A ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) is becoming more popular in how businesses are run, but the majority of businesses have yet to take this step and the rest may not even know what it means. Personally, I love the ROWE. I think it’s a fantastic idea that focuses on the employees and not the company which in turn creates better employees. So why are businesses hesitant to make this happen? Why should you consider moving toward a ROWE?
Reasons a ROWE isn’t implemented
They think it is a ROWE – but it’s not
This is tricky. You try to put in place an environment that feels like a ROWE on the surface, but it’s still the typical 9-5 job that most businesses still abide by. If employees are still required to work 40 hours or more, ask to work from home, meetings are rigid, business hours are strict or if only a few get to experience ROWE benefits then the environment is not a ROWE.
Old school of thinking
When you are old enough to get to school you are told when to get up, get on the bus and get to class. You’re in class roughly from 8 AM to noon (or so) for a lunch break. You may even have a recess period somewhere in the middle. Then in the afternoon you might get another recess period at a scheduled time and then you’re told to leave by 3 PM. You’re trained – dare I say programmed – to be on time and follow the rules. A ROWE is a complete shift in a social paradigm at work that is completely alien to the way you’re trained to think at an early age.
The concept of a ROWE is easy to grasp, but the implementation is more difficult not because rules can’t change. It’s difficult to implement because it starts at the top and has to flow down seamlessly and be adopted by the entire team. Management has to consciously open up the opportunity to give their teams the ability to access the freedoms of a ROWE and suppress those urges of management that are often still taught in schools today.
Why you need a ROWE
It’s funny to say but do you ever hear things like, “Oh no it’s Monday?” Perhaps the attitude in your workplace is growing more negative. There are grumblings about time off, meetings, rules, overtime and who knows what else. This is not uncommon.
Michael Reynolds of SpinWeb speaks about a ROWE quite often and how you know if you’re in a ROWE. The people there love working in a ROWE so much they’re even blogging about it. That’s how you know you have a successful ROWE, and if your employees are blogging about how much they love working for your company then you’re doing an amazing job. That’s no easy feat.
