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?

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

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? 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 Acronym: ROWE  Created by two former Best Buy HR staff members

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Skepticism… Leaders have been skeptical of the benefit of moving their teams to a ROWE  Are those fears tied to communication? How do you hold an employee accountable when you can’t see them? How do you hold an employee accountable when you 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?

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

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Methodology Web-based survey sent out to 1,984 Best Buy employees on December 12, Questions  5 demographic questions  19 opinion based questions

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Response: 1,010 (51%) employees

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

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

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Question: Since migrating to ROWE, the quality of interactions with my manager has… 65.3% 30.9%

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Question: Since migrating to ROWE, the frequency of interactions with my manager has… 71%

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Question: Since migrating to a Results-Only Work Environment my working relationship with my clients/partners have… 71% 23.5%

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

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Question: My preferred mode of communication with others is: By Gender  Males tended to prefer face-to-face communication more than women.  Women preferred communications.

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Question: My preferred mode of communication with others is: By Age

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Question: When there is important company information to be communicated, I view the following as my primary resource.

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? My Interpretation & Conclusion ROWE does not have a negative impact on employee communications at Best Buy.

Does ROWE have an impact on internal 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

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? Recommendations Communicate affirmations to key leadership Use survey results to minimize fear over moving into ROWE Resurvey in 12 months

Does ROWE have an impact on internal communications at Best Buy? For more information on ROWE and/or CultureRx, please visit: