Marissa Mayer made a big stir last week when she declared that working from home was no longer an option for Yahoo employees. Earlier this week, Best Buy followed suit and ended its 7 year ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) Programs which had been held up as a shining example of a progressive, successful initiative that supported business results.
Such abrupt and categorical changes in this policy, first from a woman leader of a major corporation and then from a company CEO who had experimented with flexible work arrangements, has the potential to set back the idea of workplace flexibility and ignite more debate and controversy on an idea that, based on solid research, can work very well in increasing productivity and employee engagement. I certainly don’t know the inner workings at Yahoo or Best Buy but it will be interesting to see how employees respond and if the new policy yields the desired results.
I sincerely hope that other employers will continue to pursue policies and practices that recognize the needs of today’s workforce. Studies show that employees who work for companies that offer work life flexibility are more engaged and up to 50% more likely to stay with the company. Additionally, there is evidence that those who work from home are actually more productive.
At the very least, I would encourage organizations to modify policies, tighten up the rules and assess situations on a case by case basis rather than as the saying goes, “throwing the baby out with the bath water.”
