The 4-Day Workweek: Should You Try?
Are you worried that your employees look anxious and tired? Are you concerned about losing your best employees to higher paying jobs at big companies?
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We consult with our clients constantly about the "Hiring and Retention Levers" that small businesses can pull to reel in the best talent for their organization. We suggest levers such as more PTO, schedule flexibility, personalized anniversary gifts, and more to set you apart as an employer. However, there is a new concept that is turning a lot of heads: The 4-Day Work Week.
Before you stop reading this email because a 4-day work week is impossible, I suggest you look at this case study in the UK. Companies are testing out this 32 hour work week hoping to reduce burnout, retain staff and recruit excellent employees. You may call 32 hours part-time, but many companies are calling this full-time and providing regular benefits and PTO. Let's break down the positives and the negatives:
Positives due to case studies mostly done outside of the US
Work satisfaction is up
Work happiness is up
The most shocking: Job productivity is actually up
Without surprise - Retention is up
Negatives:
We don’t know the long-term effect on productivity because the studies are too new
Employees might also be more stressed to get their work done in a 32-hour week
What do I think:
It really depends on your company and what you are hearing from your employees.
A good way to see if it might work for you is to do a test period. Tell your employees that from June to August, everyone will be expected to get their full jobs done, but that the office will close at noon on Fridays. Talk with your leaders first about how this can be accomplished. This will not work for all companies, but it might work for yours.
You will be surprised how excited your employees are with just the 4 hours off. You may even be surprised by how much productivity increases. You also may see less people giving their notice to quit.
I know it is one of the stranger concepts we have suggested, but you won’t know until you try. Sometimes you have to be different to set yourself apart.
Check out recent articles on the study and the articles that are being written right now around this concept: