Daniel Pink, the New York Times bestselling author behind the book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, is a proponent of autonomy for workers. But Pink believes that today’s changing workplace demands that employee freedom be viewed through a new lens.

In the old top-down, conformist corporate culture, managers would, in a sense, lengthen employees’ leashes to improve morale and boost output. But as the emphasis in many companies has shifted from productivity to creativity, Pink maintains, autonomy has become less of a perk and more of a necessity.

“Most 21st-century notions of management presume that, in the end, people are pawns rather than players,” Pink wrote in Drive. “Management still revolves largely around supervision, “if-then” rewards and other forms of control. That’s even true of the kinder, gentler Motivations 2.1 approach that whispers sweetly about things like “empowerment” and “flexibility.” Indeed, just consider the very notion of “empowerment.” It presumes that the organization has the power and benevolently ladles some of it into the waiting bowls of grateful employees. But that’s not autonomy. That’s just a slightly more civilized form of control.”

To illustrate a new approach that eschews managerial control for authentic autonomy, Pink points to companies like Meddius, a Virginia-based firm that develops software systems for health care providers. Meddius is a ROWE, or results-only work environment, in which employees are held accountable not for their presence in the office or even the number of hours worked, but solely for the quality and effectiveness of their work. The ROWE model works well for Meddius, said CEO Jeff Gunther, because the company’s success hinges on employees having the time and space to operate at the height of their creativity.

“Management isn’t about walking around and seeing if people are in their offices,” Gunther told Daniel Pink. “It’s about creating conditions for people to do their best work.”

Recent research backs up the belief of executives like Gunther that the best companies are the ones marked by employee independence. A 2011 University of Minnesota study surveyed 600 employees of a Minnesota Best Buy before and after a radical ROWE initiative was introduced. The results showed that ROWE reduced turnover in that store by 45 percent.

“ROWE redirected the focus of employees and managers towards measurable results and away from a set work schedule and location,” said a press release about the study. “Employees could routinely change when and where they worked without seeking permission from a manager or even notifying one.”

Results alone do not inspire loyalty from employees, but a system that values each individual’s distinct talents convinces people of their unique contribution to the bottom line. When they are given that brand of autonomy and they routinely do their best work, they are likely to stay put. Several studies even show that employees value authentic autonomy more than higher wages.

Companies wishing to broaden their employee autonomy must plan for their corporate freedom carefully, meeting with each employee and determining what specific results are expected from that person. Expectations must be clearly communicated so that the autonomy improves the quality of the relationship between the employee and the company and helps expand the company’s horizons.

Pink, in his treatment of the subject of autonomy, proposes that the term “management” will one day be discarded, as employees step out from being “managed” into a more spacious role that allows them to contribute to the company’s greater good and let them be their best at the same time.