Girl Scouts Gone ROWE
August 19th, 2008 by Cali & Jody
Dear Cali and Jody:
As the new CEO for Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council (which serves 15,000 girls and 5,000 volunteers in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in Southern California), I had been struggling with reconciling 100 years of Girl Scout traditions and “we’ve always done it that way” attitudes with my more modern way of doing business (I’m the youngest Girl Scout CEO in the country and very different from the traditional Girl Scout CEO - most of my counterparts are 10 to 30 years my senior). When I started in my position, I told my staff that I didn’t believe in “butt in seat time”, which was my way of telling them that I knew that simply sitting in their chairs didn’t mean they were being as productive as possible and that I was open to them having more flexible schedules.
We were immediately able to shed some of the old ways of doing things (can you believe our former CEO used to have someone stand at the front door making note of anyone who got to work more than 5 minutes past our opening time?!!!!). But even after making significant changes, I still felt there was something missing - people were still overly stressed, and creativity and innovation just weren’t happening the way I expected.
Then, at the beginning of June, I spotted your book in an airport bookstore - and all of a sudden, I knew I had my hands on a tool that was going to change everything. I read it cover to cover on the plane, and e-mailed my HR Director as soon as I landed telling him that he needed to read your book. He read it that day, and we decided right then that there was no way we weren’t going to do this.
We moved fast (so fast that the ROWE Kit wasn’t even ready yet!) and we met with our management team, got our Board President on board, and talked through all the details of what ROWE would look like for us. Three weeks ago, we rolled out ROWE to our staff with a presentation we called “Hello ROWE!” We had special “Hello ROWE” t-shirts and created a fun PowerPoint that we interspersed with Sludge skits performed by some of the best actors and actresses on staff. I think our 76 staff were in a state of shock at first - when I told them the core concept of ROWE, there was complete silence…and then everyone woke up to what was really happening and it was like being in a room full of 6-year-olds on Christmas morning!
So I’m proud to say that we are now officially…Girl Scouts Gone ROWE! We are the first Girl Scout Council in the country to convert to ROWE (most other Councils don’t even offer telecommuting). We’ve only been a ROWE for three weeks and already the changes for both the company and our staff are truly amazing:
- ROWE has given my staff their lives back. There isn’t any less work but the collective stress level of all of the employees has plummeted - when someone is exhausted, they sleep; when someone needs to take their kid to the doctor, they go; when someone is brain dead at 4 o’ clock in the afternoon, they stop working. Sounds simple, but before, even with my more flexible work style, there was an atmosphere of “mother may I?” I heard from my HR Director that it took one of my staff three days to work up the courage to ask me if he could leave work an hour early one day a week to attend a college class. Never again! Now my staff send me e-mails of thanks detailing how, for the first time, they were able to attend an awards ceremony for their child or enroll their kid in an afterschool program or even just eat dinner with their family. One of my staff used to complain that she could never be good at both work and family at the same time - when she was excelling at one, the other one always suffered. She recently told me she doesn’t have that problem anymore.
- ROWE has already improved teamwork and communicaton. My staff talk a lot about how they put more thought into their interactions with their co-workers and that they think about the other members of their teams when they make decisions. When they aren’t going to be in the office, they think about how their absence might have an impact and communicate with them ahead of time. They make sure that more people understand the basics of what they are working on so that all is not lost the second a question needs to be answered and they are not there.
- Because ROWE is something everyone gets to do, we’ve actually found that there is virtually no Sludge. We had problems before ROWE because there were some people who were given permission to have flexible schedules and some who weren’t. Those who didn’t have flexible schedules were constantly Sludging anyone who came in late, left early, etc. Now, all of that is gone.
- ROWE saves our staff money. Gas money. Childcare money. Lunch money. One of our staff is already saving $1,000 per month by adjusting her day so she can be with her kids after school so she doesn’t have to pay for childcare.
- ROWE is making our staff healthier. I didn’t realize how our previous work schedule made it almost impossible for people to get any exercise (we worked four days a week, 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. each day). Most days, people had to come to work too early and left work too late to fit exercise in. Now, on top of people getting more sleep, they are exercising and paying more attention to their health. Staff have told me they are now fitting in running, swimming, yoga, healthy meals, and trips to the chiropractor.
- ROWE is increasing productivity and innovation. With ROWE, there is no motivation to drag a project out over more time than it really needs. People are motivated to get things done because they know they get to choose what they do when they are finished. I can already see people moving more quickly through projects and retaining the same high quality of work. In addition, because people can work when they are most creative, innovative ideas are flowing much more frequently and freely than ever before.
The stories my staff tell me about what ROWE has done for them make me cry. One seemingly small decision has changed people’s lives so dramatically that they say they feel that their prayers and dreams have been answered. I truly can’t believe that we ever worked any other way. People used to tell me that they loved their jobs - now they say that they would never consider leaving.
I thank you - and my 76 staff thank you - for giving us the gift of ROWE.
Best,
Jessica Lawrence
Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council
P.S. Their shirts say “Hello ROWE!” on the front and “Where have you been all my life?” on the back. Cool.
I want to say this is an incredible story, but to me (and all others who truly believe that ‘ROWE is the way to go’) it is just the reality that people need to wake up to. This story will be incredible to all the ‘facetime’ and ‘butt in seat’ stalwarts who can’t imagine work getting done in such an environment. Someone coming in at 10am most days because they want to do their workout routine at 8:30?!?!? Never mind that that employee is helping lower medical premiums and is fully energized when (s)he arrives.. how can (s)he be getting anything done if (s)he’s not there at 8am?!?!?
Jessica’s remarks showed what is truly needed to establish a ROWE: 1) true commitment to the productivity and the growth of the company and; 2) true commitment to the well-being of the employees. Too often, it is apparent that business owners, vice-presidents, department directors and others in managerial positions feel the two are mutually exclusive and that they really aren’t responsible for item #2 (until someone litigates).
Unfortunately, there is also one glaring point from Jessica’s experience that needs to be addressed: this movement will only be successful when the Gen Yers and progressive Gen Xers gain more managerial positions. By and large (there will always be exceptions), the “old ways” are too ingrained in the Boomers-Early Gen Xers for them to be motivated to make this necessary change and they hold the upper positions due to “seniority” and “dedicated long hours.” Maybe things will change as more and more experiences like this surface, but it seems like the inertia belongs with the younger crowd.
Absolutely amazing. Just goes to show that when companies want to do the right thing, led by people who have a clear vision and concern not only about the company but their employees, what can happen. If you guys ever put out a 2nd edition of your book you must include this story in it!
The flip side of all this is that the more I read stories like this, the more depressed I get.
Thank you for publishing this letter. I read it and felt a complete range of emotion from envy to joy to pride. Good for Jessica to make this gutsy move. I know she will never regret this.
I was GM of a small company for 6 years (from 1998 to 2004). While there I did my best to just have my people do what they needed to do to get their work done — whether hourly or salaried. We were in a production environment with large pieces of equipment so it was work that couldn’t be done very well from home. BUT we did flex around people’s lives and I knew that I had much happier and very loyal employees as a result. It’s what I needed so it’s what I did for my employees, too.
Four years ago when our company was split up by the owners and half of us were put back into the larger corporation, we lost all that we had gained in the previous 6 years and went back into a butt-in-seat and timeclock mentality. It was very disheartening to say the least.
One of my clients introduced me to the concept of ROWE last year, and I became an instant fan. While it wasn’t possible to implement ROWE where I was working, I could see the possibilities for my clients, even more so as the economy changes and the up and coming work force will demand more innovative work places.
Thank you for being bold pioneers and staying the course. Thank you for sharing stories like these. They give me great hope and encourage me to keep pursuing ROWE for my clients.
@Matt - believe us, we’ve had so many moments of “Why can’t you *see* this is good on so many levels?!” that we can’t even begin to count them! In fact, we were just in conversation with someone yesterday where we yammered about the whole employee health and well-being subject. We’ve heard countless leaders tell us that wellness is a top priority for them. Then when posed with the reality of ROWE - yes, your employees could conceivably get up at 2:00 to go for a walk if things are under control - they shudder and say “That could never happen here.”
And, you’re right - Gen Y and a lot of Gen X just have ROWE in their blood. We can’t wait for the day when the #1 question college students ask as they are job searching is “Are you ROWE?”
@Robert Stinnett - it’s crazy how many ideas are floating around for book #2. This story is definitely a gem - we knew it right when we received it. As for feeling down when you look around and still find yourself in a less than mediocre world, know that it won’t be long before ROWE starts seeping into many more companies…not full migrations to authentic ROWEs, but little pieces here and there. And little pieces are better than nothing, right?
@ Kris Thomas - keep up the pursuit. The joys far outweigh the challenges. There are many more stories like this that we’ll be sharing in the coming months - and we hope they give everyone hope, and most of all, confidence to change the office environment once and for all.
You’re right - for Gen Y and a lot of Gen X, this is just the way things should be. Period.
Jessica -
Congratulations on your successful and almost over night implementation of ROWE. You are truly an inspiration.
However, I was some what distubed by how you refer to the organization’s team members as “my staff”. This would indicate that you feel that you have some type of ownership interest in the individual team members. This style of thinking can lead to anti-ROWE behavior. (These are MY people, and I will treat them any way I please.)
Please consider that team members are not assets, resources or inventory. Rather, they are human capital investors. They invest their human captial (skills, knowledge, time, etc) into your business or organization seeking a decent return on their investment (paycheck, benefits, job satisfaction, etc).
A further stretch is that team members can be thought of as volunteers who leave each day only to return the next day of their own volition.
When we think of team members in this way, we are less likely to attempt to control their every move. We are less likely to worry about keeping them or retaining them so they don’t go to another employer or our competition. We are more likely to inspire, intrigue, motivate and intellecually stimulatethem. We are more likely to give them meaningful work. We are more likely to treat them like adults.
Ron Baker writes a lot about this subject when it comes to professional knowledge workers.
Visit: http://www.VeraSage.com
@Brenda For me, using the term “my staff” to refer to the group of people who work for Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council has absolutely nothing to do with me feeling that I own or possess them. In fact, it is actually an indication of quite the opposite. Instead of feeling that “These are MY people, and I will treat them any way I please,” as you suggest, I actually feel that “These are my staff, and I have a responsibility to treat them fairly and with tremendous respect.” I speak about them as “my staff” because I care deeply about their well-being and care about them as people. As the CEO, I have been given the authority to make decisions that deeply affect them, and I don’t take that responsibility lightly. Because I care about them so much and care about how my decisions affect them, we are consistently engaged in dialogue with each other as a team – working through issues and making decisions together.
To your point about the importance of human capital - if I didn’t believe in the value of human capital, then we would have never switched to a Results-Only Work Environment. ROWE is all about respecting the human beings whose creativity, passion, and hard work are what lead our businesses to be successful. ROWE is about treating our employees as adults and it is all about inspiring and engaging them, and helping them to have lives that they feel are full of meaning.
[...] To see a great example of a Results Only Work Environment, check out Girl Scouts Gone ROWE over on Cali and Jody’s [...]