Empowering HR to Attract and Retain Top Talent
Achieve Autonomy, Accountability, and a Results-Driven Culture with ROWE
The average human resources department is responsible for everything from talent acquisition to employee retention, all while attempting to craft policies that promote a positive work culture and employee experience. Let’s face it, HR departments are not for the faint of heart.
In the age of quiet quitting, many HR professionals are also facing an overwhelming set of challenges when it comes to performance management - one of them being finding innovative solutions to increase productivity. If you’re tired of feeling overworked, and often overwhelmed, then the good news is that there is a solution. But it isn’t instituting free pizza Fridays or offering more flexible work options.
Today’s employees aren’t looking for more workplace flexibility or policy-based remote work. They are on a quest for a results-driven workplace where they are empowered to design their own approach to doing their best work.
That’s where the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) comes in. ROWE’s core principles offer a much-needed upgrade from the outdated policies that many organizations have been clinging to for over a century.
Traditional workplace dogma goes a little something like this:
- Employees are expected to show up (or log on) at a time and place designated by their employer
- Said employees are then expected to adhere to policies that detail why the company’s way of approaching work is the best way of approaching work
- Each employee must remain in the office (or glued to their screens) for the duration of the day, no matter how much or little work they actually manage to accomplish during that time
- Management’s job is to hover throughout the office (or seek out who is currently ‘online’) like hall monitors, making sure everyone looks acceptably busy
- Employees depend on their superiors for permission to deviate from the above guidelines in any way
Traditional work policies and rules emphasize the importance of management designating and controlling when and where people do their work.
Today's talent is looking for a different work experience.
Let’s take a look at how the key principles of the Results-Only Work Environment stack up by comparison:
- Employees are given clear, measurable objectives that they complete in the most efficient and effective way possible. It’s a waste of time to waste time.
- Every employee operates on a platform of 100% accountability to objective, measurable results and 100% autonomy (freedom to choose where and when they work each day in order to meet their measurable results - this includes where/when/how they collaborate to support their colleagues in achieving their measurable results)
- Performance management becomes about measuring actual results, not time spent working from an approved location
- Managers become helpful partners that manage work, rather than attempt to control people
- Organizations become results-based, not permission-based
Rest assured that ROWE is NOT one more policy-driven system dressed up as a hybrid work environment. It’s a performance-driven system that creates a positive work culture designed to help your company attract and retain top talent, increase employee productivity, and produce dynamic results.
Below we’ll show you how ROWE has helped produce a significant change in real companies just like your own. But first, take our free two-minute quiz to find out how your work culture is impacting your company – for better or worse.
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Empowering HR to Attract and Retain Today's Talent
Hey, it’s hard to attract top talent these days, let alone retain them. The COVID-19 pandemic turned life upside down for people all over the world and ushered in something now known as the “Great Resignation.”
Suddenly, workers everywhere were rethinking what type of employee experience they were really after. Millions began leaving their jobs for greener pastures as employers scrambled to find the new keys to employee retention.
Many companies ended up adopting band-aids such as offering remote work or a hybrid work environment. But in the end, most wound up forcing their employees to adhere to the same old policies whether they happened to be working from home, the office, or a mixture of the two.
ROWE is not about offering employees a greater sense of workplace flexibility. It is about increasing productivity by focusing on results instead of rules. Attracting and retaining talent becomes a whole lot easier when your work culture becomes one of your company’s greatest assets.
Rather than outlining how, when, and where potential talent will be allowed to work, you’ll be able to highlight the perks of working in a results-driven workplace. Imagine being able to float the following perks right alongside your killer 401(k) package:
Employees are valued based on their performance, not how many hours they spend looking busy
Each member of the team knows exactly what results they need to achieve and by when
How, when, and where each employee goes about achieving those results is up to them
Yep, you can work in the office, at home, or on a beach as long as your performance stays on point
Sounds pretty great, huh? It is. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s what Marie-Claude Tremblay, SVP of People and Strategy at a Canadian Crown Corporation, had to say about how ROWE has transformed her company’s talent acquisition process:
“This ROWE culture that we are creating has turned out to be a terrific recruitment bonus. If you look on our website, the way that we have posted our openings right now— we talk about the culture that we are trying to build and that we have. And we say, if you want to work like this, this is your place, come here. But if you can’t, the opposite is also true. ... It is very powerful.”
If you work in HR, then we don’t have to tell you the value of enhancing your employer’s brand, increasing employee satisfaction, and boosting employee retention rates. By leveraging ROWE as a strategic tool for talent acquisition, you’ll quickly begin attracting high-performing employees who value the freedom and autonomy needed to do their best work.
ROWE employees are happy employees who wake up every day excited to do their best work. As one employee from Watt Global Media, a ROWE-certified company, explained,
“The way I approach a task, both in the office and out of the office, has changed — for the better. I feel more responsible overall and in control of my time and my results. My life feels more balanced; I’m happier, healthier, and more productive than I have ever been.”
Work Productivity and Quiet Quitting
Think your company effectively dodged the Great Resignation just because everyone is still showing up to their desks? Not so fast.
There’s another new trend on the horizon that spells bad news for employers everywhere. “Quiet quitting” is when an employee resolves to do the bare minimum needed to stay on your payroll, but nothing more.
Quiet quitters are far stealthier than members of the Great Resignation, which is exactly what makes them so terrifying. Even as we speak, quiet quitters could be lurking in the halls or servers of your organization, plotting ways to spend more time playing trash can (or real) basketball rather than actually working.
But what’s an HR department to do in terms of putting an end to such shenanigans? Rest assured that quiet quitters won’t last in a results-driven workplace for long.
While ROWE offers employees autonomy (freedom, equity) , it also keeps everyone 100% accountable for their performance - or lack thereof. Remember, the Results-Only Work Environment is about - you guessed it - results.
By ditching the time clock, performance management becomes all about evaluating outcomes rather than ensuring employees are “working” all their hours or when they’re “supposed” to. For high-performing employees, this leads to increased productivity, creativity, and innovation.
For quiet quitters, it leads to an inevitable unmasking. Should a quiet quitter continue to refuse to perform, you’ll have no problems explaining why it’s time for them to find another company’s halls to lurk.
Want to find out more about how performance management works in a results-driven workplace? Download our FREE guide for HR professionals in the workplace to get the inside scoop.
A New Role for HR that Impacts Workplace Culture, Employee Engagement and Employee Experience
In a ROWE, human resources team members become strategic partners rather than rule enforcers. It can be hard to walk the fine line between enforcing your company’s policies and curating a work culture based on trust.
If your company decides to embrace 100% accountability and 100% autonomy, then the good news is that your job is about to get a whole lot more fun. By helping transform your organization’s work culture, you’ll create an amazing new employee experience that will drastically boost levels of engagement and productivity.
As employees begin enjoying new levels of accountability and autonomy, you’ll naturally see an increase in motivation, employee retention, and loyalty. Your HR department will become a powerful force for reinforcing this positive culture through open communication, recognition, and reward programs.
Rather than focusing on trying to put in enough face time to appear to be an achiever, employees enjoy the opportunity to let their performance do the talking. By enjoying the autonomy of choosing where, when and how to achieve their measurable results, employees are able to design their lives in a way that allows them to meet all the demands of their time (personally and professional). No more sacrificing life for, work and vice versa.
“Since working in a ROWE, I haven’t missed a single family activity due to my job. In a traditional work environment, I found myself at the mercy of someone else’s schedule and often had to miss (or be late to) my son’s after-school activities. ROWE allows me to maintain my priorities. I work more and I work harder, but I do it on my schedule—so I feel great about it.” — Mojo Media Employee
Whether an employee wants to sign-up for a personal health class or professional development course, they’ll be able to go for it!
Check out our business results to see more examples of how ROWE encourages growth for both companies and their employees alike.
Best practices for supporting the adoption of
100% accountability and 100% autonomy (ROWE)
Ready to help transform your company into a results-driven workplace, all while boosting talent acquisition and increasing productivity? CultureRx is here to help you create an innovative work culture that redefines the employee experience.
But where do you fit in as an HR team member? You’re an essential part of the process from the very beginning. First, we’ll schedule an appointment to speak with you about where your organization is now and where it hopes to be in the future.
We want to hear all about your company’s current challenges and the strategies that haven't been successful in overcoming them so that we can help you design the perfect plan for adopting ROWE. As we move forward, you’ll participate in employee and manager training modules led by CultureRx Adaptive Change Facilitators who will work to shift your entire organization’s mindset in a performance-driven direction.
Sign on to become a certified ROWE “coach” and work closely with our expert trainers to learn about your important role in the future of your ROWE organization. Even after your company becomes certified, we’ll be available to provide ongoing support, including new hire onboarding and refresher courses based on your culture data reports.
Not quite ready to take the leap into a companywide ROWE adoption? No worries! We designed a powerful 12-month pilot that can help you take ROWE for a test drive and create an internal proof-of-concept. No matter which path forward you choose, you’ll enjoy a front-row seat to the many powerful changes ushered in by a Results-Only Work Environment.
Here’s how Stéphane Poulin, the Human Resources Director of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, described his experience with CultureRx:
“Initially I was not convinced that this would change the way we work, but finally, I was quite amazed to see the impact of it [from our ROWE pilot]. The employees on my team started seeing a big difference in the way that they were interacting with each other, increases in collaboration, more clarity in the way that they were working. Obviously, there was much more freedom in their work-life balance. The engagement was through the roof.”
Stéphane Poulin | Human Resources Director
-Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation-
From employee and customer satisfaction rates to boosted revenues, ROWE companies everywhere are already seeing dynamic results.
Some of our client success metrics include:
JL Buchanan achieved 100% top line growth in under 5 years
The Garabedian Group now enjoys 10-15% annual growth.
Dynatronix boosted its on-time project delivery rate by 20%.
Canadian Crown Corporation just reported a 300% increase in their NPS (Net Promoter Score).
“Becoming ROWE Certified as a firm has changed the entire dynamic of The Garabedian Group. Everyone is enjoying the freedom of autonomy and accountability while continuing to get the stellar results we have always strived for. It works, it is fun, and we are much more balanced in our work and personal lives. The word is out that the ROWE system works for TGG; people are calling and asking if we have positions open for them to join the team.”
Dale J. Garabedian | President and CEO
-The Garabedian Group-
If your organization is ready to upgrade to the work culture of the future, then CultureRx is happy to help you get started!
Reach out today to let us know how we can help your organization create dynamic and lasting change!
Revolutionize Your Workplace with ROWE
Rest assured that you’re not alone if you feel like outdated workplace policies are holding your organization back from its full potential. In an age of quiet quitters and mass resignations, today's workforce is on a collective quest for a new kind of employee experience.
The idea that work and family life should be boxed into two separate categories is fading. As is the idea that employees should give up the right to control full time hours of their own lives each week in exchange for a salary.
As workplace expectations evolve, so are the secrets to positioning your organization on the winning side of the talent war. The Results-Only workplace is a social-science-backed system that can create powerful changes to the ways companies' approach everything from talent acquisition to increasing productivity.
Isn’t it time to design a work culture that fosters creativity and collaboration instead of permission-seeking and compliance? ROWE is designed to boost everything from employee retention to business revenue by offering an innovative approach to the work culture.
Why settle for policy-based remote work options or a hybrid work environment that promotes workplace flexibility over lasting change? Don’t be one of the many companies that discover the hard way that such approaches often only lead to the same problems in more flexible work environments.
If you’re one of the many HR professionals who are ready to take action, then check out our ROWE pilot program.
You’ll learn firsthand just how huge a difference a results-driven workplace can make and open up whole new possibilities for the future of your organization.
HR's Role in ROWE
Maybe you are a HR professional whose team is interested in learning more about ROWE. Or perhaps you were approached by an employee who thinks it’s an awesome idea.
Either way, know that your company’s HR department is absolutely instrumental when it comes to producing the positive changes ROWE has to offer. CultureRx is here to answer any questions your HR team may have about ROWE and partner with you every step of the way if you decide it’s the right move for your organization.
We totally understand that ROWE is pretty revolutionary and may even sound a bit alarming at first. That’s why we’ve got plenty of case studies that demonstrate firsthand how ROWE has helped real companies solve some of the most pressing challenges in today’s work environment.
In order for us to really pinpoint how ROWE could help your company, we’d love to set up a one-hour conversation to go over several key topics, including:
- The challenges your organization is currently facing
- The approaches you’re currently taking to solving them and whether or not they’re working
- Whether ROWE could offer more effective and permanent solutions
- Thoughts or concerns you may have about ROWE or the future of your organization
If your company should decide that ROWE is right for you, you’ll become a frontline leader in ushering in a whole new work culture. We work closely with HR team members as they develop new policies, procedures, and management processes designed to transform their company into a results-driven workplace.