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The idea is based on a concept that was started at Best Buy by Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler, who subsequently left the company, wrote a book and started their own consultancy to help other organizations implement the ROWE infrastructure.

Essentially, what this means is that we’ve stopped measuring the amount of time our employees spend at work, and focus exclusively on results instead. That means no set working hours, no vacation time, no sick time, no lunch breaks. But more importantly, it means that we have been through a process of documenting our expectations for employee's results, on a quarterly basis, in pretty fine detail. You can do your job whenever, wherever and however you want, as long as you get results. What a novel concept: treating employees like adults.

For me, perhaps the most surprising result of this process is the extent to which we weren’t previously paying attention to what people were actually doing. Sure, everyone had 6-month objectives and a job description. But there’s something that really focuses your mind when you know that the ROWE objectives are the only way you have of measuring someone’s performance.

We’ve also tied the ROWE goals into our overall corporate objectives. We’ve defined 7 key objectives for the company, and everyone’s ROWE goals tie into one of those objectives. That way, people can more easily see how what they do moves the company forward. Of course, this is all implemented in a Notes database, which makes quarterly reviews a snap!

Other organizations that have implemented ROWE report significant increases in productivity, as well as employee satisfaction.  For us, it’s too early to say. So far though, things are going well, and we’ve had good feedback on the goals setting process. The results will speak for themselves over time.