ROWE: Flexible Schedules for Increased Productivity - Essay Sample

Introduction

Results- Only Work Environment (ROWE) is a program that was developed by Judy Thompson and Cali Ressler, former human resource managers at Best buy and the founders of a human resource consultancy. The program focuses on the employee's output or productivity rather than emphasizing working for many hours as experienced in the traditional workplaces. ROWE provides employees with flexibility for schedules, which results in increased productivity. However, the program cannot work well for people who need constant supervision.

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ROWE focuses on the output instead of the traditional workplace routine, which insists on long working hours. With ROWE, employees can work from home or anywhere else as long they deliver their work effectively and efficiently. There are also no set working hours or a schedule, but it all depends on individual employees.

Possible advantages of the program included the following. The first one is an increase in productivity. People tend to perform well when they feel they have the freedom to perform their tasks without being monitored all the time. For instance, the productivity percentage at Best Buy increased to 41% upon the adoption of the program, while employee turnover fell from 12% to 8% (Robbins et al., 2018). Second, the employees are likely to be more creative and get things done well as they are responsible for their performance. It is upon them to deliver quality work without direct supervision. Having control over the work schedules allows employees to plan themselves and reduce work-family or social conflict, which enabled the employees to live a balanced life.

Some drawbacks may, however, arise as some people lack self-drive and excellent time management skills. Thus, the lack of supervision affects their output immensely. Abuse of the freedom bestowed upon them by not delivering quality work is likely to affect the productivity of the company. Also, working from home may hinder effective communication among employees or between employees and managers, which limits collaboration and teamwork, which is essential in an organization to accomplish set goals efficiently.

The challenge likely to be experienced by managers in motivating employees in a program like this is limited interaction for managers to monitor their employees due to the limited time spent together. Most people would prefer to work from home if presented with the opportunity. Because the program focuses on effectiveness and productivity in results, the manager may be unable to monitor the behavior or work pattern of employees to identify areas that need improvement to enable them to come up with appropriate coaching and motivation strategies. Also, a lot of time gets spent explaining to the employees how the program works instead of focusing on other development programs.

ROWE program is likely to work as it emphasizes on the results. The employees have the responsibility to control their performance. As the need for achievement theory outlines, everybody desires to perform better. The drive to pursue perfection enables individuals to exploit their full potential and deliver excellent results. Allowing people to plan their work and perform their duties without supervision gives them the drive to achieve more. Therefore, the program is likely to work exemplary with increased productivity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, ROWE provides employees with flexibility for schedules, which results in balanced work, family, and social life hence increased productivity. However, the program cannot work well for people who need constant supervision. The limited contact between managers and employees also provide a challenge in motivating employees.

Reference

Robbins, S., Coulter, M., DeCenzo, D., & Woods, M. (2018). Management (14th ed.). Pearson