Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations

392 Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofi t Organizations

Exercise 13.1: No - E - Mail Fridays

A growing number of employers, including U.S. Cellular, Deloitte &

Touche, PBD Worldwide Fulfi llment Services, and Intel, are imposing

“ no - e - mail ” Fridays or weekends. The bans typically allow e - mailing cli-

ents and customers or responding to urgent matters, but the normal fl ow

of routine internal e - mail is halted. Violators are hit with token fi nes or

called out by the boss. The limits aim to encourage more face - to - face and

telephone contact with customers and coworkers, raise productivity, or just

give employees a reprieve from the ever - rising e - mail tide.

Managers complain that rather than confronting problems, employees

use e - mail to avoid them by passing issues back and forth in long message

strings. E - mail reduces face - to - face contact among coworkers and clients,

and terse, poorly phrased messages strain those relationships. E - mail is

spilling into weekends, tying employees to computers when they should

be relaxing.

Questions

1. What is your opinion of “ no - e - mail Fridays ”? For your job posi-
   tion, would eliminating e - mail on Fridays increase or decrease your
   productivity?


2. Do you think “ no-e - mail Fridays ” would enhance the personal con-
   tacts between clients, coworkers, or customers?


3. What are some other job - related issues that might arise out of no - e -
   mail Fridays?

Source: Shellenbarger (2007).