May 24, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Would your organization be more productive if you didn’t require your employees to be in the office during set hours each week?
Michele Martin, a consultant to nonprofit groups on personnel issues, raises that question, and many others, in her Bamboo Project Blog.
Some businesses have been experimenting with a system in which employees are trusted to get their work done under the honor system. They don’t have set schedules and they are trusted to do their jobs on their own time.
One of the most closely watched is an effort by Best Buy to offer employees such freedom.
“Employees know what work needs to be done and their managers assume that because these employees are competent and responsible, they will get it done,” Ms. Martin writes of Best Buy’s strategy. “If it’s work that can be done over a cellphone or on a laptop in your bedroom, so be it. Feel free to do it that way. You’re a grown-up and we trust you to do the work.”
A recent article in BusinessWeek reports that the program is working well for Best Buy — employees are more productive and are more likely to enjoy their jobs.
Could such a model work for nonprofit groups?
Ms. Martin writes that there are some barriers that organizations — particularly those with small staffs — would have to face.
But, she says, it’s an idea worth discussing.
What do you think? Can nonprofit groups trust their employees to work on the honor system? Would such a system improve their performance or create logistical nightmares? Click on the comments link just below this posting to share your thoughts.
