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The article in HR Executive Online is headlined: "ROWE Results." ROWE (in case you've been out of the galaxy for the last few years) stands for "Results-Only Work Environment" Here's the lead.

"In the Flexible Work and Well-Being Study by Phyllis Moen and Erin L. Kelly, directors of the Flexible Work and Well-Being Center at the University of Minnesota, they find "remarkable evidence" that ROWE -- a results-only work environment -- "has a statistically significant impact on some (but not all) measures of employees' schedule control and decisions about where and when they work, their health and wellness, and their work pressures and commitment."

The authors note that "the evidence is particularly convincing because we examine changes within people over the six-month period and see different patterns of change for ROWE and comparison employees."

Folks, this is not exactly a landmark study. The findings are that a program designed to give workers control over their schedule and work methods (hence, "results-only") gave them more control over their "schedule and decisions about where and when they work." You can check out the Executive Summary for the report for more stunning insights.

ROWE has become the focus of the discussion about giving workers as much control as possible over their work life. That's a good result, because it got people talking about a vital issue. But it's time to move on.

By now it's pretty clear that Best Buy isn't going to release any new data about how and where ROWE has worked or not. And that's OK.

The best source for a review of all the issues is Chris Ferdinandi. He wrote a great post last year titled, "Why I don't like ROWE." Don't believe the title. Read the post and comments. And check Chris' slide show, "Smashing the Clock" on Slideshare.

Here's what I found researching this issue for over twenty years. When I asked people to describe a "time when it was great to come to work," the answers always included something about control over work life. That's the key issue.

How can we give the people who work in our organizations as much control as possible over their work life?

There are answers in the discussion of ROWE. There are answers in other places, such as the companion article in HR Executive Online, "Anytime, Anywhere."

There are answers in work environments that have historically allowed workers lots of control, like sales. And there are answers in organizations like the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) that are exploring new ways to work.

Boss's Bottom Line

It's not about ROWE. ROWE is one part of the discussion about how we can make our organizations great places to work.