A couple weeks ago, Jody had the opportunity to speak at an event in Chicago at the Kellogg School of Business. The theme of the event was “The Next Generation of Work Flexibility: Find Your Flexible Career in a Down Economy.” Several organizations were represented at the event, and the “usual situation” presented itself: many well-meaning professionals touting the saving graces of flex hours and other traditional band-aids for the lack of control employees have in their work environments. We’ve been in these situations time and again, and this particular event shed light on three things that always disappoint us when we hear people talking about the current state of work/life balance or schedule control.
- Even at events where the “cream of the crop” ideas in terms of flexibility are presented, employers are still talking about flexibility as a privilege. We can’t tell you much that makes us bristle—to hear such an analogy to childhood when speaking about adults in the work environment. Almost like “If you’re on your best behavior while we’re at the store, we can talk about an extra half-hour of TV tonight.”
- Your chances of being hired will be diminished if you mention flexibility at a job interview, so the experts advise against it. So, in other words, hide your innermost desires so you can get the job, and then suffer in silence as your family life, hobbies, friendships, and community commitments crumble to pieces all around you. Now that sounds like a healthy, happy situation if we’ve ever heard one. When can we get our heads out of the sand and admit we’re all human beings in the work environment, not robots that can be programmed to forget we have lives?
- And finally, the overwhelming focus on hours versus results. You would think that we’d at least be starting to hear a shift in the language at these events, but alas, no such luck. Old beliefs die hard, and this one is hanging on ’til the bitter end.
And, of course, there was a large focus on flexibility in the current economic situation. In our estimation, ROWE is of vital importance in a down economy. Now, more than ever, the ROWE philosophy is important to embrace and maintain. There is a huge competitive advantage baked in to ROWE in tough economic times because when leadership expects teams to “tighten their belts,” everyone is able to voice, without hesitation, whether activities are adding value or whether they’re a waste of time.
Nobody wants wasted capacity in good times, but in tough times, there is no room for waste.
Companies are also trying to figure out how to do more with the resources they have. In a ROWE, it’s been proven that a given employee population will produce more—on average, 41 percent more—than they did pre-ROWE. Same bodies = more work.
At the end of the day, we understand that companies are working hard to create flexibility and we applaud that. We give a lot of credit to the Kellogg School of Business and YourOnRamp for sponsoring an event to continue this dialogue—that’s how things will change. We have our sights set, though, on the day when no one needs to be “accommodated”—people are simply paid for a chunk of work, not a chunk of time.
As always, it was fantastic to be able to talk about ROWE with a new audience. And it’s at times like these that we’re reminded just how important it is to have people like you out there helping us spread the word. We have a thick, thick layer of beliefs to break through—and every person that has that light-bulb moment about ROWE is one more to add to the movement.
