In a recent Willis Towers Watson survey of 1,550 employers from around the world, 94% of respondents said enhancing the employee experience at their organization will be an important priority over the next three years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, only 54% of those employers indicated that improving the employee experience at their organization was important.
These survey results show just how much the pandemic has affected workplace culture. In the spring of 2020, employers began allowing employees to work from home to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Now employers are offering remote work options and flexible work schedules because of the many positive benefits, including improving employee productivity, morale and retention and attracting job candidates.
At NC State, we’ve established a flexible work arrangements regulation designed to align units’ business and operational needs with employee interest in alternative work locations and flexible work schedules. We have provided our departments and units with guidance and a dedicated website to help with implementing flexible work arrangements.
NC State is one of the top five best employers in North Carolina, according to Forbes magazine. We are also the state’s largest employer in public higher education.To maintain our standing, we must implement employee-friendly programs that help to retain our employees, attract the best and brightest to join the Pack and enable us to continue doing extraordinary work. Our flexible work program enhances our work environment and encourages new ways to Think and Do.
NC State educates more than 37,000 students and employs approximately 9,000 faculty and staff. We offer more than 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in our 12 colleges, which have more than 60 departments. Fourteen departments and three centers have a cooperative extension commitment, and we have established numerous partnerships with community, local, regional and state organizations. That equates to a lot of different ways to work, which is why our new flexible work program makes sense.
Our program enables units to manage their business needs while offering employees who work diligently to meet those needs some flexibility related to their work schedules, hours and locations. Units will implement the flexible work arrangements program in varying ways across the university, depending on their specific operations and needs. Managers have the authority to approve or deny requests for flexible work arrangements based on employees’ roles and responsibilities and what their units require of employees to maintain outstanding service. Managers also can implement a flexible work plan for an entire office, unit or department rather than approve individual requests. We know there will be a period of adjustment as units discover which arrangements work best for them and their employees.
NC State remains committed to delivering world-class educational programs and services while providing opportunities to foster work-life balance for our employees when possible.
We will continue to seek new and engaging ways to support the Wolfpack community because we are aware that this program may not work for all units or employees. We also will continue to develop new tools and share resources that support the flexible work program. The way employers engage employees will continue to evolve and so will our workforce, and we want the Pack to be ready.
Ursula Hairston
Assistant Vice Chancellor for HR Strategy
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