gleater work-life balance make

the system beneficial to emPloy-

ees, who have reported enjoying
perks such as getting more sleep
each night and a decreased com-
mute time. "People have a feel-
ing that they are less beholden
to a clockthantheyare to awor.t
result on their own time. As such,
it leads to less stress and a better
morale," Hadwen says.
ROWE also helps managers
become more efficient. 'A lot of
management time is dedicated
to the nitty-gritty of assigning
people here and there, dealing
with scheduling and the like,"
says Hadwen. '[With ROWE,]
they're less concerned about
whether their emPloYees are
present, as opposed to achiev-
ing what they want."
According to StePhen Harvill,
a workplace consultant based
in Dallas, ROWE seems to work
best in creative fields. He says it's
common for companiesto adoPt
ROWE one department at a time,

The end of clockpunching? often beginning with the market-

ing team."Very few literallY dive
into it," he says. "It's more like
ln aresults-orimted their job, they're working. panies like Best Buy, Netflix and they stick their toe in, and iftheY
Unlike the flex arrangements IBM have adopted the system like it, theywade in."
workplace, you can sleep
that many workplaces, including with the goal of creating a hap- The process to bring ROWE
until no on if y ou w ant -j ust many in the public sector, cur- pier, more efficient workplace. into aworkplace isn't quick-for
don'tblow your targets rently use, a ROWE makes no The idea is the brainchild of Cali a company that emPloYS about
demands at allwhen it comes to Ressler and Jody Thompson, for- 3,OOO people, it could take up
V 7ou misht not think the where, how or when people get mer HR employees for Best Buy to three years, says ThomPson.
\ / t"a"rii government, their work done. While flex pro- who now run CultureRx. They Migration starts with a pilot test
Y with its lai,ers ofbureau- grams accommodate emPloyee recently wrote a book about it, ofabout 300 to 5OO emPloYees.
I cratic inefficiencies, schedule alterations on a case'to- Why Work Sucks and How to Fbc It, As the test is ongoing, co-work-
would be the natural place to test case basis, a ROWE makes work- and now theywork to help busi ers and colleagues oftenbecome
a radical new concept in human ing around each employee's per- nesses adopt a RowE model. interested in ROWE, and cam-
. resowce management. But that's sonal schedule its starting point. ln2OO7, the University of paign for their department to
exactlywhat Peter Hadwen, avet- So if an employee wants to take Minnesota conducted a study of provide the same options.
eran Ottawa workplace consul- a three-weekvacation, they can employees ofBest Buy, one ofthe The trend has been slower to
tant, is determined to do. go right ahead, as long as they're earliest adopters of the ROWE take offin Canada. But Ressler
Hadwen, who has worked for still meeting results. model. The resulting Flexible says that's changing. "We've had
more than 2O years with public Not surprisingly, the idea that Wo rk and Well-B eing Study found interest from Canada. We're

service clients including Trans- /ess oversight leads to greater
port Canada, the Department productivity is not an easy sell to
of Fisheries and Oceans and managers accustomed to work-
the Treasury Board Secretariat, ing in a more regimented way.
is pitching to transform all of "There's always abit of skepticism
these government departments regarding the ability to measure
into "results-only work environ- results," Hadwen says. "Butwith
ments," or ROWE. Essentially, enough effort and discussion,
this means employees will no we can get past that. EspeciallY
longer be responsible for show- when dealingwith organizations
ing up to work at a certain time, that are transaction focused, and
or attending particular meetings, which have a defined process
or even working in the office at and manner of doing things."
all. As long as they're meeting ROWE has already seen a bit of
goals and achieving results in a boom in the U.S., where com-
employees in a ROWE reported in talks with a few companies
more job satisfaction andbetter right now, exploring it and talk-
iob organization than those who ing with leadership teams," she
didn't. The study also found that says. Harvill says it's imPortant
there wasn't a significant change for businesses to consider an
in the number of hours employ- arrangement like ROWE in order
ees worked compared to their to stay competitive in today's
pre-ROWE days. More recently, business world. "If you're going
the Human Services and Pub- to work more effectivelY, You
lic Health Department in Min- better be ready to make adjust-
neapolis migrated to a ROWE ments, especially when it comes
last spring, with encouraging to the relationship betweenwork
early results.
'and production, and job satis-
Advocates ofthe practice say faction and success," he saYs'
personal accountability and a -tYNoslE BouRG0ll

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