A new survey gauging the impact of work-life balance initiatives while also inviting new ideas is being sent to employees systemwide Tuesday.
Employees should watch for an email from Human Resource Services and will have until April 19 to provide feedback. From there, HRS will analyze the results and use them to develop the next steps in enhancing recruitment and retention efforts.
“We’ve heard from our employees about the challenges posed by job vacancies and high workload and have responded with measures to try to enhance a sense of work-life balance,” Theresa Elliot-Cheslek, vice president and chief human resource officer, said. “Now, we want to better understand how widespread adoption of these recommendations is and what we can do to meet the needs of our employees.”
The survey includes 10 multiple choice questions as well as a section where respondents can offer their own ideas for improving work-life balance.
In February, WSU announced a pilot program that recommended avoiding standing meetings on Fridays as well as keeping meetings under 45 minutes to avoid uninterrupted strings of back-to-back meetings, particularly in remote environments. Department heads and unit leads were also asked to consider implementing no-camera or camera-optional days, avoid sending emails and messages to employees during off hours or while on leave and supporting flexible and hybrid work schedules.
The pilot program is scheduled to run until July 31, after which HRS will evaluate the feedback of employees and managers to determine next steps.
