does rowe have an impact on internal communications at best buy? imagine calling benjamin franklin a...

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy?

Imagine calling Benjamin Franklin a slacker for discovering electricity while flying a kite… Had Einstein developed his theory of relativity in one hour, would you have made him sit at his desk seven more?

Ann Jarema

May 17, 2007

A Results-Only Work Environment?


What is a Results-Only Work Environment? Work is not someplace you go,

it’s something you do. Employees set their own schedule. Nobody counts hours. It’s okay to nap on a Thursday afternoon. People at all levels stop wasting the company’s time

and money. Teamwork, morale and engagement soar. Nobody feels overworked, stressed out or guilty. There’s no judgment on how people spend their

time.


Employees are changing…

Companies are seeking different models to suit their needs The Results-Only Work

Environment was introduced at Best Buy in November of 2005. Acronym: ROWE

Created by two former Best Buy HR staff members


Skepticism…

Leaders have been skeptical of the benefit of moving their teams to a ROWE Are those fears tied to communication?Are those fears tied to communication?

How do you hold an employee accountable when you How do you hold an employee accountable when you can’t see them?can’t see them?

How do you interact with others?How do you interact with others? How do you inform employees of important information?How do you inform employees of important information? What happens to that manager-employee relationship?What happens to that manager-employee relationship?


What I wanted to know…

What did the employees think? Does ROWE get in the way of

communication? How do employees at Best Buy like to

communicate? Where do employees at Best Buy get

their information?

Research Question: Does ROWE have an impact on employee communications at

Best Buy?


Methodology

Web-based survey sent out to 1,984 Best Buy employees on December 12, 2006.

Questions 5 demographic questions 19 opinion based

questions


Response: 1,010 (51%) employees


Demographic Responses

346 managers 664 individual contributors 44% males (444) 56% females (565) Bulk of the respondents indicated they fell

between the ages of 31 to 40 Majority of respondents have been employed

at Best Buy for over five years


What did I learn from my survey? How employees feel about the quality and frequency

of interactions with their manager How professional relationships have changed or not

changed How employees prefer to communicate How employees learn about corporate and/or

company events How employees feel about opportunities for

promotion or career advancement What technology is required to enable success in a

ROWE


Question: Since migrating to ROWE, the quality of interactions with my manager has…

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

SignificantlyImproved

Improved Stayed theSame

Deteriorated SignificantlyDeteriorated

Responses

Perc

enta

ge

65.3%

30.9%


Question: Since migrating to ROWE, the frequency of interactions with my manager has…

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

SignificantlyIncreased

Increased Stayed theSame

SomewhatDecreased

SignificantlyDecreased

NotAnswered

Responses

Per

cent

age

71%


0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%

SignificantlyImproved

Improved Stayed theSame

Declined SignificantlyDeclined

Responses

Perc

enta

geQuestion: Since migrating to a Results-Only Work Environment my working relationship with my clients/partners have…

71%

23.5%


Question: My preferred mode of communication with others is:Managers vs. Individual Contributors

Managers tended to prefer face-to-face communication more than individual contributors.

In contrast, individual contributors preferred email communications.

Face to Face Email

Phone/Voice Messaging

Any of the Above

Manager 29.5% 26.5% 2.7% 41.3%Individual

Contributor 14.8% 45.8% 2.7% 36.7%


Question: My preferred mode of communication with others is:By Gender

Face to Face Email


Any of the Above

Male 28.4% 33.1% 3.6% 34.9%Female 13.1% 44.1% 2.0% 40.8%

Males tended to prefer face-to-face communication more than women. Women preferred email communications.


Question: My preferred mode of communication with others is:By Age

Face to Face Email


Any of the Above

18 - 25 15.9% 45.1% 4.9% 34.1%26 - 30 14.0% 46.1% 2.9% 37.0%31 - 40 21.2% 37.9% 1.7% 39.3%41 - 50 23.9% 32.5% 3.1% 40.5%

51+ 32.5% 27.5% 5.0% 35.0%


Question: When there is important company information to be communicated, I view the following as my primary resource.

0.00%

10.00

%

20.00

%

30.00

%

40.00

%

50.00

%

60.00

%

70.00

%

Tagzone

My Manager

My Peers

My Direct Reports

Email Messages

Team Meetings

Other (please specify)

Pri

mar

y R

esou

rce

Frequency


My Interpretation & Conclusion

ROWE does not have a negative

impact on employee

communications at Best Buy.


Summary

Experiences had stayed the same or improved in most cases Quality of interactions with managers had stayed

the same or improved Frequency of interactions with managers had

stayed the same or improved Working relationships with clients/partners had

stayed the same or improved Employees utilize existing technologies for

important company information


Recommendations

Communicate affirmations to key leadership

Use survey results to minimize fear over moving into ROWE

Resurvey in 12 months


For more information on ROWE and/or CultureRx, please visit: www.culturerx.com

does rowe have an impact on internal communications at best buy? imagine calling benjamin franklin a...

Documents

best buy employees

internal communications

questionsdoes rowe

yearsdoes rowe

rowedoes rowe

employeesdoes rowe

best buy hr staff members

employee communications