some of the HR issues local companies are currently facing.
But Kessler doesn't believe that culture should be an obstacle to implementing change. She believes that ROWE can work anywhere. "This is not a system that works for just one employee," she said. "This is a cultural change and only employees can make it happen."