Interest in the idea of a four-day working week has been growing recently, following the completion of the UK trial which saw 61 organisations test the concept so that researchers could analyse the impact it had on productivity and staff wellbeing.
How does the four-day week work?
The idea is that employees work one fewer day per week with no loss of pay, often working the same number of contracted hours but over four days rather than five. Its advocates argue that employees can be just as productive, if not more, as staff seek to minimise distractions and benefits are seen in respect of recruitment, retention and wellbeing.
Re-evaluating work
Until Covid-19 hit, the idea of a shorter working week – or even home-working – might have seemed far-fetched to some employers, but the pandemic has encouraged many to rethink the work-life balance and benefits they offer.
The shorter working week is becoming trendy and the trendier it gets, more companies will become more willing to open their minds about it. Employers are also considering ways they could boost productivity, and switching to a four-day week might achieve this.
The other big driver is recruitment and retention. If you are thinking of leaving and your employer offers you a four-day week, you are probably going to stay put for a bit, and in the current market that’s really important.
The challenges
Taken at face-value, the idea of a four-day week seems attractive for both employees and employers, who stand to benefit from more a productive and engaged workforce, but some of the challenges that may be faced are as follows:
• Some staff may have to be upskilled to ensure that some tasks could still be completed when colleagues were off work, and although staff are usually able to choose which day they wanted to drop, payroll staff have to work certain days to ensure employees get paid on time.
• Be prepared to be flexible. If someone says they would much rather work five days and have more holiday because of their childcare arrangements, you need to practice the flexibility you preach.
• Watch out for signs of stress as staff try to maintain 100% productivity in just 80% of the time they are used to.
• Ensure you continue to introduce wellbeing initiatives into those four days, rather than relying on a three-day weekend being enough. With one less day in the office it is important not to lose the team connection and employers need to work hard to maintain those relationships as well as hitting deadlines.
The process
• Employers need to set targets and be really clear and communicate with people around how they are going to judge success.
• They need to empower employees to come up with ways they can deliver the same output in four days rather than five.
• Additional tailored, personalised training and an increase in one-to-one mentoring reviews are some changes made to ensure employees felt supported and capable of achieving their weekly targets in four days.
• Employers also increased team-building activities and moved weekly socials to Thursday evenings instead of Friday to ensure the culture remained strong.
Results of the UK trial
Almost every organisation that took part in the UK trial of a four-day week (92%) has decided to continue with a shorter working week after the pilot saw a reduction in burnout, anxiety, fatigue and sickness absence.
Participants saw 71% of employees report lower levels of burnout and a 57% reduction in the likelihood that an employee would quit their role.
They also saw a 65% reduction in sick days, and staff reported improvements to their mental and physical health, work-life balance and satisfaction with their household finances, relationships and how their time was being managed.
Aside from the employee wellbeing and satisfaction benefits, employers also saw their revenue rise by 1.4% on average.
However, the following is important to note:
• Rethinking the way the organisation does its job is crucial as there is no way that you can reduce your working hours, maintain productivity and not do things differently.
• Trial the short week first and make it clear that it is a trial that may not be implemented permanently and contractual agreements or proof of employee agreement to this may be required so you can revert back to a five-day week should you wish to.
• Many of the reported benefits of the four-day working week are only going to be truly identifiable long-term.
• Decide the way the week will work – will you offer a Monday or a Friday off or allow staff to choose a day not to work? How long will the working day extend by? How will it work for shift workers? Either way productive improvements in advance are required to support the four-day week.
• For some senior staff used to putting in long hours through the week, this four-day week may not work. Employers need to be ready for this.
No going back
Organisations must be absolutely sure they want a shorter week, and that it has a good chance of success, before they announce a trial to staff. “The ‘own goal’ of running it for a few months as a trial and then finding it just isn’t working would be really challenging. You may well lose staff who have enjoyed the work-life balance benefits.
If you are cutting hours, you have to be clear this is actually possible, as the negativity from the team if it just feels like a PR stunt will be hard to recover from.
As we have seen with the arrival of hybrid working, introducing a four-day week would involve a steep learning curve for organisations and employees, and would require some tweaks before the right balance is struck. But there is now enough experience from organisations that have implemented shorter weeks to draw on for learning.
For any further advice please contact nicola.goodridge@goodhr.co.uk or call +44 7917 878384
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