Mistakes Leaders Make
September 13th, 2008 by Cali & Jody
We recently did a keynote address at an event sponsored by Ideation Consulting and the Twin Cities Human Resource Association. We love talking about ROWE and encouraging people to get on board. Following the event, we spoke to several attendees who had ideas about which leaders they were going to talk to in their organizations to bring ROWE in-house. Unfortunately, we know from experience, their excitement about ROWE often gets shot down by management as soon as they return.
Here are some of the mistakes leaders make when their employees approach them about what they’ve learned about ROWE:
- They assume that ROWE is a squishy HR program that’s not good for business. Might sound like: “This sounds like something that will take a lot of work and we just don’t have the bandwidth to look into it now.”
- They become defensive about the current environment, which they’ve worked hard to reinforce. Might sound like: “We’re very flexible here. I let people go to doctor and dentist appointments when they need to, and if anyone needs to come in later or leave earlier, they just need to clear it with me. I don’t see how ROWE is any different.”
- They may immediately equate ROWE with complete chaos and make it clear that the conversation will go no further. Might sound like: “That kind of thing works somewhere like Best Buy, but it wouldn’t work here. We have critical customer needs and 85% of our corporate office population works in a matrix organization. ROWE isn’t for us.”
- Sometimes, they laugh or show complete indifference. Might sound like: “I heard about that program and it doesn’t work (chuckle). It’s being touted as something much greater than it is.”
Tell us: What kinds of responses are you getting? Are you motivated by what you’re hearing or do you feel stalled? What are your leaders’ main objections?
The objections I am hearing are pretty much the same as the ones listed in the post. However, I think that it comes back to one thing:
Power
One of the lures of becoming a manager is the power to direct people and to be in control. If the workers are allowed to live the ROWE life, the managers can’t have as much control over the lives of thier employees. The employees can’t be there at the manager’s beck and call if they are working offsite during the normal work hours. It is not a question if the work will get done, it is a matter of “will this person be there to answer a question that my boss asks me?”. ROWE works against human nature in that some people need power over others to feel competent, and ROWE would take this away.
I haven’t talked to leadership about ROWE yet but the few people I have talked to think it sounds like common sense.
I just got done reading chapter 2. Boy, don’t we all need a big dose of talking about results. We need this bad. LOVED CHAPTER 2.
@DC guy - the need for power is indeed a problem, and there are plenty of managers out there that succumb to it. One of two things will happen as a result: 1) the people will vote. As more and more teams and companies adopt ROWE, that’s where employees will go. The power-hungry managers will find themselves unable to attract the best talent or 2) if the power-hungry managers are *only* into power and don’t know how to (or don’t care to) set and manage clear expectations, they will be exposed quickly as ROWE spreads. We’ve seen this happen and it really is a beautiful thing.
@Kim - glad you liked Chapter 2! Yes - time to reign it back in to what matters…results. Period.
How about:
The union may take issue because the administration would be decreasing its numbers.
Funny thing, I requested a ROWE, but it was totally struck down. Now, we are only discussing switching my status from employee to contracted staff, which also includes me giving up my benefits. That would net the district over $13,000 in annual savings.
And yet…still no answer. That’s right….the district has not said yes or no. I had the “big meeting” with the superintendent and some other players this past June when I was informed the next step would be “pitching” it to the board. Yes, they were all open to my proposal to be contracted staff. Three board meetings later and nothing! I had another meeting in August with the head HR person and my boss….the union issue was raised and….are you ready…..he told me he would have to talk to the superintendent. Another meeting about having a meeting…oh….and the BEST thing….I am not even a union employee…wow!
Ugh!
@Michael - first of all, glad to have your voice back in the mix. We missed you!
The journey you’ve had over the summer sounds like a “Tell us why work sucks” story if we’ve ever heard one. You went from requesting ROWE to now poking yourself in the eye in meeting after meeting about going to contracted staff where you’ll lose your benefits? And union issues are being raised that, in your case, have nothing to do with anything?
Ugh is right! Keep us posted…
These mistakes are the basic responses that I hear almost any time I talk about ROWE in a group. I was having dinner recently with 7 other non-profit professionals of varying backgrounds, and in a discussion about ROWE I heard the following:
1. “We already do that - we have flextime” (twice)
My response: Do your employees feel completely free to come and go as they please, or basically never come at all, as long as their work gets done? No? Well then you aren’t ROWE. Flextime leaves the control with you - ROWE gives the control to the employee.
2. “Has this been done anywhere but Best Buy? I don’t think it would work for us. We just don’t have the type of employees who could handle this.” (twice)
My response: Plenty of companies have gone ROWE, including my company and if you don’t think your employees can handle this, you are probably a great candidate for ROWE.
3. “Oh. I think I heard about that. Sounds like just another new management strategy.”
My response: Most management strategies don’t single-handedly improve productivity, improve customer service, improve employee satisfaction, improve employee health, and reduce voluntary turnover.
4. “How is that legal?”
My response: It is. Our lawyer said so.
And the one positive one:
5. “What was the book called again? I have to get it - ROWE sounds fabulous!”
My response: How could you forget a business book that has “sucks” in the title?
A couple of the supervisors to whom I’ve mentioned a ROWE have come back with the will never work here argument. My direct supervisor arguing this way just reveals what is his primary concern - control over subordinates - because he would probably benefit greatly from a ROWE. My department likes to put on airs that it is ‘flexible’ - even though it has defined core hours and really frowns on you having appointments during those hours that take you away from the office. Oh, yeah, you also have to make up every hour you are not at the office or in the field.
I think DC Guy really hit the target as far as management’s resistance is concerned. They never get to see that they would get the same benefits as the employees in a ROWE because all they recognize is that they would not be able to ‘chain’ people to desks and core hours. Time has become the lazy man’s (or corporation’s) answer to performance evaluation. Wow, okay.. now I am starting to sound a little too ‘revolutionary’. Maybe more simply and calmly put, today’s managers have been given a system with a long history that allows them to get some efficiency and work from their subordinates without a lot of effort on the managers’ parts. If they are lazy enough to accept that system as ‘the best option’, why would they want to exert effort on change (even if it leads to a much better option - a ROWE)?
Michael (Barata) and I shared similar experiences. I offered to take a $3000 pay reduction during a trial period of working from home 2 days per week. My proposal remains unanswered (that was 2 months ago or so).
In conversations, there were many concerns brought up, most of which I feel are bogus, non-issues, or easily surmounted (and indeed, I have offered several solutions to most of them). Here are the usual suspects:
1 - OSHA would have a field day with this if it were really adopted. How would you deal with Safety compliance if employees can work from anywhere? What if an employee stubs their toe while walking to their laptop in the kitchen? Are we liable for worker’s compensation? Etc…
2 - This essentially makes every employee a contractor. How would we pay them? We would have to negotiate or haggle pay with every employee to get every task done…
3 - We do not pay independent contractors benefits. Employees would have to give up their benefits. Are you willing to work without benefits?
When pressed, my immediate boss told me flat out that what I was proposing is preposterous, idealistic, and plain-out will not happen. Period. End of discussion. I left “Why Work Sucks…” with my boss. He made a point of conspicuously setting it on a shelf behind him, where it has sat untouched.
Michael B. - ditto what Cali and Jody said. I always appreciate your comments and insight the most.
One could only dream of a ROWE work environment. I though going to college, earning a 4 year degree and taking a professional level job (auditor) would place me a in a work environment at least similar to ROWE. However, my job is with a state agency and it could only be the furthest thing from a ROWE environment. In my environment RESULTS (basically) don’t matter. What matters is TIME — the time you spend sitting in your chair within your cubicle. If it is less than 8 hours per day you are looked down upon. If you have to take time to assist with family needs due to an ill spouse or a doctors appointment for yourself you are looked down upon. If you use your vacation in less than 5 day blocks you are looked down upon.
I have tried to fight for the right for work flexibility but to no avail. I frequently check work email from home each evening and respond to concerns. I spend a fair amount of time thinking about certain audits or work problems to come up with solutions while away from my work site. But as I was told by my supervisors — “Unless the work from home is pre-approved it does not count towards time worked.”
I am literally the square peg trying to pound myself in to the round hole. I just don’t fit.
@Jessica - thanks for sharing your responses to the quips that came up during your conversation. The way you responded is perfect - straight to the point. Your comment is likely to help others who are finding themselves in the same types of situations. Keep it up!
@Matt - your “revolutionary” thoughts are more than welcome here. And what a great line: “Time has become the lazy corporation’s answer to performance evalutation.” So true, so true. There will be laggards when it comes to ROWE - no doubt about that. The laggards, however, will be hearing about ROWE from many different sources and in the end, will have only themselves to blame when they lose their best talent and can’t compete in their industry/area of expertise.
@Michael - we must give you (and everyone else bucking the status quo) kudos for standing up for a better way to work and live. These are great additions to the list of “Yeah, Buts” in Why Work Sucks. We do have to take on one of them right now:
“OSHA would have a field day with this.” Actually, not so much. We’ve heard this over and over as well - especially the “What happens when someone trips over their cat on the way downstairs with their laptop in hand?” Truth is, work is being done outside of office buildings all the time. What about when you’re in your hotel room on business? What about the co-working spaces that are popping up all over the place? What about the phone calls you’re conducting in the car on the way to client meetings? With all the ROWE teams out there right now (thousands of people), there are no more worker’s comp claims than there were pre-ROWE. Non-issue.
Your immediate boss’ response when pushed perhaps puts him in the camp that @DC Guy and @Matt describe?
At least he put the book behind him on a shelf instead of in his garbage can…
@Mad Guy - this is a description of the classic traditional work environment, and it pains us to read it. Your willingness to contribute to your work environment is being squashed on a daily basis, and you are one of hundreds of thousands of people this is happening to. When we talk about organizations leaving productivity on the table, your comment is a perfect example of that. We get questions all the time about why productivity rises so much in a ROWE - we think you know firsthand how much more you’d be able to accomplish if you were able to tackle the work on your own terms. Yes?
Hey Cali & Jody…
Sorry it has been so long. My wife recently accepted a new position, so we had to relocate over the summer. Moving heavy things is not my cup o’ tea.
My commute went from 140 miles/2.5 hrs. daily to 110 miles/3 hrs.!!! My wife was so thrilled her new company seemed to be a bit progressive - set your own schedule,but you must work 8 hrs…she loved it, because though her commute is only 10 miles, it can get hairy in the morning/evening…well, two weeks in, someone complained and now the entire company must work 8-5! Yippeee!
Also, thank you for the kind words.
MICHAEL…thank you too for the kind words…and maybe it is our names? I bought the book for our HR guy - doubtful anything will come of it.
Because a ROWE would not fly as I am told, I was asked if I would consider giving up my benefits and becoming contracted staff. My benefits are really good (school district = state employee) and quite inexpensive too. But my wife’s company offers pretty good benefits too at a reasonable cost + I figured the money saved from my commuting would offset the benefits costs (I would still be saving over $200/mo.).
I have not heard a thing. I sent a letter to the superintendent last week requesting a response as the next board meeting is scheduled for 9/22. We’ll see….
Stay strong all you radicals!!!!
I work at a nonprofit right now, where the power issue has another dimension. There’s a childish “We’re a family” mentality in operation. I have no actual standards of performance, so that can’t be the measure of my work. The measure is emotional involvement as demonstrated by wanting to be part of the group. ROWE is taken as personal rejection, like a teenager who wants to be with his own friends on a Saturday morning rather than watching cartoons in his PJs while Mom makes Mickey Mouse pancakes.
Anonymous - wow….love the sarcasm! As for the family issue, which I dread hearing too, that philosophy seems to be a substitute for an actual, strategic plan. [They] try to get you emotionally invested vs. results driven. My view on that: Tradition and emotion are for holiday gatherings, not a work environment.
My saga for a ROWE…well not really…but some other kinda sorta non-traditional work environment continues….
After sending a follow up letter (to a June meeting) and then a follow up email to the follow up letter to the meeting, I was asked to speak with the HR (Human Repression) Director…
This is awesome!
He informed me the district was speaking with, could not remember the company or contact name, about my request. I actually knew which company and contact he was referring to and informed him. He said they are doing research because this is “a bridge which has not been crossed in a school system.”
So, to summarize…
I asked for a ROWE > was flat out denied
District recommended a contractual agreement (minus any fringe benefits), so I framed a proposal around that, had a meeting in June 2008, all district officials agreed, next step board approval….
Proposal never made a board meeting agenda…
August meeting > more information requested of me, union issues raised > problem….I am not in a union
September meeting > researching info. from a business, though they continually to hammer on the fact “we are not a business, but rather an educational institution.” Soooooo……huh? Was told a [contractual agreement] is new (that bridge comment), yet I actually manage contractual agreements with staff who physically need to have face-to-face time with children/families (therapeutic staff)….Soooooooo….HUH!?!!!?!!?
The company and contact they are speaking with, coincidentally, is my old employer and boss…in essence, its a dinosaur talking to a dinosaur…she will NEVER support what I am asking for…though she is the one who served as my point of reference and had written letters of recommendation when I was attempting this about 6 years ago….yes, contracting with multiple districts to do what I do (I had five of them). She actually referred me to my boss for the job I have now.
I can feel my soul being crushed…..oooh, and as I type this…I get to listen to the sweet sounds of the future in this proactive, technologically advanced, educational system…..yes, I am listening to someone type on a TYPE-O-WRITER!!!!!!
Oh, I cut my hair too, because apparently if a guy’s hair is longer than collar length, it affects his ability to do his job…wow…I feel so much smarter!!!!