RSSJuly 20th, 2006
Best Buy Pays for Results, What a Concept!
Recently, I have been quite fascinated by a story I heard yesterday about Best Buy, and their ROWE (results oriented work environment) program. Beginning in 2002, the company tried an experiment with about 2,000 employees in their Minnesota corporate headquarters. They decided that employees would get paid for getting the job done, no strings attached.
Best Buy employees could come and go as they please, work whenever and wherever they wanted. As long as their responsibilities were taken care of, they do not have to step one foot in the office. Work from home, work at the beach, work at 3am, just get the job done. An amazing thing happened . . . it worked!
Thanks to the company’s ability to see the “big picture”, they have reported an increase in productivity of up to 20%. Not only that, but employee morale and entrepreneurial spirit has gone up greatly as well thanks to the ROWE program.
I don’t know where the disconnect has been all of these years, but building a great business is based on happy employees. When did corporate America lose sight of that? You can imagine that not many Best Buy employees are leaving their flexible hours because they enjoy the feel of a 9-5 in a cubicle a little better. I for one am happy to see that companies like Best Buy and Google are innovating the way employees are managed, and that they have experienced immeasurable benefits thanks to their efforts.
I feel that trends such as this are only the beginning in the evolution of the workplace, and the “9-5 employee”. Those of us that are part of younger generations won’t work for a company that bombards us with guidelines and restrictions that suck the fun out of having a job. We care more about working for a cause, something we are truly passionate about, not just a lifeless excuse for a paycheck.
Companies large and small must find ways to give their employees significance on a daily basis. The ROWE program is simply a strategy that empowers people, get’s them to “drink the koolaid” in a sense and know that what they do matters. That is the true path to better productivity and a healthier bottom line.
Best Buy is now talking about taking the ROWE program to another level. They have discussed the idea of bringing it to ALL of their employees, even in the retail stores. There are obvious red flags involved with a plan like that, but I admire their spirit and ambition. I look forward to seeing how it all turns out.
If you would like to hear more on Best Buy’s ROWE program, check out the audio segment from npr.org.
Posted in Business -
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