Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Smashing the Clock
Yahoo Finance ^ | 12/7 | Michelle Conlin - BusinessWeek Online

Posted on 12/07/2006 4:10:28 PM PST by Arthalion

No schedules. No mandatory meetings. Inside Best Buy's radical reshaping of the workplace

---

At most companies, going AWOL during daylight hours would be grounds for a pink slip. Not at Best Buy. The nation's leading electronics retailer has embarked on a radical--if risky--experiment to transform a culture once known for killer hours and herd-riding bosses. The endeavor, called ROWE, for "results-only work environment," seeks to demolish decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity. The goal at Best Buy is to judge performance on output instead of hours.

Hence workers pulling into the company's amenity-packed headquarters at 2 p.m. aren't considered late. Nor are those pulling out at 2 p.m. seen as leaving early. There are no schedules. No mandatory meetings. No impression-management hustles. Work is no longer a place where you go, but something you do. It's O.K. to take conference calls while you hunt, collaborate from your lakeside cabin, or log on after dinner so you can spend the afternoon with your kid.

---

But arguably no big business has smashed the clock quite so resolutely as Best Buy. The official policy for this post-face-time, location-agnostic way of working is that people are free to work wherever they want, whenever they want, as long as they get their work done. "This is like TiVo for your work," says the program's co-founder, Jody Thompson. By the end of 2007, all 4,000 staffers working at corporate will be on ROWE. Starting in February, the new work environment will become an official part of Best Buy's recruiting pitch as well as its orientation for new hires. And the company plans to take its clockless campaign to its stores--a high-stakes challenge that no company has tried before in a retail environment.

(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: best; buy; clock; results; resultsonly; rowe; schedule; smashing; smashingtheclock; work; workenvironment
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last
Fascinating. I suggest reading the full article before making any conclusions. My first reaction was that laziness has finally creeped into the corporate heirarchy, but I have to wonder whether this really might be a good idea. My question is: How do you track employee productivity to make sure they're really working?
1 posted on 12/07/2006 4:10:29 PM PST by Arthalion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

I'd hate to be there when all the checkers decided to leave.


2 posted on 12/07/2006 4:13:26 PM PST by Dog Gone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion
My question is: How do you track employee productivity to make sure they're really working?

Fire their managers, if they don't know they are working. I've worked for idiots who had to do a special study to figure out if they were at capacity or not. If Managers and Supervisors don't know, then what the hell are they managing???

3 posted on 12/07/2006 4:14:30 PM PST by King Moonracer (Bad lighting and cheap fabric, thats how you sell clothing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

I have never had a good (competent) customer service experience in a Best Buy. I suspect the trend will be unaffected by this creative management concept.


4 posted on 12/07/2006 4:14:33 PM PST by kinoxi
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

Should work about as well as those colleges where the students get to design and run their own courses and grade themselves.


5 posted on 12/07/2006 4:14:44 PM PST by tarheelswamprat (So what if I'm not rich? So what if I'm not one of the beautiful people? At least I'm not smart...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion
The endeavor, called ROWE, for "results-only work environment," seeks to demolish decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity. The goal at Best Buy is to judge performance on output instead of hours.

CEOs need not apply.

6 posted on 12/07/2006 4:19:05 PM PST by Yo-Yo (USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

Uh, what we're going to need to do is get those TPS reports out on time....er, OK?

Love the BOBS!


7 posted on 12/07/2006 4:19:41 PM PST by GRRRRR ( What's Next? - "Iraqi COWARD Study Group")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

I'm boycotting them any way.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/christmas/bestbuy.asp


8 posted on 12/07/2006 4:20:04 PM PST by ansel12 (America, love it ,or at least give up your home citizenship before accepting ours too.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

Sorta like grad school.


9 posted on 12/07/2006 4:20:51 PM PST by D.P.Roberts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion
How do you track employee productivity to make sure they're really working?

Weekly and monthly production goals, hitting project milestones, volume of output. All these things can be documented and tracked.

10 posted on 12/07/2006 4:22:42 PM PST by Oberon (What does it take to make government shrink?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion
I will not buy at these stores until they pay the rebate they offered.
11 posted on 12/07/2006 4:23:48 PM PST by mountainlyons (Hard core conservative)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oberon
Weekly and monthly production goals, hitting project milestones, volume of output. All these things can be documented and tracked.

Nah, it's much more important that they are sitting in a cubicle thirty miles from their homes, looking busy. ;)

12 posted on 12/07/2006 4:27:51 PM PST by Mr. Jeeves ("When the government is invasive, the people are wanting." -- Tao Te Ching)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

My question is: How do you track employee productivity to make sure they're really working?

One word: COMMISSIONS

If workers have an employee ID number, you check to see how much merchandise they are moving. Then if you wish to reward them, you offer a commission.

The glitch I see in this method is that you'd have a lack of workers at slower times, but I'm sure that with an incentive or two you can cover those shifts...


13 posted on 12/07/2006 4:28:53 PM PST by dandelion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

But they do not bring the affirmation of my faith into the retail experience. They are satan with iPods.


14 posted on 12/07/2006 4:30:11 PM PST by durasell (!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mountainlyons

It's an interesting concept, but likely to fail.

I manage people who work 3 different shifts to comprise a 24 hour/day operation. But I'm actually on site only about 10 hours/day myself so much of the time the two "off" shifts are unsupervised. Frankly peer pressure is one of the best feedback mechanisms. If a shift squad has to accomplish a certain quantity of work and somebody is not pulling their weight, I'll hear about it.


15 posted on 12/07/2006 4:31:51 PM PST by nascarnation
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

Hell, I've been doing this for years. Makes deals, get money. Make no deals, get no money. I meet the prospect, get whatever specifics I need, sit at my desk in my boxers and fax it to my designer, watch TV or go ride my motorcycle until it's time to take the proposal back to the client. Being in the same place for 8 hours at a time would mean I wasn't doing any business. Well, after 2 hours in the same place, the dozin' an' droolin' would probably kick in anyway.


16 posted on 12/07/2006 4:32:39 PM PST by Emmett McCarthy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ansel12
Me too. Keepin' the Christ in Christmas!
17 posted on 12/07/2006 4:32:56 PM PST by bannie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Jeeves
Nah, it's much more important that they are sitting in a cubicle thirty miles from their homes, looking busy. ;)

That's my typical workday. =/

18 posted on 12/07/2006 4:36:30 PM PST by Oberon (What does it take to make government shrink?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

When I walk out the door with that 60-incher HDTV, I hope everyone's in the back doing a blunt.


19 posted on 12/07/2006 4:38:46 PM PST by toddlintown (Six bullets and Lennon goes down. Yet not one hit Yoko. Discuss.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arthalion

Looks like a company whose stock should be sold short.


20 posted on 12/07/2006 4:42:02 PM PST by killermosquito (Buffalo (and eventually France) is what you get when liberalism runs its course.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson