Results-Only Work Environment

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The Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) is an HR management strategy that has been developed in the USA by HR managers Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler since 2003. The core of the strategy is to no longer pay employees for a certain number of working hours , but only for a certain work result. In practice, this means that an employee can carry out his work at any time, anywhere, as long as the work result is correct. (“ In a ROWE, workers can work wherever, whenever, and however they choose to, as long as they achieve their results. ”) There is no compulsion to spend working hours in the office when a task is also being done in another location can be. Employees are also free to choose their working methods.

Ergonomic classification

ROWE is one of the (partially) autonomous work processes that have become increasingly important in recent decades. The reason lies in the increased complexity of work in many industrial, service and administrative workplaces. The "old work", which - especially in the USA - was done by unskilled or semi-skilled workers using standardized work procedures, is declining for two reasons: Simple jobs are a) outsourced to low-wage countries in a globalized economy and, additionally, b) by systemic ones Rationalization ( e-business , Internet of Things , Industry 4.0 , etc.) replaced. “Modern work” requires higher qualifications, expanded problem-solving skills and more flexible, situation-adapted working methods. In contrast, a rigid time regime and strict methodological guidelines are perceived by “modern employees” as a burden that affects job satisfaction, increases the fluctuation rate and, moreover, decreases productivity.

The development towards more flexible work structures is not new. Since the development of "management techniques " ( Management by Delegation , Management by Objectives ) in the 1960s, processes comparable to those of ROWE have been known and put into practice. The emergence of telework in the 1980s can also be seen as a forerunner of ROWE. The ROWE representatives, however, see significant differences in their approach in relation to telework: ROWE is “more radical” than telework, as all specifications on time, place and working method are dispensed with. With teleworking, the place of work is usually the private home and the choice of working methods is within a range specified by the company. The employees in the ROWE model tend to have the status of freelancers, while the teleworkers (at least in Germany) mostly have employee status, and the structuring of the corresponding employment relationships is a series of legal regulations, e.g. B. on social security issues, occupational safety and minimum wages.

In the work sciences in Germany, the ROWE approach has been taken up and discussed under the term freedom from working hours .

Application examples

The first and at the same time best-known example is the introduction of the ROWE strategy in the American electronics chain Best Buy , which has been operated by Thompson and Ressler since 2005. The management consultancy CultureRx, which they later founded, marketed the strategy for a number of other large companies, including a. at the second largest US retailer Gap Inc. Other companies that introduced the ROWE approach are JA Counter and Associates , the IT department of Fairview Health Services u. a. But also non-profit organizations use ROWE, e.g. B. the Girl Scouts of San Gorgino . The dissemination of the approach in practice was mainly driven by an effective advertising publication strategy by the founders themselves and other well-known American business authors such as Dan Pink .

In total, the ROWE approach was used in around 40 companies in the USA (as of 2013). In the ROWE model company Best Buy, however, ROWE was abolished again in February 2013 by CEO Hubert Joly - in a situation of stagnating sales. The question arises as to whether the necessary restructuring of a company in a crisis situation can even be managed with the ROWE approach.

Except in Great Britain, where there is a branch office of CultureRx, no cases of use of ROWE have come to light in Europe. That is u. a. to the stricter European occupational health and safety regulations, e.g. B. the EU directive on the organization of working hours.

Possible positive and negative effects of the ROWE strategy

The following aspects of the strategy are rated positively :

From the point of view of the employees:

  • The lack of fixed working hours increases the personal flexibility and time sovereignty of the employees.
  • The compatibility of work and family is improved.
  • Employee satisfaction shows high values ​​and fluctuation is decreasing.
  • The employees can concentrate independently on the defined goals (the results of the work).

From the company's point of view:

  • The productivity of work increases.
  • The costs for fluctuation (severance payments, qualification of new employees, etc.) decrease due to falling fluctuation.

The following aspects of the strategy are seen as problematic :

  • It is unclear for which employee groups the method is suitable. Reports of similar attempts suggest that it works primarily on highly skilled workers; B. in the high-tech industry (30 to 50% of the employees at IBM, AT&T and Sun Microsystems or Google work according to ROWE-like principles.) In contrast, z. B. Classic production workplaces are probably not suitable for implementing the principle of free choice of work location.
  • The measurability of the work result is not simply possible in a large number of cases. There is a risk that elements of the work results that can only or predominantly be quantified are taken into account. This is for highly complex products on the one hand and z. B. for the results of social work with high empathy on the other hand a problematic reduction.
  • Communication and cooperation among employees is more difficult. This is particularly true because participation in and implementation of team meetings is no longer mandatory in the ROWE model.
  • The granted freedom in one's own (work) time planning requires a high degree of intrinsic motivation and self-discipline on the part of employees.

From the company's point of view:

  • Managing employees in the ROWE model can be difficult; in any case, it requires a completely new understanding and a largely changed practice on the part of superiors. The self-image resulting from the superior role, the usual privileges and the awareness of power become obsolete.

From the point of view of the employees:

  • The clear exchange relation “wages for working hours” is dissolved. If time is no longer paid attention to in remuneration, there can be a tendency towards "unpaid" overtime. And since there are no longer any fixed working hours, employees can also be contacted on business in their “free time”. This constant availability largely eliminates the previously clear separation between work and leisure.

From the perspective of labor law:

  • The basic principle practiced in ROWE of completely dispensing with regulation of working hours comes into conflict with European occupational health and safety law.
  • In employment relationships based on the ROWE model, the employer no longer has a right of direction. It is more a matter of contracts for work and services, which (in Germany) raises the problem of bogus self-employment.

See also

literature

  • Maike Andresen: A Look Into the Future: Is Working Time Freedom Apt to Add Value for Different Stakeholders? In: Maike Andresen, Christian Nowak (ed.): Human Resource Management Practices. Assessing Added Value . Springer, 2015, ISBN 978-3-319-08185-4 , pp. 107-124 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-319-08186-1_2 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pam Ross: 2014: The Year of Workplace Reinvention. April 1, 2014, accessed September 2, 2015 .
  2. ↑ ROWE vs. TELEWORK. (Infographic.). CultureRX, November 22, 2013, accessed September 2, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Maike Andresen: The (un) happiness of freedom of working hours: An economic-psychological analysis and evaluation . Gabler, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-8349-1140-7 .
  4. ↑ Michael Weidinger: 8 characteristics of freedom of working hours. (PDF) June 2001, accessed on September 2, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Michelle Conlin: Smashing The Clock. Bloomberg Business, December 10, 2006, accessed September 2, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Cali Ressler, Jody Thompson: Why work sucks and how to fix it. No schedules, no meetings, no joke - the simple change that can make your job terrific . Portfolio / Pinguin, New York NY 2008, ISBN 978-1-59184-203-3 (English). ; German: Cali Ressle, Jody Thompson: Better results through self-determined work. Successful with the ROWE concept . Campus Verlag, Frankfurt / New York 2009, ISBN 978-3-593-38845-8 .
  7. ^ Daniel H. Pink: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us . Riverhead Books, New York NY 2009, ISBN 978-1-59448-884-9 (English). ; German: Daniel H. Pink: Drive: What really motivates you . Ecowin Verlag, Salzburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-902404-95-4 .
  8. ↑ Monique Valcour: The End of “Results Only” at Best Buy Is Bad News. Havard Business Review, March 8, 2013, accessed September 2, 2015 .
  9. ^ Susannah Lee: Best Buy ends work-from-home program. CNN, March 5, 2013, accessed September 2, 2015 .
  10. ↑ a b Directive 2003/88 / EC on the organization of working hours , accessed on September 2, 2015
  11. ↑ Erin Cech: Better for Profits, Better for Workers. Results-Only Work Environments. (No longer available online.) December 2, 2011, archived from the original on September 19, 2015 ; accessed on September 2, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / gender.stanford.edu
  12. ↑ Flexible schedules and results-oriented work environments reduce work-family conflict and turnover. Researchers base findings on study of a Best Buy workplace initiative. (No longer available online.) University of Minnesota, April 6, 2011, archived from the original September 9, 2015 ; accessed on September 2, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / discover.umn.edu