I recently participated in FedEx days development with my employer. It was an excellent opportunity to unwind my working mind and take a leap into creativity (my job is to fix and enhance existing technologies).
I truly enjoyed the opportunity to build some interesting handheld software. When the FedEx days project review was done, I had a small, if buggy :-), application to demonstrate. Everyone in the review took time to play with the application...
So what's so great about FedEx days? How can employers possibly benefit from having blocks of employees "go invisible" for a day or three (read: zero short-term standard tasks are expected from the employees, "regular" work is suspended and employees are insulated from daily work and responsibility)? Is it beneficial in the end analysis?
The short answer: "yes." Without question. A corporately-sponsored, well-organized, open-minded FedEx days experiment benefits companies' bottom lines and employees' work satisfaction.
To be more specific, I would strongly suggest that key ideas underlying corporate success include employee satisfaction, non-revenue-based R&D, and innovation. To that end, I would also strongly suggest that a successful company also (sometimes) needs to slow down in order to speed up.
FedEx days are R&D at its most productive and enjoyable. The vast majority of participants grow and learn to innovate during FedEx days. Employees and lower management have opportunities to take the stress-uniform off for a moment. The company gets potential ideas, services, or products that are as diverse as the employee base. Employees and lower management are encouraged to step out of the box and do projects that are not necessarily in their work domains: developers might work on a support project, support might work on a marketing project, or management may take the time to work on the producer level... Diversity and ideas are king and queen of successful long-term growth and sustainability.
Since FedEx days are not intended to boost the short term bottom line, some corporations may not take the brief expenditure for this kind of effort and activity. I think that short-term thinking is important at times, but must not be the driving force behind how work is always performed on every kind of project. Great things and services have come from the freedom to innovate. Many of the products we take for granted have their roots in projects that weren't begun with short-term profit in mind: rather, they were begun for the sake of growth, invention, and innovation.
FedEx days give the community of employees and management an opportunity to grow in an organic and fulfilling way.
Would I be more inclined to work well and to stay with my employer if they provided unfettered one-day (or more) breaks so that I could build a handheld application?
You bet.
