Employees at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) choose how to organize their work and their time to ensure they can meet all the demands in their lives – both professional and personal. For senior actuary Philippe Grégoire, that means occasionally taking meetings via Skype while he is walking on a treadmill.
It sometimes also means leaving the office at 2 p.m., or working all day at home and having dinner ready by the time his wife, who also holds a full-time job, returns with their children. Then he can continue working after the kids are in bed.
Grégoire is able to do that because in 2018, CMHC became the largest organization in Canada to implement a ResultsOnly Work Environment (ROWE)™️. “It’s an approach where employees have much more accountability and autonomy over their work,” explains Evan Siddall, president and CEO of CMHC. “In a sense, each CMHC employee is now an entrepreneur.”
“ROWE has been a game-changer this year while I was juggling big projects at work, two young kids in daycare with different needs and occasional illnesses, and the purchase of a new house,” says Grégoire. “With ROWE, I am able to efficiently manage my stress and energy levels and optimize my productivity. From a work-life balance perspective, my relationship with my wife and children has improved greatly, and my overall quality of life has benefitted tremendously.”