The results are now in<\/a>, and they\u2019re overwhelmingly positive \u2013 of the 61 businesses that took part in the six-month trial, over 90% have opted to continue with a 4-day\/32 hour week for their employees beyond the trial period, with no reduction in their previous pay. Good news, and the first step towards the UK becoming less wedded to the Monday-Friday 40-hour contract, which has been the norm for over a hundred years and is arguably no longer fit for purpose.<\/p>\nAs a Strategist, it got me thinking about goals and strategies \u2013 is a 4-day week the goal in this scenario, or just one path your organisation could follow? And if so, what\u2019s the ultimate objective?<\/p>\n
It is, of course, about hitting your business targets whilst maintaining a high level of employee happiness and wellbeing, which in turn comes with a whole raft of other benefits, like higher attraction and lower attrition and absence. Many of the businesses in the study reported that they not only maintained their profits on fewer hours, but actually increased them. So it turns out that profits are linked to productivity rather than hours worked, which anyone who does a full-time job in four days by choice (myself included) knew already.<\/p>\n
What was most interesting for us about the study was learning about the steps the participating businesses took to prepare for shifting to a 4-day week. You can\u2019t just take a 40-hour culture and squash it into 32 hours; you have to make changes to help employees be more productive.<\/p>\n
Which begs the question, why wouldn\u2019t ALL organisations want to make these changes, if we know it increases employee happiness and productivity? A 4-day week might not be the goal for your business just yet (or indeed ever, it doesn\u2019t work for everyone), but there are still plenty of things organisations can do to foster a culture of happier, less stressed employees, whilst laying the foundations for potential future change. Here are four focus areas<\/strong> to consider:<\/p>\n\nI can\u2019t fight this admin any more. <\/strong>How much of your employees\u2019 time is spent on admin unrelated to their unique skillset? Spoiler alert: it\u2019s a LOT \u2013 for the average office-based workers, it can be as much as a third of their working hours. Reducing admin can be about digital tools and templates or simply better communication and sharing so your people aren\u2019t continually reinventing the wheel. Things like training people to organise, prioritise and delegate, and streamlining internal comms can all make a huge difference.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nWe must stop meeting like this. <\/strong>We work with a lots of organisations who have implemented initiatives to reduce the amount of time their people spend in unproductive meetings. At BrandPointZero, we start every meeting by asking two questions \u2013 \u2018does everyone in this room need to be here?\u2019, and \u2018where do we want to be by the end of this meeting?\u2019 We also rarely book meetings for more than half an hour \u2013 it encourages us to focus, and we can always review our progress at the end of the meeting and book a follow-up if it\u2019s a meaty topic that needs a Round 2.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nYour line manager will see you now. <\/strong>How much time is wasted in your organisation waiting for permission to do stuff? Empowering your people to make decisions has the added benefit of helping your people feel like they have autonomy, responsibility and influence. Clearly there need to be boundaries to avoid corporate anarchy, but removing red tape and streamlining the decision-making process gives everyone more time and keeps the wheels or your organisation turning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nTake your employees on the journey<\/strong> \u2013 it always surprises us how many employers implement significant change programmes without consulting their people, and then wonder why there are so many questions. Your employees experience these pressure points every day, so their perspective is hugely valuable to understand what will make the biggest difference. There\u2019s almost certainly stuff that\u2019s unique to your organisation that isn\u2019t covered in these three buckets, but that absolutely nobody would miss if it disappeared. Ask questions, listen to your people, and formulate your productivity plan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIf you\u2019re still not convinced that any of this will make a difference, here are some simple numbers:<\/p>\n
\nReducing admin by half an hour per day<\/strong> equates to 15 working days a year, assuming 260 working days a year less 30 days holiday.<\/li>\nReducing meetings by one hour a day<\/strong> equates to 30 working days a year.<\/li>\nSaving an hour a week<\/strong> getting permission or approval to do stuff is another 6 working days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nYou\u2019ve probably already done the maths \u2013 that\u2019s 51 days a year, or one day every week, give or take. But even if that saved day was spread out over the standard 5-days, think about the difference it would make to how your people FEEL. Less stress, more productivity, going home on time, having time to take a proper lunchbreak. Thinking about work less outside of working hours, enjoying holidays more, being healthier and happier. Who wouldn\u2019t want to work in a place like that?<\/p>\n
When you look at this list of initiatives objectively, it\u2019s actually got nothing to do with a 4-day week. It\u2019s a strategy for giving your people the space and time to do what they\u2019re really good at, and helping them get the most out of their time at work. If hitting business targets and having a happy, positive people culture are your goals (and if not, why not?), we could all start planning more of these changes tomorrow. It is Friday, after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We\u2019ve been following the UK trial of a 4-day working week with interest here at BrandPointZero, because anything that impacts organisational culture and gives businesses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,14,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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