Is a 4-day workweek the missing piece to productivity? Some might say that it places too much emphasis on what an additional day off from work would do for the workforce, but data shows that much of the additional day spent working is invested in procrastination. There have been many attempts at testing out 4-day workweeks across the globe in recent years. Many of these experiments have led businesses to acknowledge the benefits of a shorter workweek; however, for the most part, employers remain unconvinced.
There is considerable data to show that work slows down towards the end of the week, whether the decision is intentional or not. Just recently, JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon revealed that he has learned through experience that “Making big decisions on a Friday when you’re tired is a really bad idea.” Now, while this doesn’t suggest that he’s all for giving the organization the day off on Friday, he has previously predicted that we will embrace shorter workweeks in the future. This leads us back to the conversation on how much truly gets done in a five-day workweek, where the last day is often designated for preparing for the weekend.
Nonprofit advocacy group 4 Day Week Global has been the leading force behind convincing organizations to look into the benefits of a 4-day workweek, and a new report from them shows that employees achieve as much in a 33-hour workweek as they do in a 38-hour one.
THE LINK BETWEEN A 4-DAY WORKWEEK AND PRODUCTIVITY GROWS MORE APPARENT: WILL THE GLOBAL LANDSCAPE OF EMPLOYMENT EVOLVE?
Calls for a shorter workweek have been placed around the world, but few employers have picked up the receiver to listen to what the workforce has to say. Allowing employers to test this altered mode of operation for themselves, 4 Day Week Global has been on a mission to collaborate with employers to embark on 6-month projects and assess the results, before and after. Reports from the organization showed that of the 41 US and Canada-based companies that gave these 4-day workweeks a whirl for 6 months, none of them chose to return to a 5-day system of operations.
Employees who underwent the 4-day workweek productivity study grew into advocates of the benefits of a shorter workweek after 95% asserted that they would prefer to continue the trial. Around seven in ten employees reported a reduction in their burnout, while two in five stated that they felt less stressed. Forty-two percent of them were able to do more environmentally friendly activities during the trial, such as recycling or walking and cycling rather than driving, showing that the benefits of a shorter workweek meant benefits for the global landscape as a whole.
The four-day week study results showed that not only were employees satisfied with the shift, but so were employers. Companies that participated in the trial rated it an 8.7 out of 10, indicating satisfaction with the productivity gains, performance assessments, and their overall ability to attract talent. Many also experienced a 15% average increase in their revenue, which is the ultimate goal for many businesses.
IS THE 4-DAY WORKWEEK EFFECTIVE? HERE’S WHAT PARTICIPANTS HAD TO SAY
Most assume that a 4-day workweek will result in a productivity and efficiency drop, and employers will have to let go of ambitions in order to solely focus on employee satisfaction. From the results of the study, it is apparent that this is simply not the case. The process of shortening the workweek allows businesses to identify meaningless, time-consuming tasks that can be eliminated or made more efficient. Workers soon get a better handle on their workloads and can subsequently save more time.
“The most profound impact was on employee retention. We’ve seen very few people choose to depart the company since the implementation of our 4 day week. This has dramatically improved our ability to meet objectives and key results every quarter,” said Jon Leland, Chief Strategy Officer at Kickstarter. The US-based non-profit launched its 4-day workweek in 2021, and its experience with this change was an insightful addition to the report.
“While we were lucky to hit 70% prior to our pilot, we now hit more than 90%. It’s easy to think that a company might have to sacrifice some ambition to implement a 4 day week, but we have only increased the scale of our ambition since its adoption,” he added.
Tara Vanderloo, Chief Experience Officer at Sensei Labs, a Canadian-based company that participated in the pilot said, “The prep work pressurized all our teams and systems and helped identify opportunities to enhance productivity and find 20% efficiencies. The pilot was very successful for engagement, loyalty and retention, and attracting awesome new Senseis.”
She added, “We’re excited to keep the 4 day week in place beyond the pilot, and our teams remain deeply committed to the practice and preserving our productivity metrics. More than one of our team members has called this life-changing, which is the best feedback we could have.”
THE BENEFITS OF A SHORTER WORKWEEK ARE MORE APPARENT IN THE MODERN WORLD
A 4-day workweek has many pros and cons that we’ve discussed before, but for the most part, the benefits of a shorter workweek win in most assessments. The biggest challenge in the process is the initial hiccups that come while making the switch, as the planning is extensive and requires careful consideration of multiple facets. Once the transition is made, however, employers and employees both see the benefits almost at once. In the modern world, where socio-economic and geopolitical changes are disrupting operations, businesses have begun falling back on shorter workweeks to ride out the change.
Sri Lanka, for example, has been forced to deal with the ongoing fuel crisis with a shorter workweek to cut down on the daily commute to work. Tokyo has also experimented with a 4-day workweek as one of the measures to address its declining birth rate. The feasibility of this model makes itself apparent, and there’s no time like the present to make the switch. The arrival of AI has been celebrated as the final brick needed to guarantee productivity and efficiency. If the technology truly is as revolutionary as tech giants claim, a 4-day workweek should be the natural next step.
Despite the benefits of AI technology, many workers have seen their workloads increase in recent months. For some, this is due to the additional work that comes with weeding out the errors in AI results. For others, the additional work is a result of efficiency, where finishing tasks faster leaves them with more responsibilities. The benefits of a four-day workweek could help address some of these growing burnout trends with greater ease.
Source – https://www.thehrdigest.com/chasing-productivity-consider-how-a-4-day-workweek-might-help/