By now you might have heard about the four day work week. Although it’s not a new concept – countries like Norway and Denmark have been doing this for years – it’s quickly gaining traction in our work stressed, post pandemic world.
I’ll touch on the good, the bad and the gritty of this concept. Including changes you might need in order to try this out in your workplace. Or, if it’s even a suitable option for your industry.
If you haven’t yet heard about this, it’s exactly what it sounds like; a work week that is only four days long. It sounds good, too good to be true! But the benefits far outweigh the milestones and roadblocks that come from integrating massive structural changes to your workplace.
What is a Four Day Work Week?
The idea of a four day work week is to cut working hours from the typical 40 hours, usually expected in office style workplaces, to 32 hours. Cutting the week from five days, to four days.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean doing less work. Nor does it mean doing 10 hours in four days, to make up for the lost work day. This means doing five days of work within four days.
What are the benefits of a Four Day Work Week?
There are many obvious benefits, but there are some you mightn’t expect – particularly if you’re an employer, not an employee.
The clearest benefit for employees: a better work life balance. An extra day you’re not at work is an extra day you could spend with your family, explore a new hobby, or invest in self care.
Trials found employees were capable of meeting their deadlines within the four days.
The clearest benefit for employers: employees are less stressed. And working four days instead of five reduces the risk of job related burnout, in turn lowering mistakes, poor performance, and health impacts (a benefit to everyone, really!). Less sick days means more work hours spent, well, doing work!
Plus less time at the doctors, less money spent on doctor visits and medication, and less impact on our strained health care systems.
There are lower employee turnover rates. And the quality of applicants vying to work at your company is higher. In fact, the 4dayweek community cites “63% of businesses found it easier to attract and retain talent with a 4 day work week.“. Because, put simply, employees value working for an employer who values them.
The most surprising benefit is that employees are actually as productive working four days as they are working five days. Trials found employees were more than capable of meeting their work deadlines within the four days. And, in some cases, employees are even more productive than they were working five days.
More happy employees, means more satisfied customers and less stress for everyone.
How does the Four Day Week look?
It’s important to note that the pace of work is expected to increase. This is a given when fitting your usual five day workload into four days.
The first task is work reorganisation. On the 4 Day Week global website, they have an article ‘Getting Your Team to Do More Than Meet Deadlines‘, which is a great place to begin learning how to optimise workplace productivity.
Unproductive tasks are cut out. Meetings are reduced to the bare essential attendees, cutting down employee interruptions and trimming the time needed to conduct these discussions.
Messaging systems can be implemented to replace phone calls, cutting time spent on casual conversations as a result.
And less personal tasks are scheduled during work time. Things like doctors appointments can be done during the off day.
To ensure a successful trial, be sure to clarify your expectations to your employees.
You might be able to see now how even these small shifts in conduct can create a stricter work environment, with a higher pace. But, trials have found that people prefer their down time as a whole day off rather than snippets during the usual five days.
Places like Norway and Denmark – countries that have been practising the four day work week for years – have the highest productivity rates, with the lowest work hours.
Other techniques like staggering the day off between employees, to keep the office running for five days, is another workable structure.
Clear expectations should be established in the workplace to ensure success. Normal deadlines should be met, and whenever not accomplished employees should be held accountable as usual. This could mean working during their off day to finish necessary tasks; just as working overtime to complete your job’s necessary tasks is expected during a five day week.
What are the downsides of a Four Day Week?
Though there are many benefits, getting 100% of work done in 80% of the time may not work for every industry.
Trials noted an increase in employee’s reported stress and pressure to complete their tasks within the four days instead of five. And many found they worked in a “compressed” way – 10 hours a day over the four days – rather than working reduced hours.
Skill variations between employees also became more evident. Working in a team environment, this variation can be an unexpected challenge. The requirement to work at the top of your skill capacity is essential for the success of a four day work week.
And then there’s the challenge of being faced with employees who don’t change their productivity, who take the day off as a gift rather than a shift in work style.
Trying out a Four Day Week
To ensure a successful trial, be sure to clarify your expectations to your employees. Everyone in the workplace needs to understand their work output should not decrease.
Set in place firm guidelines on how to handle delays in work output. Whether that means coming in for a few hours on off days, or adjusting time spent elsewhere (such as meetings). It shouldn’t be left ambiguous. However, remember the benefits are seen only when the work hours are reduced, not when everyone is working 10 hour days.
Training may be needed in the case that an employees skill level is below what is expected. And access to this training, more support and resources, may be needed to sustain the changes.
