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4-Day Work Week: Motivation, Productivity and… Reality?
06 de September de 2022
Just like that emblematic song by Bob Dylan: “Times are a-changin”. Work weeks are no longer constrained to the 40 hours divided into five days, like the Ford Motor Company, among others, proposed more than 100 years ago. Now there are a great number of options. One of these alternatives has been making a lot of noise during the past few months.
The 4-day work week is making its way through Spain and its starting to gain strength. Some countries, like Belgium, Iceland or Sweden, have started trying out similar formulas; and companies from France, Germany, New Zealand or Japan, are already putting this trend into practice.
Will it become a reality sooner rather than later? Answering this question is a bit harder. However, analysing the matter could help both potential workers and executives who may be seriously thinking about it.
How To Implement the 4-Day Work Week.
Higher costs, more employees… The numbers don’t add up! These are some of the fears that take over the minds of executives when they think about taking on a 4-day work week. Is it possible then? How should it be implemented?
- Pilot Test: Many companies take a pilot test to assess its effect. It usually takes place during the summer or when the workload is not heavy. Before doing it, it’s recommended to carry out training and adaptation sessions.
- Creating a Contingency Plan: Those who are more critical fear that it would increase stress levels in workers. The solution would be to guide workers so they don’t fall into a professional agony, but rather take on a new approach regarding organisation, coordination and efficiency.
- Measure Possible Results: What’s the overrun of the project? What’s the worker's response? And clients? Did turnover go up? These are aspects that must be evaluated in detail and whose answers will make sense of the pilot test.
- Check Whether It Is a Suitable Action for Your Industry: If there’s one thing that’s clear nowadays, it’s that it’s not a format for every sector. Companies that work by shifts and run 24/7 will struggle more than those who have a greater flexibility.
What are the positive aspects of the 4-day work week?
Personal/Family Balance – This may be what workers seek the most nowadays. Not only because it’s the most evident one, but because it brings calm and serenity.
It motivates the team – Workers will have a better quality of life and a greater sense of belonging to the company. In England, close to 77% of a total of 2000 workers showed that there’s a clear link between this type of format and an improvement in social stability.
It boosts performance – Thanks to that flexibility and extra motivation, there’s a clear increase in productivity.
Sustainability awareness – Teams would take one day less of using transportation or gasoline, making cities less congested and protecting the environment. The company would also save a considerable amount of energy.
It makes it easy to train talents – It’s a clear advantage over other companies in the search for talent and recruiting. There are a lot of people who look for this type of work week.
The right to time – Work seems to have become less important in our lives in recent times. Having to adapt to work days, finding balance becomes more difficult — and let’s not even mention free time. What if the 4-day work week could bring back that little pleasure we take in seeing family or just resting?
We really don’t know if working 4 days a week will become a reality soon. While it’s true we’re seeing traditional work formulas being questioned, how far will it go?