Why Work Sucks And How To Fix It
November 16th, 2008
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I just read the introduction and first chapter of Why Work Sucks And How To Fix It (free with email opt-in).
This book is about how the workplace rewards time spent instead of results achieved. If you’re in your seat from 8-5, you’re a good employee, and if you’re not, you’re not. Your results don’t really matter that much in the current system.
Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson advocate a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), where employees can do whatever they want, whenever they want, as long as the job gets done. Meaning that you don’t need to go to an 8:00 meeting if you’d rather drive your kids to school, and you can go see a movie at 2:00 even if everyone else is still in the office. Time spent in your chair doesn’t matter, only results do.
Sure, it sounds great for the employees, but wouldn’t this destroy the company? Actually, Best Buy has been testing ROWE for several years, and they found that productivity increases averaged 35%, and voluntary turnover dropped by as much as 90% in some divisions.
Is this what we need to make work stop sucking? Maybe. But here’s what I don’t get: if there’s no concept of time, then what constitutes “getting the job done?” In a normal work environment, you got the job done if you spent enough time in your chair. In ROWE, how do you know when to stop working, and what stops your boss from giving you an unreasonable amount of work?
Maybe that’s why you have to read more than just the first chapter. 
November 17th, 2008 at 12:02 am
I guess ROWE is what I do – as a freelance writer, and a contracted-by-the-hour ESL teacher – and it puts into a neat acronym why I love this combination of jobs. There’s no sitting round at work fiddling on the internet and feeling unproductive – my time is MY TIME and what I do with it affects me. I’m either writing, or I’m teaching, and if I’m not doing either of those I’m not working, and nobody cares but me. I’d be interested to know how the rest of the book describes how to put this into practice in a “normal” workplace.
Amanda´s last blog post..Falling off the NaNoWriMo wagon and getting back on again
November 17th, 2008 at 1:17 am
I can’t seem to find a ROWE job. Any suggestions?
TheAndySan´s last blog post..My Suggestion To Steve Pavlina About His Juice Feast
November 17th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Like Amanda, I’m a freelance writer — and I love the fact that I get paid for output, not just for hours spent sitting at my desk!
One of the reasons I left “traditional” employment was because I hated the fact that, however productive I was, I still got paid exactly the same as colleagues who’d spend the day messing around on Facebook. If anything, the 8-5 system *encourages* people to be unproductive, as the only reward for getting through your work early is being given more work.
Whereas now, I know that the more productive and effective I am when writing, the more money I can make — or the more free time I can have.
And on that note, I should get on with my next article…
Ali Hale (from Alpha Student)´s last blog post..Using your time log – part two
November 17th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Hunter,
I’m a homeschooling mother who runs a ROEE (Result Only Educational Environment).
I love the term ROWE!!! I’ve just made the plunge into hiring employees again and I’m going to be using this term a LOT!
Kathy @ Virtual Impax´s last blog post..Steps to Starting a Small Business: #6 Setting Your Rates
November 17th, 2008 at 9:11 am
I’ve been following Cali and Jody for quite a while. Best Buy HQ is located here, and I’ve a few friends who work there. I think the basic take-away is that when you think about how much time the average employee spends not doing work while AT work, and throw in a dash of needing to be absent FROM work when real life interferes, you have ROWE. I believe ROWE fosters goal-setting and accountability when there is a buy-in from the top down.
Betsy Wuebker´s last blog post..REAL
November 17th, 2008 at 10:23 am
“But here’s what I don’t get: if there’s no concept of time, then what constitutes “getting the job done?”
This is exactly the point, Hunter. In most jobs there are no real metrics beyond “seat time.” Frankly, most job performance instruments suck major eggs. To make ROWE or any other kind of self-directed system work you have to know what people actually DO and what you need them to PRODUCE to be successful.
Maria | Never the Same River Twice´s last blog post..Changes That Stick: Maintaining the Change
November 17th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Very good question at the end. This has been an issue for most of my life. On one of my earliest jobs, I knew I was accomplishing a great deal, yet was given only a $10/week raise. I protested and described all that I did. Nothing was done. When I left, they ended up having to hire two people to do what I did.
Another question arises from my current job. As a floater who fills in for those who are out, I have days when everyone’s in and can handle their workload. Under ROWE, would I get paid zero, even though I was there M-F 9-5?
Dot´s last blog post..Featured Reader
November 17th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I think it all depends on the nature of the work whether ROWE is effective. For example, if you are a lawyer, then billable hours is an excellent measure of results. I think we need to add a Q to ROWE because the quality of the results matter as well. At work I can pump mediocre stuff out all day, but I’m sure that my boss would rather me do 1 task extremely thoroughly that spread myself thin.
Steve C @ MyWifeQuitHerJob.com´s last blog post..A Peek Into The Glamorous Life Of A Small Business Owner
November 17th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I’ve read a lot about ROWE and I think one of the primary objections will be on the part of many employees, oddly enough. When companies start realizing that they had 8 people sitting around browsing the web 7 hours a day and working 1 hour a day, they’ll be able to start cutting employees. I know as a consultant I’m expected to be on-site simply to satisfy the client’s desire to know I’m “working”, when in reality I can complete most of my consulting work in a couple of hours a day. But as long as companies expect “core hours” they will build inefficiency into the system AND overpay employees (and consultants). Would most people be happier working in a ROWE environment? Sure – if they are paid a salary. If you’re in my shoes and can only bill 2 hours a day in a ROWE environment, but 8 if required to be onsite – I don’t know how many people would happily agree to that.
ROWE certainly seems like a step in the right direction, but it’s embraced mainly as a transitional step from traditional employment. I personally think the future will be much more freelance-ish. Employees will be treated more and more like freelancers (or will actually BE freelancers). Companies will use them when they have work that needs doing, and let them go when they don’t. If it wasn’t for the lack of national healthcare in America, I think we’d be even closer to that already.
Steve´s last blog post..what desperation looks like
November 17th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
The idea of results-based criteria for our quality of work seems easiest to adopt in the context of selling products, but commissioned salespeople seem like a good model in the context of service professionals. And it seems like the commission model is being increasingly adapted to fields, like law, where it would have been unthinkable a decade ago. More and more lawyers who handle M&A transactions, for example, are being paid based on the value of the deal (or perhaps a blended rate based on deal value and an hourly fee).
November 17th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
@ Amanda, yup, that sounds like ROWE to me. I’m sure that instituting ROWE in a traditional workplace is really tough. Just getting people to be willing to try seems like a huge challenge. I’ll probably get the book, and find out how they do it.
@ TheAndySan, I tried Googling it, but ROWE kept matching on T. Rowe Price and Rowe, MA and such. My guess is that it would be really hard to find one. Maybe it will be easy in 50 years, but this just isn’t a popular concept today. But consider Online Business School to create your own income streams without a job.
@ Ali, I agree, it’s really frustrating for everyone to be paid the same, regardless of results. Thanks for taking some time away from your results-based business to comment! I guess when your time is yours, you’re more careful about how you spend it, right?
@ Kathy, it’s great that you’re so big on the results-only concept! I’m very glad to see that it works for the employer (or homeschooler) as well as the employee (or student).
@ Betsy, I guess you’re practically an “insider” then. From what I know about it so far, it seems like a good idea, but like you said, there has to be a buy-in from the top down. It must be really hard to get that!
@ Maria, LOL at “most job performance instruments suck major eggs.” OK, so we need another metric besides time to measure performance. Let’s say you make widgets for 40 hours a week, and then they switch to ROWE, and you’re judged by how many widgets you make instead of how long it takes to make them. Now how do you know how many widgets you need to produce to “get the job done?” What if it takes you (and everyone else) 80 hours a week to make as many widgets as they want?
@ Dot, I wonder if that company eventually realized they would have been better off giving you a good raise than hiring two people to replace you! That’s a good question about ROWE floaters, but I don’t know the answer. This is related to Steve’s (Brip Blap’s) comment.
@ Steve C, I think quality is assumed with the ROWE model. The criteria for determining whether the job is done should include quality. And yes, hourly billing probably makes sense for a lawyer. They don’t have downtime during which they surf the net, and their hourly rate reflects their performance.
@ Steve (Brip Blap), good points about overpaid employees. I’m sure most people wouldn’t want ROWE if it meant only billing 2 hours a day. But if it were 4 hours, that might be a good tradeoff for some people. People might need to line up multiple gigs to have enough work. And yes, health insurance is a problem.
@ Chris, these are good examples of performance metrics. I’m not sure how to apply that to some jobs though, such as software development.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Hi Hunter: I worked for the Panama Canal Commission and my boss was a lawyer from Iowa named Jay Sieleman. Since I produced results Jay basically let me do whatever I wanted. For example, the workday started at 7:15 a.m., but I’m a night person and would usually stroll in around 9:30 a.m. However, I would stay late and would come in during the weekends when there was a complicated case that needed more attention. We had a great working relationship because he would set clear goals and I would meet and exceed those goals within the established time limit. If that meant that sometimes I ate lunch at my desk while other times I took a two hour lunch, he didn’t care. Things unfortunately changed when the canal was transferred to the Republic of Panama and Jay left, but that’s another story, for another time.
Marelisa´s last blog post..Outliers – 10,000 Hours for Success
November 17th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
I like the idea of a ROWE. Unfortunately, most companies do put a value to time on the chair. You basically can’t leave or if you do, feel guilty about leaving the office at 6 or 7pm because your boss is still in.
Evelyn Lim´s last blog post..My Vision Board Tops Amazon’s Bestseller List?
November 18th, 2008 at 3:06 am
Hi Hunter,
I believe the work place will definitely be a better place if it is results oriented instead of staying glued to the work desk for 9 – 5. It seems like a win-win situation to me, the work get done and the employees are happy.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Vincent´s last blog post..15 Ways To Deal With Stress
November 18th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
@ Marelisa, that’s too bad that Jay left. And that’s the problem with good jobs: they always change sooner or later.
@ Evelyn, I know someone who got in trouble for leaving at 10 PM without permission! The problem wasn’t that she left at 10 PM, but that she didn’t ask.
@ Vincent, it’s definitely good in theory, but as Brip Blap mentioned, there seem to be some issues with it.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
[...] a real email from a real vice president, at a company that clearly does not support a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). “Hey [...]
December 5th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
@ Hunter Nuttall – It’s all good.
I’m beginning to make some money online, and I plan on making what I do online my future main sources of income.
I don’t think that I’d be totally satisfied working for anyone else but myself to be honest.
TheAndySan´s last blog post..Blog Surveys – Stuck In A Cubicle With My Friend Death
December 6th, 2008 at 3:08 am
@ TheAndySan, I don’t think I could be totally satisfied working for anyone else either!
March 16th, 2009 at 9:55 am
[...] be in the office during core hours: your boss is unlikely to completely adopt the philosophy of a Results-Only Work Environment. So if you’re someone whose brain-power peaks between 4pm and 11pm, your best option might be to [...]