Is A 4 Day Work Week Right for Your Business?
Have you heard of the 4 day work week? It has been quite difficult to miss so far this year with the results of the UK’s 4 Day Week pilot trial being published.
61 companies and around 2,900 workers in the UK trialled the 4 day work week from June to December 2022. Out of the 61 companies that participated, a whopping 92% of them have chosen to continue with the shorter work week, with 18 even making it a permanent change.The results showed that employees experienced significantly less stress and burnout with a 4 day work week, with 39% reporting lower stress levels and a 71% reporting reduced burnout levels. Not only that, but the new schedule made it easier for employees to balance their work commitments with their personal lives, including household responsibilities and social engagements. Even household finances and relationships improved for some employees, highlighting just how transformative this work schedule can be.
With all of these brilliant benefits, you are probably asking yourself, should my business offer a 4 day work week? Whilst there are fantastic benefits for business owners and employees, there are a few things to consider before you decide whether a 4 day week is right for your business.
What the 4 Day Work Week is not
Before considering a 4 day work week, it is worth noting what that actually means. A four day work week is not a compressed work week where 40 hours of work is scheduled to fit into 4 days. In addition to this a 4 day work week does not mean less pay, those who took part in the trial received 100% of their salary and benefits, but reduced their working hours by 20%.
Does every business benefit from a 4 Day Work Week?
It is worth mentioning that even though a lot of businesses benefited from the four day work week trial, it was not feasible for every business involved.
Engineering and industrial supplies company Allcap is one of those businesses. At the start of the trial, due to the nature of their trading business and headcount, Allcap were only be able to give employees one workday off every fortnight, instead of the one work day off every week.
Owner Mark Roderkick told BBC worklife “As opposed to 10 normal workdays, we found that employees would have nine extreme ones – once they got to their scheduled day off they were exhausted. Once we factored in holidays, sickness and caring responsibilities, we also struggled to find cover for an employee on their rest day.” In the end Allcap abandoned its trial two months early at its three main trade sites.
Allcap serves as an example that before making the change to a 4 day work week you must consider how sustainable it is for your business and unique challenges that you might face. It could help to discuss this with a HR professional using our Pay As You Go service.
How do you get everything done?
One question you might ask yourself if you are considering a 4 day work week is how can your business get everything done in four days?
Laura White, projects and research manager at London-based charity Waterwise, who took part in the trial said “Without having a fifth day to catch up on work, there’s generally more stress now during the week in order to have a longer weekend.”
In cases where your business has to work fixed hours this might mean hiring more staff. Alison Dunn, chief executive of consumer-advice helpline Citizens Advice in Gateshead, reported that the business invested in the equivalent of three additional full-time employees so the contact centre could join the trial.
In order to get everything done, employees have to be productive. The report included several ways companies increased productivity whilst reducing working hours that included:
Streamlining meetings by sticking to a clear agenda and purpose.
Improving email habits by encouraging employees to only involve the relevant recipients and staying focused on the message's objective.
Automating certain aspects of work, whether that means using email templates or implementing software that can handle repetitive tasks.
Upgrading the project management side with new software or consolidating all internal communication and documents into one program.
Reorganising calendars to promote mono tasking, which means focusing on one task at a time to minimise distractions and interruptions.
Reducing the number of employees involved in specific processes to avoid duplication and streamline workflows.
It is clear that when implementing a 4 day work week, business owners also have to think about how they can implement cultural changes to support the increase in productivity.
Trial a 4 day work week but have the right support
The findings of the 4 day work week shows that it has the potential to greatly benefit employees and employers. However, you cannot go from 5 to 4 working days overnight. It takes serious consideration about the practical and financial implications and the implementation of productivity increasing strategies.The design of the trial included 2 months of preparation that involved workshops, coaching and mentoring.
So if you are considering trialling a 4 day work week, give it the best chance of success by working with us as your HR Advisor. We can support you in your trial and guide you through any potential pitfalls. If you are unsure if the trial is for you we can also suggest other ways you can seek to solve issues such as low productivity, low job satisfaction and burnout in the workplace if it does not work out.