Best Buy's 'Results Only

Work Environment':
Changing the Productivity
Paradigm?

Richa Agrawal
Neha Jain
Kanika
ABOUT CASE
 'Results Oriented Work Environment' (ROWE) implemented by
US based electronics retailer Best Buy in 2003-2004.

 ROWE initially started as an experiment to stem attrition in two

departments at the corporate headquarters of Best Buy, but after
its initial success, began to be implemented more widely.

 The basic premise of ROWE was that productivity was the

cornerstone of work, and work meant the achievement of
results and not presence at the workplace.

 ROWE focused only on 'results' as a measure of employee

productivity.
In keeping with this, employees working under
ROWE were allowed to work when they wanted, where
they wanted, as long as they achieved their targets.

 ROWE was hailed as a path-breaking program, which would give new

meaning to flexibility and work/life balance.

 Average productivity of ROWE teams had also increased 35 percent.

 Employee engagement, which was a measure of job satisfaction and hence

an important factor in retention, was also reported to be significantly higher

 Best Buy reportedly witnessed several non-quantifiable benefits as well.

 In late 2006, Best Buy announced modified the version of ROWE to be

implemented in a modified form in the company's retail stores, which
employed almost 120,000 people for employee-friendly work environment
OBJECTIVES
 ROWE focused only on 'results' as
a measure of employee
productivity.
 Demanding work culture that
glorified long hours.
 Stem constantly increasing attrition
at company.
 lower stress and improve
employees morale.
 DISADVANTAGE
 Difference between the work and personal
time of the employees could become indistinct.

 The difference between work and leisure.

 Stress and long work hours.

 Worked around 70 hours while standard work

week is 40 hours.

 Spread of work over 7 days instead of 5

 No monetary benefits
 Manager piling too much work with out any
compensation.

 Work is finishing early expected taking more free

time

 Job performance could be measured in quantitative

terms

 Not work for employees who preferred to have

clear schedules and expect direction from their
manager.

 No synergy created by face to face communication

 Not innovative much

 Conditions handle better when physically present

than on telephone or by email
ADVANTAGES
Flexible scheduling

Trusting team members

Job satisfaction

Productivity increase

Lower level employees were excited “no

restriction” work environment

Assigned targets in certain time frame

Peopleare to work at whatever time they felt like

working
 System was made by which they could
contact each other when needed

 Online calendar and whiteboards

 Cell phone and laptops

 Conference calling or dialed meeting

 ROWE made work easier

 Employees happy with their freedom

 Work/life balance

 Attract best talent in recruitment

As with any change program, Best Buy also
faced several issues in implementation of the
program. To what extent were the concerns of
the managers and employees (especially
those against the program) justified?
Comparison between the OLD and
NEW work culture
OLD NEW
Long Hours • Productivity at work
measured by output.
Rewards and
• Assigned target for a
recognition went to who
certain time frame.
prioritized work over
personal life.
• Working did not mean
being at office.
Had to stay in office till
the work do not finish.
 Issues in implementation
Required a complete overhaul of people’s attitudes towards
work.

Employees misgiving about whether they would be able to

cope with the new system.

Many managers wondered how they would establish authority

if they could no longer control their employees’ work time.

Handling sludge(collection of attitudes and comments at the

workplace that hindered the progress of ROWE.
Justification with the employees and
managers

The company sought to eliminate all the issues by

setting up an employee-friendly scheduling system
and designing rewards and consequences around it.

The company announced that all the 4,000

employees working at Best Buy’s corporate offices
would be brought under ROWE.
Potential of ROWE as a standard work system

 ‘Results Only Work Environment’ focused only on

‘results’ as a measure of employee productivity.
 ROWE differs from traditional ‘ flexible work schedules’ .
 Initial results were encouraging:
Turnover fell from 14% to 0% in first three months.
Job satisfaction increased by 10%
Productivity improved by 13%.

ROWE’s vision: Productivity at work to be measured by

output & not by working hours.
What kind of employees does the system suit best?

Self-motivated employees
Autonomy/Independence ,
Entrepreneurial creativity
Employees at the exploration stage of
career development cycle.
Self managed groups / teams.

Different people have different needs

ROWE: Potential for creating chaos

• ROWE vs. Traditional approach.

• Guilt feeling / confusion related to work.
• Blurred difference between the work and personal life of employees.
• Increased working hours: 40 hours to 70 hours.
• No raise in compensation.
• ROWE highly reliant on metrics & the quantifiability of the work.
• Lack of synergy created by face to face communications.
• ROWE was applicable to only certain departments: Legal, General
Administrative, Retail employees could not opt for ROWE.

Anything different from ‘usual grind’ = Temporary spurt in

Productivity.
 Steps to prevent chaos resulting from ROWE?

 Training , Counseling sessions for ROWE

 Making it compulsory for employees to visit office on any one
day to attend review meetings, etc.
 Adopting some modern management techniques: -
◦ Flextime – choose working hours within specified limits.
◦ Telecommuting – working at home or while travelling, keeping in
contact with the office.
◦ Job sharing – employees can reschedule their work hours among
themselves to suit their personal needs and thus concentrate better on
their jobs.
◦ Condensed work week – implies condensing the work week by
increasing the no. of working hours per day.
◦ Working from home - visiting office only once or twice a week.

Remind employees of the Work/life balance.