Last April, President Barbara R. Snyder announced a summer pilot program where staff could leave at 3 p.m. on eight Fridays in June and July.
The idea for the initiative came from employee surveys in which respondents recommended the university consider new ways to show employees how much the university appreciated their contributions. Given that financial constraints had limited the size of raise pools in recent years, some urged additional paid time off.
“We asked our community for their opinions and suggestions,” President Snyder said. “When they spoke, we listened.”
At the same time, the president emphasized that this summer’s effort was a one-time experiment. The community needed to test the program to determine whether it was as promising a concept as those who suggested it thought. Would the university’s necessary work still be completed? Could units that required Friday afternoon coverage arrange for some employees to take time off on another day? Did it provide an actual boost in morale?
The end of last month (July 31) marked the final early release Friday. Now that employees and supervisors have had the opportunity to reflect on the experience, university leaders want to know what they thought of the program. They have developed two surveys—one for all staff, the other only for supervisors—both with a closing date of next Thursday, Aug. 20.
“We have heard many anecdotal accounts about how the program was received,” said Carolyn Gregory, vice president for Human Resources. “This survey allows us to hear from everyone willing to share a perspective.”
Once the surveys are complete, Gregory and other administrators will review the results and determine next steps with regard to employee programs. The results also will appear in an upcoming edition of the daily.
The all-employee survey is at surveymonkey.com/s/earlyfri, and the supervisor-only one is at surveymonkey.com/s/earlysup.