In advance of her keynote address at
So, it’s been a few years since
Over the past few years, we have been making some progress about people understanding what ROWE is and that’s it’s not a flexible work program. We’re also noticing that organizations outside the United States want to learn more about it.
I think the second book has stimulated a lot of that — people realizing that ROWE isn’t just a flavor of the month or flash in the pan thing that if they wait long enough it will go away. It’s here to stay and it’s a viable business strategy, and people are seeing it that way.
Why did you feel like it was time for a new book, this one targeting managers?
When we wrote “Why Work Sucks,” people were saying, “That’s a great idea, but it will never work here.” So, “Why Managing Sucks” is really the field guide to the first book. It slows it down a little bit and gives prescriptive examples of how to start managing work, and stop managing people. I think that’s been really helpful because as people are reading it the light bulbs are going off.
The case studies in the book are not just from corporate workplaces. So, we’re able to show that a ROWE is not specific to office environments; it works no matter what kind of job you have — bus driver, surgeon, zookeeper or office worker.
As a manager, I can acknowledge the tug of war between wanting to embrace ROWE and give employees freedom and autonomy, but knowing that certain members of my team are not quite ready for that. How can a manager effectively prepare or train a team for ROWE?
When you say “they’re not ready for autonomy,” what does that mean?
I mean, that there are times when I have the sneaking suspicion that people are supposed to be working — even when they’re in the office — but aren’t.
It has to be a balance between autonomy and accountability. Because if I have autonomy, but I’m not accountable, I’m free but if I’m not doing what I’m supposed to do, that’s a problem.
If I’m accountable, but don’t have autonomy, that’s where stress starts to build and that I’m being controlled.
In a ROWE, the bottom line is: No results, no job. What managers need to do is get crystal clear with employees to determine what measurable and clear results look like on a daily, weekly, monthly basis — then manage the results, not the person.
I think what happens today is that people don’t perform because they don’t know what they’re supposed to be delivering, and they get complacent because they know even if they don’t deliver they’re going to get a paycheck.
But the hard truth of a results-only work environment is that everyone needs to grow up and take responsibility.
So, you know we have to talk about Best Buy, which recently revoked its telework policy. That company was one of
Because Best Buy was the first place where we created a results-only work environment, that announcement created a lot of stir. The CEO made it clear that he doesn’t know what ROWE is; he called it a “management delegation program.” So, it allowed us the opportunity to defend and explain — again — what a ROWE is and isn’t.
In ceasing ROWE, he was saying, “I’m not going to hold people accountable to results anymore; I’m going to hold them accountable to being on deck.” He said everyone needs to be on deck, rather than everyone needs to be on point. “All hands on deck” is a 1972 strategy.
And of course, we need to talk about Yahoo. You and I both wrote an
I’m not surprised at all, because the whole flexibility conversation has gotten much bigger in the last four years as the Obama administration has gotten behind telework. Also, people want to be able to work in different ways and they expect big organizations — like Yahoo and Google — to lead the way.
So, when a seemingly progressive company like Yahoo makes a decision like that, it was like lighting a match and then pouring gasoline on it. She’s going to lose all the good people, because they people who are only really good about getting to work and keeping their butt in their chair are going to be the ones that stay.
We got a lot of response to our letter, which was great because it allowed us to talk about it and talk about it and keep the conversation going.
You’ve said that employers need to focus on building a workforce, not a workplace. How close or far away do you think we are as a nation to that goal?
I think we are far from that goal. I think the common thinking is in building better workplaces. In fact, there are companies that are building what I call “cultish compounds,” where everything you need is on campus so you have no reason not to be at work all the time, and how dare you go to the dry cleaner in another neighborhood? So, you end up with people getting even more managed.
Companies are really good at managing people. What they really suck at is managing results. But instead of learning to do that, they just build these beautiful campuses with all these amenities. What a waste.
Do you think employees are being sold a bill of goods? Because those things like sushi bars, dry cleaners and nap rooms are big recruiting and retention draws.
Well, if you have to go in to work every day, you at least want to go in to a place like that, right? But what people realize when they get into it is that it looks really shiny and cool, but that you have so little control over your life.
It’s not the amenities in the workplace that bring you joy. It’s the ability to drive your own life, connect with your family, see your friends, take care of aging parents — those things. We’re spending all this money to attract people and then control them. It’s just one more way to control people and not get clear on the work.
