The story behind the four-day week – why everyone wants to work fewer days
After years of disruption and change in workplaces worldwide, some companies are now looking to shake things up even further.
Covid-19 forced businesses and employees alike to think differently about what is important to them and to find new ways of working together. For many people, the flexibility of working remotely from home highlighted a desire for a better work-life balance and less rigid office hours.
These changing priorities have been so unanimous that many countries and companies are now trialing a new four-day work week set up. Trials have taken place in the UK, America, Canada, and New Zealand, and consumer goods company, Unilever, is now set to trial this format with Australian employees.
Early results seem to be consistently positive and we’ll likely see a lot more of this kind of working format in the coming years.
What does a four-day workweek look like?
So, how does a four-day workweek work?
In Unilever’s New Zealand trial, they did not try to compress a standard 35-hour work week into four days but reduced the number of hours that employees worked.
Employees were still paid 100% of their salaries and committed to maintaining their full-time productivity. Other trials have followed a similar set-up to similarly positive results.
What are the benefits of a four-day workweek?
So far, the trials conducted have produced overwhelmingly positive results. In Unilever’s New Zealand trial, absenteeism dropped 34% and employees reported a ‘33% drop in stress and a decrease in work-life conflict of 67%’.
Increased productivity
It may seem counterintuitive but reduced hours lead to a more productive workforce.
Studies by Stanford University have shown that there is a link between an increased length of working hours and decreased productivity.
This is likely due to long hours causing an increase in stress and tiredness and a reduced capacity to concentrate. Or due to an increase in the number of mistakes made which then need to be revisited and corrected at a later date.
This all leads to a reduction in output which can impact sales and profits. Working fewer hours means team members are likely to be better rested and more engaged in their work, resulting in increased productivity. During one of the trials, revenue actually rose about 8 per cent and went up 38 per cent from a year earlier.
Employees working four days a week rather than five were also generally happier to work from the office rather than from home.
Better work/life balance
Employees who have taken part in four-day workweek trials did not use their increased personal time to find second employment but made the most of this time to enjoy ‘hobbies, housework and self-care’.
They reported a reduction in conflicts between family members and colleagues and fewer instances of being too tired to complete necessary household tasks when getting home from work.
One woman who took part in the Unilever trial discussed how having an extra day to complete tasks such as laundry and cleaning allowed her to enjoy more meaningful time with her family at the weekend.
Improved mental wellbeing
Throughout these trials, employees working four days a week rather than five have consistently reported an improvement in their mental well-being as a result.
In fact, 97% of employees who took part wanted to continue with the reduced working hours at the end of the trial and reported less work stress, burnout, fatigue and sleep problems. And 4 Day Week Global reports that 78 per cent of employees working four-day weeks are happier and less stressed.
Employees also reported feeling more satisfied in their personal lives. Such as a 5% rise in satisfaction with “life in general,” 7% in personal health, 7% in community involvement, and 11% in leisure time.
Benefits to physical health
Beyond improving mental well-being and work-life balance, there is even a link between fewer working hours and increased physical health.
Trials showed that when people worked fewer hours, the amount of exercise they did increased by 24 minutes a week, putting them more in line with World Health Organisation recommended exercise targets.
Recruitment and retention
Alongside all the benefits of this style of working for employees, businesses can also enjoy improved employee engagement levels and higher retention rates.
A four-day workweek is attractive to potential employees with 92% of employees saying they’d welcome it. One study found that 63% of companies claim that their four-day workweek helps them to attract and recruit employees.
And it’s not just that reduced working hours help businesses to hire new staff, but the improved lifestyle, sense of satisfaction and decreased work-related stress means that employees are happier at work and feel greater loyalty towards their employer.
How to make it work?
Introducing a four-day workweek isn’t as simple as cutting everyone’s hours and expecting to reap all the benefits immediately. For employees to manage to achieve their normal workload in reduced hours, businesses need to reconsider the way they do things.
During trials by 4 Day Week Global, a two-month pre-planning programme took place to help companies reduce inefficient and duplicitous work ahead of reducing their hours. Without lengthy and inefficient meetings or unnecessary email chains, employees often find that they can get a lot more work done in a shorter time period.
It’s also important to avoid emailing or messaging employees on their day off or setting unrealistic deadlines for the reduced hours that the team is working. Some companies prefer to stagger the ‘off’ days to minimise staff shortages while others prefer to close fully for a three-day weekend.
What works best will be different for each company. However, the most important thing is to ensure that management staff are appropriately supported and to listen and respond to your team’s concerns and feedback.
If you would like more advice on switching to a four-day workweek, or help to find a role with a business that supports this, speak to a member of the team at Conquest today.
