Reference no: EM133171125

Case study:

COURSE TITILE: Selected Topics in Mgt.

Do traditional workplaces reward long hours instead of efficient hours? Wouldn't it make more sense to have a workplace in which employees could work however and whenever they wanted to as long as they did their work? W'ell, that's the approach Best Buy tried. And this radical workplace experiment, which obviously had many implications for employee motivation, was an interesting and enlightening journey for the company.

In 2002, then CEO Brad Anderson introduced a carefully crafted program called ROWE-Results-Only Work Environment. ROWE was the inspiration of two HRM managers at Best Buy, Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson. These two had been asked to take a flexible work program in effect at corporate headquarters in Minnesota and develop it for implementation throughout the company. Although that flexible work program had had some stunning successes including high levels of employee engagement and productivity, there was one significant issue. Those involved in the program were perceived to be "not working." And that was a common reaction from managers who didn't really view flexible work employees as actually doing work because they didn't show up at work during the "traditional" hours. The two women set about to change that impression by creating a program in which employees would be evaluated on what they accomplished- their "results only"- not on the amount of hours they spent working.

The first thing to understand about ROWE was that it wasn't about schedules. Instead, it was about changing the work culture of an organization, which is infinitely more difficult than changing schedules. With Anderson's blessing and support, they embarked on this journey to overhaul the company's corporate workplace The first step in implementing ROWE was a culture audit at company headquarters, which helped them establish a baseline for how employees perceived their work environment. After four months, the audit was repeated. During this time. Best Buy executives were being educated about ROWT^ and what it was all about. Obviously, it was important to have their commitment to the program. The second phase involved explaining the ROWE philosophy to all the corporate employees and training managers on how to maintain control in a ROWE workplace. In the third phase, work unit teams were free to figure out how to implement the changes. Each team found a different way to keep the flexibility from spiraling into chaos. For instance, the public relations team got pagers to make sure someone was always available in an emergency. Some employees in the finance department used software that turns voice mail into e-mail files accessible from anywhere, making it easier for them to work at home. Four months after ROWE was implemented, Ressler and Thompson followed up with another culture check to see how everyone was doing.

So what results did Best Buy see with this experiment? Productivity jumped 41 percent and voluntary turnover fell to 8 percent from 12 percent. They also discovered that when employees' engagement with their jobs increased, average annual sales  increased 2 percent. And employees said that the freedom changed their lives. ROWE reduced work-family conflict and increased employees' control over their schedules. ROW^E employees don't "count" how many hours they're at work but instead focus on getting their work done, however many or few hours that takes. For them, work became "something you do- not a place you go

Q1) Using one or more motivation theories to explain why you think ROWE works.

Q2) What might be the challenges for managers in motivating employees in a program like this?