Best Buy's time clock experiment
First read this article. Then see how long it takes you to stop laughing. Great idea, but highly unfeasable in a retail or service setting.
There is a huge difference between an office setting (where I think this is actually a good idea) and a place where you need employees to be in position for customers.
There is a huge difference between an office setting (where I think this is actually a good idea) and a place where you need employees to be in position for customers.
Labels: business
posted by Oz at 2:58 PM
3 Comments:
What a nightmare for a retail store!!! How would you ever know if you'd have enough people on the floor on any given day? What about peak season scheduling? Noone wants to work late closes at Xmastime, but it has to be done (apparently, but that's another rant on another post!)
Now, for my job, this would be absolutely perfect...Currently, we have 4 people who work from home in my department, and we were discussing today how much easier and more convenient that would be...It would be my dream job to come into the office 1 or 2 days a week for meetings, phone calls, etc. and then work flextime the rest of the time...I don't even freaking wake up until 10 am, really, and I know I am not seriously productive until 1 or 2...If I worked 8 hours a day, whenever I wanted, I could take more advantage of my 3-7 pm burst of energy and my nightowl tendencies...
Oh well...*sigh*
I can see it working *in thoery* based on (1) restaurant scheduling and (2) classic union scheduling IF you study the store's sales over at least a two-year period and take into account new releases, etc. However, consumers don't always follow trends and what a nightmare for management!!! Managers would spend more time analyzing past data and predicting future trends tnan Allen Greenspan...
As a forerunner of the Gen X movement, I understand both the need for order (8-5) and the need for flexibility. My own department is on a flex-time schedule, due to family obligations, communting time and higher-education demands. However, I work 7-7 to fill in the gaps because our organization hasn't embraced the flex-time movement. Personally, I would love to work 10-8 - I could take the boys to school, do some laundry and dishes, take the pets to the vet, take care of my own needs (like sleep) and stil work on performace evaluations, budgets, management reports, etc. before I hit the ground running at work and deal with all the distractions that keep me from doing "management things" during the day.
As it is, I work 7-7 and still take work home with me nightly so I can fulfill all of my obligations. I haven't gone to bed before midnight in months. That puts a strain on my family, who have to fend for themselves because Mom is still at work even when she is home.
I do think, as the cyber-generation takes over and the old guard retires, there will be more flexibility everywhere. Look at retail's online sales versus in-store sales trend. But we are not there yet. And we won't be for another 20 years or so. Just about the time Oz and I both retire...
I do about 15 minutes of real work every week, whether I need to or not.
This kind of scheduling is a real bonus for the real worker, someone who hunkers down and DOES IT. You are rewarded for awesome work, with more freetime. I love it!
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