Another Great Place to Work: Philips

Philips is implementing the New Way of Working (NWoW) throughout the world. They call their program Workplace Innovation (WPI). In my forthcoming book I will devote a complete chapter on Philips WPI: when, why and how it started, how they go about their transformations and what the results are so far.

The interesting thing about Philips WPI is that they run this program in different countries in different ways but with a common base. In other words they understand that work environments are and will remain different in for example Hong Kong as opposed to say Sao Paulo. But still they want to accomplish the same effectiveness, efficiency and worker satisfaction everywhere. For that you need to differentiate and take into account the cultural make-up of a country.

Here is a 5 minute video clip on WPI. The video is targeted at (future) users informing on what to expect and instructing them on how to behave: find a desk, clean it when you leave, decide for yourself when and where to work, walk away when on the phone and so on.

And yes near the end of the clip (at 4 minutes 18 seconds) they mention it:

"WPI gives you a Great Place to Work"

So to all Philips office workers throughout the world: enjoy it, because "You can manage it".

NOT a Great Place to Work: Microsoft Corp

Yesterday I wrote about my happy 1-day return to the Microsoft Nederland office because I had some business to do: another set of presentations on my beloved 'New Way of Working' (NWoW). I blogged that I still found it a great place to work and my former colleagues agree with me, because Microsoft Nederland had been chosen as the 'Great Place to Work' for the third time in a row. A tremendous achievement.

However if you look at the US Great Place to Work site, we see a completely different picture. In the top 100 of best places to work Microsoft finishes 72nd. Yes, 72nd!! I would be so ashamed that I would resign from participating in this competition immediately or do everything to become a top tier player. But obviously Microsoft Corporation doesn't care very much about this list and - in my very personal opinion - also not much about the work environment of their employees. They were no 86 in 2008, then rising to a "promising" 38th position in 2009. But obviously that was too much to cope with and they dropped back to no 51 in 2010 and now 72 in 2011. What a sharp contrast with the Netherlands and other European countries where Microsoft usually finishes in the top 3.

What is the cause of all this?

Well maybe the closer you are physically collocated to hard ball guys like Steve (Ballmer, CEO), Steven (Sinofsky; Windows lead and desktop die-hard) and Kevin (Turner, COO) the tougher it gets. Maybe employees in Corp are more pessimistic about their future now that Microsoft has been dropping the ball on smartphones and tablets (I had my first Microsoft smartphone and tablet back in 2003!!) and is playing a slow catch up with Google (Office 365, Live). Also Ray Ozzie being moved out of Microsoft - the one with the best vision on the future of software technology - might have to do with. I don't know whether this has influence on the employee well-being.

What I DO know however is that Microsoft Corp did have one of the worst office environments I have ever seen (OK a little exaggerated, but I set a high standard, especially for a super rich multinational). On the outside - the much acclaimed campus - it looks all great. But if you enter those buildings - building 18, my worst nightmare! - it is really terrible. The energy is being completely drained from you when you walk down the corridor and see the tiny offices that are now occupied by 2 or sometimes even 3 people. Half of the offices are on the 'inside' and have no natural light. It is always a mess, because people are moving every 2 or 3 months and never empty their cardboard boxes. The carpet is old and sort of brownish (What is it with Microsoft and brown? Remember the first Zune?). In short it looks like everything is being done to demotivate the workers. And it works. Rank 72 in 2011.

Now I hear you say: "Well, why don't the people from Microsoft Nederland tell those Corp people how to do it right, since they know it so well?". Well its not for lack of trying. They tried and tried again. But I have frequently noticed during my times at Microsoft that 'Corp' people are just too arrogant to listen to co-workers outside their sanctified inner circle. They really suffer from a 'not invented here' syndrome. Because after all, we are Corp and we invent the stuff around here. You just go and sell it.

A former colleague of mine and a true NWoW ambassador tried to get one of the vice presidents enthusiastic about the 'New World of Work' (which is what they call NWoW at Microsoft). And it looked like he succeeded. He got this VP into agreeing to do a measurement with an instrument that measured several work dimensions. The results were so bad for the division, that the VP of course accused the messenger and the message instead of acknowledging the problem. My former colleague told me later that after that incident it was 'a career limiting' thing to even talk about the New World of Work in this VP's neighborhood.

No, at Microsoft Corp they are OK with place 72 on the top 100 list of best employers. After all, it is much better than place 86 back in 2008, isn't it?

Great Place to Work! Three times in a row

Creating a great multi dimensional work environment where people can and want to give their best at work is what the New Way of Working (NWoW) is all about. It will make organizations more effective and efficient and it will let people be happier at work. Happier in the sense of workplace satisfaction but also that people feel their potential is used best. And as we have seen in the blog on the ultimate business case, happier people are good for the economy both at the level of the organization as well as for the nation.

This morning I am at the office of Microsoft Nederland, my former employer, where I worked for 7 years and got 'initiated' into the NWoW somewhere at the end of 2005. Today I am here to give yet another presentation on this fabulous subject to customers of a Microsoft partner. Returning to this office always gives me joy. Why? Meeting old colleagues? Sure. But actually I enjoy 'meeting' the office, the way it looks, the way people meet and work here, the atmosphere. You just feel the energy. This office located at Schiphol airport opened end of April 2008; almost 3 years ago. At the time it was a sensation. At the time Microsoft was THE showcase of NWoW. My first book on NWoW appeared a year prior to the opening of the office. But end of April 2008 I could finally experience NWoW myself instead of just writing and talking about it. For more than a year I enjoyed working here at this office. I learned to appreciate the effect of a fantastic office environment on the overall work enjoyment. And now returning here as a guest I re-experience the feeling of working here. Yes, Microsoft Nederland is still a great place to work.

I am not alone in this appreciation. It's not just me and my focus on NWoW that made me such a happy employee. Just last week for the third time in a row Microsoft Nederland has been elected as the 'Great Place to Work' (in Dutch). Since 2004 Microsoft had been participating in this yearly competition, but they never were able to win. They finished fourth or third or even runner up; never number one. But after the introduction of NWoW and the move to the new office. Bingo. Number 1 employer in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

So congrats Microsoft Nederland with this achievement!!
And thanks for letting me return here every now and then.


PS Chapter 7 of my forthcoming book tells the complete story of the journey towards the New Way of Working of Microsoft Nederland and the results that have been scientifically verified.

The New Way of Organizing (Part 5)

This blog is part of a series that started here and discusses the organizational model that belongs to the New Way of Working (NWoW). In a previous blog on ROWE (Result Only Work Environment), I stated that ROWE is a great concept, but it is not enough. First ROWE only addresses the organization dimension of the four dimensional work environment. Second even within the organization dimension it is pretty 'stand alone'. I believe ROWE needs to be embedded in an organizational structure and culture that supports the New Way of Working to be more effective. The picture below tells partly what I mean.

Having a 'result agreements' working environment only and only with individuals leads to the left half of the picture. People run after their own results and there is no guarantee that these result agreements are coordinated or that people even support each other in getting the results. Their is no clear direction and no synergy.

However when the result agreements are part of a bigger structure they can become more effective and more coordinated. The right half of the picture tells you what I mean. Let me elaborate on it just a little. Creating that structure requires a four step process.

First the organization needs a clear and crisp vision and ambition that is known and shared by the people that are part of the organization. It should not be a 'fluffy' PR-statement or a 10 page document, but something that is both authentic and able to energize people.

Second from this shared vision and ambition one deducts result areas that support the vision and ambition. All result areas together should be able to do the 'job': realize the vision and ambition of the organization. Transforming these result areas into operational and SMART result agreements requires a next level of deduction and refinement. Then we need to assign the result agreements to units, teams within units and individual within teams. Turned around each individual should have some individual result agreements, some at the level of his team and some on the level of his business unit. This makes sure that he needs to cooperate with colleagues in order to make his results. Also it should be explicit in his result agreement that when the individual makes his results he is not just doing a great job, but he is also contributing to the overall vision and ambition of the organization. This can create 'connection' between people of different units within the same organization that do completely different kinds of work like 'Sales' and 'Administration'. They still connect because everyone knows: we are all contributing to the same overall goal and each one is contributing his part.

Third, result agreements should not only tell the workers what they need to accomplish but also how they should go about. That means two things. First what processes and procedures are available in order to make the results (the structure) and second what kind of behavior is and is not acceptable in making the results (the culture). This is how part is where we need to exercise caution, because we can give too much structure and behavioral guidance but also too little. The idea is that we create a work environment where people are stretched but also empowered to get the things done.

Fourth and finally we need to embed this ambition-driven organization structure into a Management and HR system & process. Both systems/processes are aimed to support the workers in staying their course, getting the right facilities to do what needs to be done, to make sure that they are well rewarded for their accomplishments and to have the ability to grow.

So ROWE is great, but it needs more substance and more structure to get the maximum value from it. 

The New Way of Organizing (Part 5)

This blog is part of a series that started here and discusses the organizational model that belongs to the New Way of Working (NWoW). In a previous blog on ROWE (Result Only Work Environment), I stated that ROWE is a great concept, but it is not enough. First ROWE only addresses the organization dimension of the four dimensional work environment. Second even within the organization dimension it is pretty 'stand alone'. I believe ROWE needs to be embedded in an organizational structure and culture that supports the New Way of Working to be more effective. The picture below tells partly what I mean.

Having a 'result agreements' working environment only and only with individuals leads to the left half of the picture. People run after their own results and there is no guarantee that these result agreements are coordinated or that people even support each other in getting the results. Their is no clear direction and no synergy.

However when the result agreements are part of a bigger structure they can become more effective and more coordinated. The right half of the picture tells you what I mean. Let me elaborate on it just a little.

First the organization needs a clear and crisp vision and ambition that is known and shared by the people that are part of the organization. 

Second from this shared vision and ambition one deducts result areas that support the vision and ambition. All result areas together should be able to do the 'job': realize the vision and ambition of the organization. Transforming these result areas into operational and SMART result agreements requires a next level of deduction and refinement. Then we need to assign the result agreements to units, teams within units and individual within teams. Turned around each individual should have some individual result agreements, some at the level of his team and some on the level of his business unit. This makes sure that he needs to cooperate with colleagues in order to make his results. Also it should be explicit in his result agreement that when the individual makes his results he is not doing a good job, but he is also contributing to the overall vision and ambition of the organization. This can create 'connection' between people of different units within the same organization because everyone knows: we are all contributing to the same overall goal.

Third, result agreements should not only tell the workers what they need to accomplish but also how they should go about. That means two things. First what processes and procedures are available in order to make the results (the structure) and second what kind of behavior is and is not acceptable in making the results (the culture). This is how part is where we need to exercise caution, because we can give too much structure and behavioral guidance but also too little. 

Finally we need to embed this based organization structure into a Management and HR system. Both systems are there to support the workers in staying their course and to make sure that they are rewarded for their accomplishments as well have the ability to grow.

So ROWE is great, but it needs more substance and more structure to get the maximum value from it. 

The Ultimate Global Business Case for NWoW

This morning I got a very interesting message in my inbox from Gallup.com, the number one 'polling' organization. The message read: Poor Workplaces Present Key Challenge for the UK

As an ambassador for NWoW I was naturally directly involved. It triggered some 'click' events. And after a little digging it became clear that Gallup is able to present the ultimate Global Business Case for NWoW. Thank you, Gallup!!

Here is how it goes. This page tells the story behind the headline of the message that was dropped in my inbox. You can read it for yourself, but this is my summary. The Work Environment Index is the most influential of the 6 factors making up the Well-Being Index and it can be much improved.

Now if you read this picture you will notice two things. One, the difference between US and UK well-being is largely explained by the big difference in the Work Environment Index, which for UK people is at a deplorable 34.7. Two, for both countries the satisfaction with the work environment is very low compared to for instance emotional and physical health. There is a lot of room for improvement and improving the (multi dimensional!) work environment will improve overall well-being

AND improving well-being leads to a sustainable improvement of society's economy. So NWoW improves organizations, people and society. That is exactly the first statement of the Preface my book on NWoW. This might look like quite a mental jump, but another picture from a Gallup presentation (slide 14) that is available on the net proves exactly this point:

Improved well-being lowers expenses in medical care and increases performance at the workplace, leading to an increased economic value: directly (more effective and efficient organizations) and indirectly (less expenses for society). AND .. the well-being of people is not just a means, it is a goal in itself. As stated above well-being is heavily influenced by the work environment.

I rest my case!

ROWE, ROWE, ROWE your boat...

...... gently down the stream. Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Life is but a dream.

No I didn't misspell the old nursery rhyme. Life is but a dream and so hopefully is Work for you. Wouldn't it be a shame if the activity that takes up almost half of your life between say 25 and 65 (excluding sleeping, washing, eating and commuting) is not worth your while. NWoW aims to redesign the Work environment so that it becomes that 'dream'. But it is quite a journey down the stream.

ROWE-ing your organization will help you getting there. ROWE stands for Result Only Work Environment. It is a great thing and I believe it a critical ingredient of the New Way of Organizing. However ROWE by itself is not enough. There is more the New Way of Organizing.

For today - a sunny Sunday here in Holland; time to enjoy it fully - I leave you with a picture that hints at one of the shortcomings of ROWE. The next blog will elaborate on them.

[Consider this part 4 in my series on the New Way of Organizing which in itself is one of the dimensions of the New Way of Working (NWoW). If you are just joining and want to catch up, start first here and then here]