There is a lot of current debate about whether a 4 day working week is possible.
We believe that in most companies and most industries it could be, with the right balance of appropriate resources, processes, skills and allocation of time.
There is of course, a lot more to it than that, and at the top of the tree in all case studies that support the theory, is likely to be clear, smart working, by all involved.
“With greater focus on employee wellbeing and investment in advanced technologies, can organisations achieve such an improved level of productivity that the traditional working week becomes just four days?” says Claire Richardson, European Director, Workforce Institute at Kronos, in the HR Zone article Is a four-day working week really possible?
Claire continues, “Organisations are taking necessary steps to implement technologies to help them achieve improved productivity and empower a more engaged workforce to work smarter and work their way.
This raises a key question: with greater focus on employee wellbeing and investment in advanced technologies, can organisations achieve such an improved level of productivity that the traditional working week becomes just four days?”
“…organisations (should) consider the impact on employees with any new implementation. For example, any technology should be designed, built and implemented as part of an overall drive to empower employees to do their jobs more effectively, in a way that encourages pride in their work. This has to be a key consideration, rather than simply thinking of the bottom line, which is often the case.”
Claire’s article presents researched evidence that quality over quantity will help to balance time against the outputs required for a sustainable business that can not only exist but grow. We recommend you consider the article and let us know what you think?
Is a 4 day working possible in your business? If so, why… and if not, why not? Please share your experiences and views by Subscribing to comment below.
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More coverage of this issue and examples of what you can try yourself… https://mindfulcollective.net/2018/12/19/mindful-monday-working-a-four-day-week/
If there isn’t an agreement on a 4 day working week, I believe there should be on flexible working. As a council they encourage flexible working, working from etc. It allows people to start earlier or later deepening on child drop offs, or missing traffic. It also allows you to build up flexi time, where if you work later or don’t take all your lunch, you can take this at a later time. It means you don’t feel like you are working for nothing and can take time if you have a family event to leave early etc. This is one way you can get positive employee engagement and retention.
Thank you for your comment…Yes I agree.. I used to work at Astrazeneca and they had a great work life balance (much helped by the fact we weren’t a service business (manufacturing), but this meant we could get in early and leave early – I would work until 4pm and then go to the gym before picking the children up from Nursery. It really helped me to feel ‘human’ again in those early days with a young family. We also had the opportunity to trade in bonus salary for an extra week’s holiday and our managers were open to fully flexible working in certain instances. This was 15 years ago, but it made a huge difference to me..I think it motivates staff because they are seen as individuals with different life pressures instead of being lumped into one indistinguishable pile of people with the same needs.