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Flexible Work and
Well-Being Center

University of Minnesota
50 Willey Hall
225 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Phone: 612-624-3100
Fax: 612-626-8375
Email: flexwork@umn.edu

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Phyllis Moen
Co-Director

Erin Kelly
Co-Director

In 2000, Dr. Moen and Dr. Kelly partnered with Best Buy and Culture Rx to study a new workplace flexibility initiative called ROWE (Results Only Work Environment). The goal was to understand the ways this initiative affected employees' productivity and life quality, as well as the health and well-being of their family members.

The Flexible Work and Well-Being Study examined what was taking place in Best Buy as it moved beyond the inflexible clockworks of work that most Americans take for granted. This research partnership offered something of a "natural experiment," tracking changes as the company implemented the ROWE initiative. The Minnesota team collected data through observations, informal discussions, and in-depth interviews, as well as two web-based surveys at two points in time.

The Flexible Work and Well-Being Center is now using the findings from this study to inform the next phase of research. The Work, Family & Health Network has partnered with two new companies to alter workplace practices in ways that may reduce work stress and increase the health of workers and their families.

Publications from this study:

2009

• Moen, P., Kelly, E. & Chermack, K. (2009). "Learning from a natural experiment: Studying a corporate work-time policy initiative." In Edited by Ann C. Crouter and Alan Booth. Work-life policies that make a real difference for individuals, families, and organizations. pp. 97-131. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.

2008

• Moen, Phyllis, Kelly, Erin & Huang, Qinlei. (2008). Work, Family and Life-Course Fit: Does Control over Work Time Matter? Journal of Vocational Behavior. 73, 414-425.
• Moen, Phyllis, Erin L. Kelly, and Reiping Huang. (2008)."'Fit' inside the work-family black box: An ecology of the life course, cycles of control reframing. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 81, 411-433.."
• Moen, P., Kelly, E., & Magennis, R. (2008). Gender Strategies: Socialization, Allocation, and Strategic Selection Processes Shaping the Gendered Adult Course. In M.C. Smith and T.G. Reio Jr. (Eds.) Handbook of Research on Adult Development and Learning. pp 378-411. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, Inc.
• Kelly, Erin L., Kossek, Ellen Ernst, Hammer, Leslie B., Durham, Mary, Bray, Jeremy, Chermack, Kelly, Murphy, Lauren A., Kaskubar, Dan (2008). Getting There from Here: Research on the Effects of Work-Family Initiatives on Work-Family Conflict and Business Outcomes. Academy of Management Annals, 2:1, 305-349.

2007

• Kelly, Erin L., and Phyllis Moen. 2007. "Rethinking the Clock Work of Work: Why Schedule Control My Pay Off at Work and at Home." Advances in Developing Human Resources, 11: 487-506.
• Flexible Work and Well-Being Report - Fall 2007

Working Papers:

• Free to Be? Flexibility and the Gendered Ideal Worker Norm
• Improving Employee Wellness: Does Increasing Control Over Work Time Matter?
• Opting to Stay: Does a Work-Time Control Intervention Reduce Turnover?
• Kelly, E., Moen, P,. & Tranby, E. (working 2009) Control over Work Time and Work-Family Conflict: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in a White-Collar Workplace. Under review at American Sociological Review