I got an email from Christian Thompson who wrote:
I’m a big fan of the site, and have given my principal a copy of the draft of “Happy Hour is 9 to 5”. He really seems to be liking it and has actually put a sign up outside of his office that says “Arbejdsglæde” in big letters, and then he has a tiny paper next to it that has a link to your site.
Thanks!
Anyhoo, here is a link to a fantastic article on the ROWE system at Best Buy. It’s quite detailed and shows the pros of flexibility and the possible difficulties in implementing it.
First: Thanks! It’s great to see the concept of arbejdsglæde spreading :o)
Second: I agree on the Best Buy point – that is a great article and a great system that Best Buy are putting in place. From the article:
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.
I’ve always felt that companies that treat their employees like responsible adults, capable of making decisions for themselves are much more likely to make their people happy at work.
After all – who is in a better position to manage your work conditions than you?
This is an excellent article. I sent it on to my manager with a note saying that I know its not really feasible for us, but asking if he had any ideas we could glean from this. Working in a call center makes certain things necessary. We don’t have the technology available (it exists, just not in this company) to accept calls wherever we are. If we did though (and this has been discussed) it would make disaster situations more easily avoided, including inclement weather, etc. Let’s see what happens!
Agreed – great article! I wonder what they’ll do in their retail stores?
Wow!
I’ve made the front page of http://www.positivesharing.com! I feel like a million bucks!
Thanks Alex!
Just a heads up, the creators of ROWE, Cali and Jody are on their own and have a book launching in May called WHY WORKS SUCKS AND HOW TO FIX IT. It claims to be a tell-all about how they created ROWE at Best Buy.
Should be interesting.
I was not familiar with HAPPY HOUR IS 9 to 5 so am headed to Amazon.com right now.