The four-day work week is oft discussed. But how realistic is it? Could it ever become universal? A new report highlights some of the key issues to think about:
- Staggering ‘off’ days
- Understanding the needs of internal and external stakeholders
- Looking at how you ensure coverage across departments for every weekday
- Building a culture of trust and accountability
- Focusing on business continuity
“It’s not about compressing a 40 hour week into 4 days, but instead maintaining productive and good customer service whilst delivering other benefits to employees,” says Andrew Barnes, Founder, 4 Day Week – Global.
In 2018, he launched a four-day work week for his company Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand and now spearheads a global campaign with co-founder Charlotte Lockhart MNZM – 4 Day Week.
They have helped set up the largest four-day week trials in Australia, South Africa and the UK. More than 250 companies and 100,000 employees around the world have taken part in the trials, and data has been collated into a report with Robert Walters about productivity, retention and recruitment.
The four-day work week concept is based on 100 per cent pay, 80 per cent time whilst maintaining 100 per cent productivity.
Data taken from the trials has found:
- 92% of companies are implementing a four-day week after completing an initial trial period.
- Burnout was down by 71% in the trial period.
- Sick days reduced by 65%.
- Revenue increased on average by 1.4 per cent across all businesses that took part in the pilots.
