Smashing the clock, part 2

December 7th, 2006

So I read the “Smashing the Clock” cover story in BusinessWeek this a.m., you know, the one I was raving about the other day. And it was everything I hoped it would be.

I’ll break it down for you: This was Best Buy, the company featured in the article, before its worker-friendly policies:

Workers arriving after 8 a.m. on sub-zero mornings stashed their parkas in their cars to foil detection as late arrivals. Early escapees crept down back stairwells. Cube-side, the living was equally uneasy. One manager required his MBAs to sign out for lunch, including listing their restaurant locations and ETAs. Another insisted his team track its work — every 15 minutes. As at many companies, the last one to turn out the lights won.

And this is Best Buy now, having implemented a program they call ROWE, or results-only work environment (i.e., we don’t care whether you show your face, as long as you get your work done):

…workers pulling into the company’s amenity-packed headquarters at 2 p.m. aren’t considered late. Nor are those pulling out at 2 p.m. seen as leaving early. There are no schedules. No mandatory meetings. No impression-management hustles. Work is no longer a place where you go, but something you do. It’s O.K. to take conference calls while you hunt, collaborate from your lakeside cabin, or log on after dinner so you can spend the afternoon with your kid.

There’s an interesting conversation about flex time, face time, and meeting overload going on at Electrolicious today. Ariel tells the scary tale of an ex-employer that rewarded hours in the chair over results. To that, I will add my own (secondhand) anecdote:

One woman I interviewed for the book had a coworker suddenly die, not on the job, but still, devastating, right? She worked at one of these “work till you drop” organizations that rewards face-time hours rather than productivity. Evidently the deceased coworker had neglected to tell anyone at the company — not even his boss — that he was terminally ill. And evidently, since he worked remotely (at least there was that perk), no one knew.

Instead of enjoying his last days as a man of leisure, the poor guy toiled right until the day he died. When management caught wind of the tragic news, they sent out a companywide email praising their dearly departed team member for his company loyalty and impeccable work ethic (not even terminal illness could deter him!). Not exactly inspiring words for his coworkers, who besides dealing with the personal loss, found themselves scrambling to piece together their deceased coworker’s projects on deadline and wondering what kind of fucked up company they were working for.

And that, children, concludes today’s work/life balance story hour.

Entry Filed under: Balance, Overworked and underpaid