Featured Company: Best Buy

I read about ROWE early in the year and I was excited for it. The more and more I talk with my peers (recent grads) the more they tell me "Gosh, why do I even need to be in an office? In front of a desk?"

It's cool to say to them "You're right, Best Buy agrees. At least one company gets it." The evolution has begun and if companies want some quality employees they may think differently about "results."

I read about this a while back too, when I was writing an article on flexible schedules. My workplace doesn't offer flextime or FWAs (flexible work assignments) of any sort and doesn't plan to anytime soon. It's frustrating, for sure, especially when I consider my future. I'd love to be able to job-share one day when I have kids. Or, better yet, have a ROWE plan in place. Imagine all the HR issues that would solve! No more worries about FMLA leave – if people can get their work done (well, and on time), whatever else their life looks like, they deserve to be employed, paid, and receiving benefits. What a simply revolutionary concept, huh?

Sadly, things like industry, business type and location will determine a lot about what companies adopt these policies, and it just won't be possible for them all. But, I am seeing in a lot of smaller companies this sort of attitude cropping up, so it may become more accessible than you'd think. It will be interesting to see.

You know, I don't think the best part about this is the flixible work hours.

I think the best part is clearly spelling out the employee's goals.

How many of you can say that your company does that. Do you even have an clear idea of what you are absolutely supposed to be doing this week?

I think I could handle a less flexible work environment if my goals were specifically and clearly spelled out. And NO vague goals like "Provide Excellent Customer Service"! It must be specific, such as "Answer and resolve all calls from the helpdesk between the hours of 9 and 5, or make sure that someone else is available to answer them."

But companies usually don't do this because it takes too much effort. And managers are afraid that if they spell out specifically what employees are supposed to do, then the employees will do only that and no more.

But it actually works the other way. Once you KNOW what you are supposed to do, then you don't have to waste time GUESSING what you should be doing. And that frees you up to go the extra mile when you have the time.

Can't wait until they implement ROWE at my company!

Thanks for the encouraging post. I've recently started reconsidering grad school, and seriously considering requesting to drop my full-time status (which requires me to be here, whether I have anything to do or not) to part-time, allowing time for school. Not only would school give me the challenge I'm so greatly lacking right now, but handling my current work load in half the time per week might make my current job more challenging as well – all with the same results for the company and more benefit for me.

Scott,

I think you are right. Clearly defining employees goals is extremely important and will in fact lead to employees completing there tasks and searching for others. Clearly defining these goals is the only way a company can operate in a ROWE environment. The two are dependent on each other.

I recommend reading Ricardo Semler's book, "The 7 Day Weekend." Semler owns a company in Brazil that operates this way. Employees do what the want, say what they want, and there is no authoritative voice telling people when to be somewhere. And they are extremely successful.

If companies care about keeping employees around, this will be the new workplace.

-Ryan

This is a great idea that has already been in practice in many small businesses and for many sales jobs. It'll be really interesting to see how this translates over time into other companies and jobs. Thanks for the heads up, I hadn't heard about this.