Can agencies really pivot to a four-day week?

The future of work is changing. The pandemic and widespread shift to homeworking have led to employees increasingly coming to expect more flexible ways of working and businesses are under pressure to keep up.

In recent months we’ve witnessed hybrid working become the new norm, with over two-thirds of businesses now offering employees remote working, but it doesn’t stop there. As business leaders look to satisfy employee demand for greater flexibility and freedom, many are considering how they can revolutionise not just where their staff work from, but when they work.

The UK recently announced it was launching a four-day working week pilot which will see 30 companies move to a 32-hour week for six months, with employees continuing to receive the same pay and benefits.

This experiment is by no means the first of its kind. Iceland underwent the world’s largest ever four-day week trial between 2015 and 2019. Importantly, productivity remained the same or improved in the majority of workplaces.

In November, UK bank Atom Group announced that it was moving to a four-day week, allowing employees to work 34 hours over four days with the option of Monday or Friday off. With the company reporting a 500% surge in job applications, it’s little surprise that a four-day week has become the latest workplace buzz among employers and employees alike.

But while the idea of employees simply switching on their ‘out of office’ and skipping off to enjoy a long weekend sounds great in theory, how realistic is this working model in practice?  

We live in a digital world, where customers, clients and colleagues have come to expect to reach each other around the clock. To successfully transition to a four-day week that would allow employees to really switch off and businesses to keep their operations running seamlessly, it’s critical that leaders have the right processes, structures, and talent in place.

Like any big change, businesses will need to think carefully about why they’re doing it and what they hope to gain from it. As a first step, leaders should assess the potential benefits, drawbacks, impact on team operations and crucially, the cost to the business.

Introducing a shorter working week will require leaders to consider whether to use a rotation system or move to a set four days with everyone out of the office at the same time. According to author Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, whose book Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less—Here's How explores the concept of a four-day week and the impact it can have upon employee happiness and productivity, employees waste far too much time in meetings that aren’t necessary. I recently attended the Design Business Association’s Members’ Forum, where Pang argued that if there was a greater focus on being productive within businesses, everyone could achieve what they need to within the same set four days. But leaders need to ask themselves what impact will this have upon collaboration and culture? If everyone is constantly in ‘head down, focused’ mode, where is the time for those informal catch-ups that are so crucial to relationships and ultimately helping create a company culture?

While the events of the past two years have made employees yearn for a better work/life balance, it has also highlighted the importance of human contact. Being together in a physical workspace and the spontaneous interactions that brings often leads to new ideas and innovations. It’s also vital to building relationships, fostering trust and loyalty between colleagues and importantly, injecting some much-needed fun into the workplace.

A lot of people are drawn to certain industries, particularly those working in the creative sector, for the opportunities it gives to meet and work with new people and forge relationships. As businesses look to retain and attract new talent in a competitive environment, it’s vital that they don’t that overlook these factors when deciding whether to transition to a four-day week.  

Leaders will also need to give thought as to whether a shorter week will result in employees working longer hours across those days. Working parents with childcare arrangements and employees with other commitments will need structure to organise their time effectively.

Success will depend greatly on the capability of managers to oversee this change and to understand the nuances of their individual teams.

It’s important that reduced days do not cause a divide or resentment among employees. Different working styles suit different people. While some employees may be motivated by the prospect of a long weekend, there will be others who may not work as well under pressure and for whom a four-day week could bring extra challenges.

In creative industries particularly, a lot of employees are used to working in a fast-paced, always-on environment. Clients often expect to speak to certain team members which runs the risk of employees feeling obliged to answer calls and emails on their day off. Managers will need to consider whether that mindset can truly shift, while businesses will have to manage client expectations and ensure that everyone is comfortable with how this new structure operates.

There is also the question of resources. In small businesses, or those already facing staff shortages or pressure from clients to perform, moving to a four-day week is not without its practical challenges. A rotation system that would allow the office to be staffed for the full five days will be harder to achieve among smaller businesses with fewer people.

There is no doubt that the pandemic has given us a unique opportunity to reset and reimagine our future, but we also need to be realistic. Leaders face a tough balancing act between ensuring employee demands are catered to while meeting the needs of the business. At this delicate time of recovery and with competition fierce, it’s crucial that leaders make the right decision for them and do not feel under pressure to follow trends.

For those businesses that have the right structures and processes in place to support a shorter week, a trial implementation can be a great opportunity to see whether it works in practice. Being open and willing to try something new can be seen as a positive step by employees and can be a good middle ground.

For larger companies, there’s the option to trial it across certain teams. One of our clients, The7stars, did this with a team of around 30 people, allowing them to choose a day off every two weeks. To ensure operations still ran smoothly, the team made sure 90% of staff were in every day during that second week so workloads were covered.

However, if businesses find they are unable to support a four-day week, there are lots of other benefits that can be offered to employees to help them enjoy greater flexibility and avoid burnout including unlimited holiday or the option to change start/finish times.

At JourneyHR, we recognise the importance of creating great employee experiences in a way that allows businesses to continue to grow and thrive and we can help you to maximise employee productivity and motivation in a way that works for you.

“Success will depend greatly on the capability of managers to oversee this change and to understand the nuances of their individual teams.”