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Human ROWEsources

Aug 2, 2010 » by Cali & Jody

Recently, we enjoyed the pleasure of being interviewed by Jared Shelly for Human Resource Executive Online / Human Resource Executive Magazine. We discussed work ethic, the sense of freedom in a ROWE, teamwork, and how ROWE is impacting human resources.

We also want to thank everyone who contributed their time and insight to the story.

Following is an excerpt…

Daniel Pink says HR executives who don’t buy into the ROWE concept might not understand how it could change HR, along with the rest of the company.

“More of the administrative tasks end up going away for HR and, I think, it frees up HR to do more sophisticated, strategic work like finding and nurturing great talent,” he says. “HR does fewer of the routine ham-and-egg administrative [tasks] and does more of the strategic responsibilities and does better for the firm.”

Eva Sage-Gavin, executive vice president of human resources at Gap, says she sees a similar change for HR since the organization went ROWE. If an employee is responsible for completing a task and doesn’t do so, for example, he or she has the entire team to answer to — not just the supervisor and HR. And that’s changed how HR does its job.

“I’ve found something amazing: It’s almost relieving HR from being a disciplinarian because the team depends on each other”

Read the whole story, “Anytime, Anywhere”

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  • KellyK

    It was definitely a good article. One piece stood out to me, and I’m not sure how I feel about it:

    “To make sure employees don’t feel like they’re required to work 24/7, there is an unwritten rule at Gap — all meetings and collaborative efforts take place between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., says Severson. That way, nobody is forced to comply with a co-worker’s odd hours.”

    On the one hand, I’m all about not being expected to comply with a coworker’s odd hours, especially since a lot of the programmers I work with are night owls and my brain shuts off by about 9 PM.

    On the other hand, it seems like an artificial restriction. If two or three night owls want to have a meeting at 11 PM or early birds want to get together at 6, let them have at it. It’s based on consideration toward your coworkers (which is always a good thing), but it assumes that scheduling meetings during “normal work hours” is considerate. But if someone just pulled an all-nighter, asking them to a 9:30 meeting isn’t considerate or productive.

    Of course, I may be reading waaaay too much into an unwritten rule. And there’s a certain logic to confining required work activities to normal work times—the rest of the world doesn’t exactly operate on a ROWE yet. (But we can hope, right?)

    • PersephoneK

      KellyK, I had the same thoughts! That seemed antithetical to ROWE. That’s how ridiculous rules get out of control in the first place. Instead of just allowing the people invovled to decide on technique and time, organizations feel the need to create these types of blanket policies, written or unwritten.

  • http://www.choosepeople.com Kris Boesch

    Dear Cali & Jody,

    I love what you all have created! Just one main question – how do, or can you, apply the ROWE in service oriented businesses? My husband and I own a moving company and our crews have to be at the job site at a certain time. I was also thinking of customer service where someone could take calls from their home, but they would need to take calls during a certain time period to allow for scheduling. Please let me know your thoughts. And if you’ve addressed this elsewhere, which I’m sure you have, I apologize for not having read it yet!

    Thank you so much!

    All the best,
    Kris

  • C. A. Hurst

    Hi ROWE Team,

    This is another great article!

    Reading through the concerns about unethical behavior, some employees slacking, and the need for clear expectations and communication I found myself thinking, “Well, that’s the point isn’t it?” A ROWE environment shines a huge spotlight on all three of these areas. As Cali points out, “…in a ROWE, they would be exposed more quickly. When the focus is solely on results, underperformers and unethical behavior can’t hide.” As for clear expectations and communicating those expectations clearly to other team members, isn’t that what we want? What is efficient or productive about someone sitting somewhere wondering what they should be doing? The ROWE mind-set pushes on people to be the adult professionals that they claim to be; communicate clearly, agree on a certain result due at a certain time, then go get it done and, as Seth Godin would say, “Ship!”
    I really liked what Eva Sage-Gavin, executive vice president of human resources at Gap, had to say: “If an employee is responsible for completing a task and doesn’t do so, for example, he or she has the entire team to answer to — not just the supervisor and HR.”

    Here’s a quote from Michael Barata’s post, “The No Jive 5” ( June 23, 2010): “ROWE is adaptive social change not technical change. When expectations are made crystal clear, focus is on achieving results, and real consequences exist for poor performance, people rise to the occasion.”

    People struggle with ROWE because it challenges the status quo. It forces them to re-think what “work” should be and how that work should get done. That’s really, really good. The way we “used to do things” hasn’t been working efficiently or productively for quite some time. It’s way past time to re-examine our methodology and allow ourselves to create innovative solutions for an innovative age.

  • Manny Sullano

    Well, I totally believe in ROWE concepts. If I will make a big change in my life, I will work with a company that live and breathe the ROWE principles.

    Also, I “Like” / follow you in Facebook and Twitter.

    - Manny

    • Cali & Jody

      Manny – awesome! So glad you feel that way. We’re coming up with a great way for you, and all other ROWE fans, to connect to companies that are moving in the ROWE direction. Stay tuned for it…it’s coming soon…

  • http://www.dannywindsor.com Danny Windsor

    Hi,

    Im a team leader for a public NHS organisation. I lead a team of 7 trainers and for some time i have been trying to implement ROWE into our lives. I am presented with HE policies and procedures as to why ROWE will not work. The philosphy is so simple yet we are forced to work in an hour by hour environment. I have writtern papers, research and presentations that i am nearly at the point of presenting to higher management. I am expecting a negative responce despite the research and findings. Can anyone give me some examples hoee ROWE has influenced a public sector environment?

    Any advice is always appreciated.
    Cheers