Best Buy: Implementation of ROWE - Essay Example

Research has shown that satisfied employees who feel that organizations understand their needs have enhanced job involvement and commitment which leads them to be more productive and less stressed by overwork. Increasingly organizational behavior changes focus on creating a workplace which enhances productivity and employee involvement. In the Times Magazine feature, Jyoti Thottam talks about Best Buy and the organizational challenge it faced as it moved towards providing a unique and flexible schedule for its employees who were increasingly facing burnout, stress and work-home balance issues.

A few examples given include people like Darrell Owens who was sacrificing his sleep and health to meet deadlines and Janssen who couldn’t manage to find some quality time with her children due to her schedule. (Thottam 2005) The proposed solution was the gradual introduction of ROWE– ‘results oriented work environment’- starting in 2003; a hybrid system of flexible and fixed work hours that concentrates on the quality of work produced rather than the hours worked. The major benefit of the system is that teams can opt for it together and work towards accepting a work environment where all employees may not be available physically all the time.

Modern communication tools like email, IM and video conferences make ROWE convenient for all involved. Unlike flextime which has limited choices and is still regulated by the management, ROWE works on the principles of empowerment and accountability for the employees who are free to make up their own hours (Craemer 2010). Developers Ressler and Thompson understood that the shift would need to be gradual to make sure people understand and benefit from the program. Training sessions and ‘Sludge’ sessions precluded the program, targeting the older members of the workforce and the general perception regarding flexible work times and a relaxed work environment as an inferior option.

Another problem was some of the Manager’s attitudes towards letting employees off the hook for work timings; they didn’t realize the amount of stress and burden they were placing on the employees. ROWE effectively managed to change that situation for the better, “the freedom, employees say, is changing their lives, they don't know if they work fewer hours--they've stopped counting--but they are more productive” (Thottam 2005). In the next few years ROWE proved highly successful where implemented, leading to an average 0f 35% increase in productivity and lowering voluntary turnover by almost 90% by 2010 (Craemer 2010).

This was despite the reservations that some of the employees and departments had towards the problem. Some of the problems raised were questions of how the work could be effectively monitored and evaluated and wouldn’t the employees who were regularly present be over burned in the absence of others? There was also the question of how to restrain from overworking when there were no set boundaries between work and leisure- many ambitious workers had difficulty managing hours on their own. Organizational behaviors are sometimes too deeply ingrained to be changed easily and these were legitimate concerns which led to many departments deciding to not opt for ROWE despite the benefits it offered.

Now almost a decade from its conception, ROWE has been adopted into retail corporate offices, financial services and non profit. However, the recent