The ROWE program is a new initiative inspired by Best Buy HR managers Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson and aims to introduce deep corporate culture change by measuring performance based on productivity, not working hours. First applied in company's headquarters, ROWE is delivered in four phases company-wide: (1) Culture Audit (implemented and repeated at company's headquarters for acculturation and education purposes), (2) Corporate Communication (delivered to staff company-wide in order to communicate underlying philosophies and educate managers on control methods), (3) Department-By-Department Adoption (implemented according to each department's requirements and functions), and (4) Follow-Up (Culture Check model applied to assess outcomes). If anything, advantages include more flexibility in work-life balance and enhanced manager-subordinate relationship. On flipside, drawbacks include a more "laid back" attitude to work, leading to long-range decline in productivity and possible bottleneck crises, particularly during wide-scale emergencies, as one or a group of critical staff members may not be available readily or collectively for immediate meetings and/or issue handling.
Personally, paper's author believes Google and Best Buy adopt a particularly innovative practice. Frequently referred to in an increasing body of labor literature as work-as-play approach, a flexible working hour policy does open up more space for further innovative contribution by staff. In permitting flexible hours for staff to work on personal projects, Google helps accommodate needs of highly skilled and innovative staff for whom a winning currency is more investment on innovative creations as opposed to more conventional monetary incentives. Similarly, Best Buy manages to raise productivity by putting in place an innovative ROWE program permitting staff to work according to own schedules as opposed to a conventional, corporate schedule. This approach does not, however, match different labor relations and corporate arrangements. If anything, Google and Best Buy employ highly skilled and innovative labor force for whom flexibility is shown to work best for company and staff. Yet, for more conventional labor relations, let alone specific ethnic, gender and educational backgrounds, a flexible work schedule is shown not to be attainable by 73% of US workforce (Golden, 2001).
As a manager in Best Buy business ecosystem, paper's author would adopt ROWE program in respective department but would introduce a novelty in order to further examine maximum productivity outcomes. Specifically, in addition to monitoring staff performance according to ROWE, paper's author would adopt different work schedules from different departments, after proper surveying and permissions. This should embed best-in-company practice into respective department's work schedules developed by staff. This should not mean, of course, department staff is required to adopt suggested modifications but should, significantly, be incentivized by so doing. Moreover, paper's author would monitor performance (and, for that matter, productivity) using a special, customizable calendar by which a worker's schedule is registered and charted. By comparing different schedules for individual workers and department staff, a best-in-company schedule can emerge and be adopted for possible company-wide application.
The case for flexible working hours in healthcare industry is long debated. Notably, flexible working hours are shown to improve productivity by 10% in a pharmaceutical context (Shepard III, Clifton & Kruse, 2008). This finding is, in fact, aligned to paper's author conviction of confirmed positive productivity outcomes in healthcare industry in general. Given high unpredictabilities in healthcare contexts (particularly in emergency services and/or round-clock, senior healthcare), a flexible working schedule is apt to help a service provider manage her own schedule more effectively and, more significantly, more collaboratively with a care recipient as opposed to more conventional, fixed, corporate-imposed schedules.
References
Golden, L. (2001). Flexible Work Schedules: Which Workers Get Them? American Behavioral Scientist, 44(7), 1157-1178. Sage Journals. doi: 10.1177/00027640121956700
Shepard III, E. M., Clifton, T. J., & Kruse, D. (2008). Flexible Work Hours and Productivity: Some Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 35(1), 123–139. Wiley Online Library. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-232X.1996.tb00398.x
