Bend Company Implements 4-Day Workweek To Increase Productivity

On January 3, 2020, the Bend, Oregon company Mazama Media will implement a 4-day workweek.

The digital marketing agency will allow its 23 employees to select whether to work four ten-hour or five eight-hour days.

Employees will split which days to take off to ensure that the office stays open five days a week.

“If your people are energized, your company is energized,” noted Mazama Media CEO Bud Torcom as his and CFO Sarah Turner’s reasoning behind the decision.

The change was fueled by Torcom’s friend James Boening, who implemented a 4-day workweek at his car dealership Ourisman Lexus Rockville and shared that the new schedule resulted in their best-ever month of sales in November. 

Recently named as an Honorable Mention in Outside Magazine's "The 50 Best Places to Work in 2019" list, Mazama Media focuses on developing a healthy company culture that encourages employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention.

Additional policies in place to meet this goal include dogs in the office on Fridays, a meditation corner with a massage chair, a free snack bar, and "Powder Days"— which is when employees can take a morning or afternoon off to ski in good weather.

Torcom and Turner plan to test the four-day workweek idea through Quarter 1, 2020. They will revisit the decision in April to decide whether to keep the new schedule. Whether or not staff productivity levels are maintained after the change will determine if the company continues the new practice.

Torcom plans to provide updates on his LinkedIn account about the progress of the four-day workweek to provide other companies with an honest look at this tactic. Follow the journey at https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/budtorcom/.