Approximately
eighty HR professionals spent a day last month learning about
the "Results Only Work Environment" at Best Buy,
sponsored by Human Resource Professionals of Minnesota.
The "Results Only Work Environment, (ROWE)" refers
to the flexible work environment that provides employees control
over when, where and how they work. The program was adopted
by Best Buy and used by approximately 80% of the corporate
employees. ROWE was implemented in some departments as much
as five-years-ago but has not as yet been applied to their
retail stores.
HR leaders from approximately fifty companies enjoyed the
presentation and discussions because it provided a perfect
playground to apply their skills. Too often HR leaders have
been thought of as "policemen" enforcing rules instead
of adopting procedures that look to expand profits, but after
attending the presentations by Liz Beckius from Best Buy,
Dr Phyllis Moen from the U of MN Flexible Work Center, Susan
Seitel from Work Life & Human Capital Solutions and a
panel of Best Buy employees, many of those who attended left
with an open mind of "how" some, or all, of the
ideas could possibly be implemented in their own companies.
Of particular importance was information of how Best Buy has
dramatically reduced turnover and continues to attract top
talent to add to their growing workforce. Advanced technology,
such as laptop computers, blackberries, I-phone, instant messaging,
and email has greatly added to the success of the program.
These tools are being used by teams to keep communication
flowing even though employees can be found working at home,
in coffee shops and other countries. Others were interested
in how Best Buy continues to compete on the world stage and
yet not require the workers to be physically present each
day.
Questions centered on how personal time and work time are
determined, how managers measure "Results", what
the keys to an effectively applying ROWE look like, who enjoyed
ROWE the most (management, upper management or workers), and
what the biggest obstacle were to implementing the program.
Though ROWE remains a dynamic process in change and a relatively
youthful program in terms of time implemented, the workshop
did provide a lively forum for a great deal of discussion.
Most HR leaders left believing that if they had the support
of leadership; many pieces of the ROWE program could be adapted
to fit their own companies.
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Reproduction
of this article cannot be accomplished without the expressed
consent of Human Resource Staffing. Don Schmitz is a popular
speaker and writer on all aspects of HR and CEO of Human Resource
Staffing. Don holds graduate degrees in Education, Administration
and Human Development.
Contact Don@HumanResourceStaffingInc.com
952 854 6040
