In 2004, Best Buy began its Results-Only Work Environment, or ROWE, program, which gave employees control over when and how they worked, so long as they produced results. Earlier this month Best Buy announced a plan to end the ROWE program. Inc. Magazine recently ran an interview with Jody Thompson, the creator of Best Buy‘s ROWE program, on why the company’s move to eliminate it is a bad idea.
As Jody Thompson says:
A results-only environment works for every single person on the planet. It’s not a flexibility program. It involves thinking about your work and how to accomplish it, and then being where you need to be to make that happen. Now, you might say, “What about a bus driver?” Well, if the bus driver doesn’t give you his route, and the people aren’t happy, then he hasn’t achieved his results. There’s always a measure of results, and you hold people accountable to that outcome. We’ve worked with companies in child care, manufacturing, a nursing home, education. It works anywhere.
For more, click here to read the full article.
