I don’t know about you all but I am all about a non standard workweek, as well as a non standard workplace. Times have changed, yet companies have yet to catch up. Some companies that is. I was reading an interesting post the other day over on the 37 Signals blog referencing an article written recently in the AZCentral.com all about the new rules that we should be applying to our traditional workplace.
I think many of you would agree times, as well as the upcoming workforce, has undergone a pretty big shift. Technology has afforded us great flexibility and opportunity to expand our thinking a bit. So here are a few of my thoughts on the subject. Honestly, I am lucky in a way, in that I have a little bit of flexibility to be able to work outside the confines of my office. Tools like Remote Desktop, place me virtually in front of the computer in my office from anywhere in the world that I can grab an internet connection. And you want to know what, I get a lot more work done when I am away from my office versus when I am physically there. But that is only because my immediate leadership supports this, not the organization as a whole.
The organization, as many others that I see, are stuck on “core hours”, no jeans, outdated equipment. If they only knew how nice it would be for us to have a computer that actually allowed us to do our work properly, how nice it would be if they gave us the benefit of the doubt in knowing when we are most productive, and that we are mature enough to realize that we can decipher when it is not a good time to wear more casual clothes. I am not naive enough to not understand that in some customer facing workplaces this would all be different, but in a development environment where many of us spend hours in front of servers on cold computer labs it may be nice to be comfortable. And I also understand that there are obviously times when we need to interface with others and our hours need to mesh, but there are other times when it should not matter “when” I work, rather just the fact that I get my work done. There has been a recent shift at some companies, like Best Buy Corporate HQ’s, utilizing a results-oriented work environment (ROWE).
Best Buy, relatively new to campus recruiting, has hired between 50 and 60 MBAs for corporate roles in the last two years. As work/life balance becomes increasingly important in the workplace, Wesley and his colleagues are trying to offer more flexibility. The company is experimenting with the results-oriented work environment, or ROWE, which allows employees to work when and where they like, just so long as long as they get their assignments done.
It is awesome to watch companies like 37Signals utilizing 4 day work weeks and other tools to make there workplace a much better environment. And look, even and old brick and mortar like Best Buy can try it out with great results.
So when is the shift going ot occur when the traditional companies start to shift to meet the needs of the new workforce? Is it going to take an entire shift in the workforceas the oder generation retires and the the new younger workforce starts to be the majority ?
