What Is a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)?

What Is a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)?

Ask any manager to describe the best way to evaluate direct reports and he/she is likely to mention results -- thas it, how well employees preform tasks and accomplish goals.  But according to former Best Buy HR managers Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, few managers actually evaluate on that basis.  Instead, most managers reward employees based on how much time they log at the office or how well they navigate office politics.  To correct this common problem, Ressler and Thompson developed the Results-Only Work Envirobnment (ROWE ) originally at Best Buy.  

How It Works

ROWE is a management philosophy based on the premise that giving employees complete control over their time is the best way to increase productivity in the workplace. If Best Buy is any example, the system can work: Departments that use ROWE report average productivity increases of 35 percent. Now Ressler and Thompson have spun off their own company, CultureRx, and written a book,Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It. 

Everyone is evaluated based on what they accomplish, as opposed to how much time they spend looking busy at their desks, it becomes clear very quickly who is actually getting work done and who isn’t.What this looks like on a daily basis is different for every employee. For example, one Best Buy e-learning specialist completes an entire month of work in two weeks so that he can spend the rest of the month following his favorite bands around the country, checking in with the office via email and cell phone. For someone else, it might mean working from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and then logging back online at 8 p.m., whether from the office, home, or a resort in Hawaii. Teams and those who are dependent on each other work out the details.

Why It Works

ROWE advocates say that a relentless focus on results forces managers and employees to be clear about job descriptions and expectations. Scott Jauman, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt at Best Buy, says teams learn how to communicate more effectively and plan ahead around each other’s schedules. Plus, they learn to work together and back each other up in new ways. Ressler and Thompson call it cross-training: Employees tend to be more willing to fill in for co-workers when necessary, and in the process they learn new jobs.

Results

Many of the productivity gains that result from a ROWE come from its effectiveness at retaining and motivating valued employees. At the same time, a ROWE exposes a team’s underperformers, the ones who used to get away with contributing little. The net result is a stronger team that can do more with less. For example, after migrating to a ROWE, Best Buy’s strategic sourcing and procurement team boosted employee retention by 27 percent and shed 10 low-performing employees. But the real proof was the huge uptick in performance: The department, which buys materials for the corporate environment, saw a 50 percent increase in cost reductions over two years.