From Flexible Working to the 4 Day Week and Smart Week: Embracing the Future of Work Today

The future of work is shaped by multiple factors: both exogenous and endogenous. Among the former, we can include technology, artificial intelligence, digitalization, globalization, and sustainability. The latter includes factors such as culture, performance, productivity, flexibility, well-being, motivation, and a sense of belonging. Combined, these two types of elements determine the operational model of an organization, ensuring its competitiveness and long-term success.

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of new work models, including flexible working and the 4 day workweek, redefining what many consider the “new normal.” But how can we integrate and optimize these strategies to achieve maximum benefit?

Flexible Working: Between Necessity and Opportunity

Let’s start with flexible working. Before COVID-19, for some companies, it was a strategic and consistent choice aimed at providing greater flexibility in terms of space (where) and time (when) for their people. For others, it was a necessity to ensure business continuity.

Over time, organizations that successfully rethought their work model experienced benefits in terms of productivity and engagement. Many others, however, continued a culture of control and micromanagement, limiting these benefits.

It’s no coincidence that several companies, from SMEs to giants like Amazon, Unipol, and JP Morgan, have recently rolled back flexible working policies, in some cases opting to return to the office.

• For instance, Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, highlighted how smart working complicated and made internal processes less efficient, turning quick decisions into labyrinths of meetings and approvals.
• Carlo Cimbri, chairman of Unipol, also pointed out that remote work, while advantageous in some ways, cannot solve issues such as isolation and the loss of human connection.
• Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, criticized remote work as ineffective, instead advocating for a return to in-person work supported by innovative spaces like yoga rooms and meditation areas.

The question to ask now is: wasn’t flexible working supposed to offer more flexibility to people? If so, at what cost? Have we truly rethought the transition from physical to remote work?

In other words, is flexible working really the ultimate solution?

Not always. Its main limitation is its inability to be universally adopted, particularly in production or operational settings.

The 4 Day Week: A New Opportunity

An alternative model adaptable to more work environments is the 4 day week. This approach aims to reduce working hours for the well-being of employees without compromising productivity and performance. This work model allows us to overcome the limitations of remote working and extend its benefits to all workers.

Regarding the 4 day week, there are three main approaches:

• 100-100-100 (Compressed): Same salary, same hours, work compressed into four days.
• 80-80-80 (Part-time): Reduction in hours and salary proportionally.
• 100-80-100 (4 Day Week): Reduction in hours while maintaining salary and targets.

Of the three, the 100-80-100 model has proven effective in balancing flexibility, well-being, and organizational outcomes. Why is this?

The 100-80-100 Model: Impact on Well-being and Performance

According to some international studies, the 100-80-100 model demonstrates that reducing working hours without a loss of pay improves well-being.

The main benefits are:

• Reduction in work-related burnout
• Improvement in mental health
• More time for restorative leisure activities
• Improved quality and duration of sleep, both during the workweek and on weekends

The improvement in sleep is attributed to greater psychological detachment from work. When people are unable to mentally disconnect, they tend to ruminate after work, which hinders sleep. Reducing working hours allows more time for recovery, fostering better sleep and reducing family-work and work-family conflicts.

While the improvement in well-being is intuitive, it’s surprising to discover that performance can also improve despite fewer working hours. This phenomenon varies by sector:

• Improved productivity: More tasks completed or goods produced
• Better quality of service: Higher customer or patient satisfaction

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Why Does Performance Improve Despite Fewer Working Hours?

Figure 2: Two Psychological Pathways to Better Performance in the 4 Day Week

Two main psychological factors explain the phenomenon:

1. Brain Recovery

The human brain needs recovery to function optimally. Rest, whether through leisure activities or sleep, promotes:

• Feelings of detachment, relaxation, mastery, autonomy, purpose, and affiliation
• Cognition and emotional regulation
• Creativity and problem-solving: Improved rest enhances the functionality of key neural networks, such as the prefrontal cortex and the Default Mode Network (DMN), which are essential for boosting performance

2. Motivation

The 100-80-100 model motivates people to work more efficiently. Knowing they must maximize the available time, they adopt better work habits (e.g., shorter meetings, focusing on "deep work") and minimize distractions (e.g., disabling email and WhatsApp notifications).

Adopting these efficiencies requires significant effort to change habits; however, the 4 day week acts as a powerful motivator. Employees understand that, to maintain the benefit of reduced working hours, they must use their work time wisely, which drives them to be more efficient.

In contrast, the intensification of work within a 5 day week is counterproductive for well-being and motivation.

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The table below helps compare the three 4 day week models, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.

Focusing on the 100-100-100 Model, this approach involves compressing work hours into four days. Decision-making is predominantly top-down, with decisions made by leadership without genuinely involving employees in determining how to implement the model.

Studies show [Mauno, S. et al. (2023) Is work intensification bad for employees? A review of outcomes for employees over the last two decades. Work Stress 37, 100–125] that work intensification undermines well-being, motivation, and results, both at individual and organizational levels. Furthermore, compressed hours often fail to provide the same benefits as an actual reduction in working time. While it may offer advantages over the traditional 5 day week, trials have highlighted issues such as burnout and excessive stress.

I interviewed several people working in Italian companies that adopt the compressed week, and they were not particularly favorable toward it, citing issues of disorganization and difficulties in work-life balance. For example, women with children find it particularly challenging to work 9 or 10 hour days. Motivation is often low because employees do not feel involved in the process of streamlining activities. The lack of a method to manage compressed activities effectively further exacerbates these challenges.

In the 80-80-80 Model, working time, salary, and goals are reduced proportionally. Here too, decision-making is top-down, with limited employee involvement in reorganizing activities.

While part-time work offers high brain recovery, it is often accompanied by low motivation, as employees do not feel actively engaged in managing the change. Consequently, engagement remains similar to that observed in a five-day week. The absence of a straightforward method to organize work risks undermining the achievement of organizational goals.

In the 100-80-100 Model, working hours are reduced while maintaining the same salary and goals. In this case, decision-making regarding “why” to adopt it is top-down, but the “how” is delegated to employees, promoting responsibility and autonomy.

The behavioral change required by this model is challenging but highly effective. Reducing working hours is not merely a benefit; it becomes a gift earned through motivation, rest, and the adoption of proven method.

Several trials by 4 Day Week Global have shown that better-rested employees achieve greater results, utilize their creative thinking more effectively, make better and more strategic decisions, and are happier and more motivated.

The 100-80-100 Model of the 4 day week is much more than a tool to increase flexibility and productivity. It is a strategic lever to:

• Solve recruitment and employee retention issues ( attracting new talent increased by 84%, and retention by 57%)
• Reduce turnover by 41% and absenteeism by 53%
• Promote workforce well-being (anxiety and stress reduced by 33%, burnout by 68%)
• Strengthen the company’s image as a socially responsible employer
• Enhance productivity by 28% and turnover by 1,5-15%

The Smart Week: The Innovative Synthesis

Each work model analyzed has its unique characteristics, and its success depends on the type of organization, culture, and mindset. ?Let’s try to map productivity, which is influenced by multiple combined variables, onto a graph. For this purpose, we’ll focus on four variables: trust, autonomy, motivation, and well-being.

Flexible Working as Necessity is a model characterized by a culture based on control and relatively rigid workplace flexibility, without rethinking how work is done. Consequently, employee well-being and trust are compromised, leading to stagnating productivity.

The Compressed 4 Day Week is slightly better than Flexible Working as Necessity, as it allows for more rest and higher motivation. However, productivity risks being compromised if work processes are not properly reorganized and employees are not involved in the transition.

In Flexible Working as Choice, top management understands the importance of offering trust, autonomy, and flexibility to employees. These decisions boost productivity and engagement. Many companies, initially forced to adopt Smart Working during the pandemic, discovered the value of providing of recognizing and empowering employees, achieving extraordinary results.

The 4 Day Week 100-80-100 is based on the concept of Peopleship which emphasizes valuing people and their potential. The goal is to rethink work thoughtfully and goal-oriented, freeing up valuable time and enhancing efficiency and widespread well-being. This approach creates operational and office staff equity and helps organizations address existential challenges.

The Smart Week represents an evolution because it combines the flexibility of Flexible Working with the principles of reduced working hours from the 4 Day Week.

Its purpose is to generate:

• Personalized flexibility: Variable days and hours based on organizational goals and employee needs
• Focus on objectives: A smart work model based on trust, autonomy, and results

Every organization can adapt the Smart Week to its needs, experimenting with configurations such as 9×4, 8×4, 7×4, 7×5, 6×5, 5×5, or other options. This model allows organizations to define the optimal mix between remote and in-office work while still ensuring reduced working hours compared to traditional standards. It could even be designed to work only three days a week while maintaining high productivity levels.

This approach fosters innovation, creates harmony between personal and professional life, and improves organizational competitiveness.

For further details on how to successfully implement the Smart Week, click here .

The Smart Week can be defined as the key to innovating the way we work, creating harmony between flexibility and well-being for people, and achieving excellence, productivity, and organizational impact.

How to Enable Change with the 4 Day Week and Smart Week

To successfully implement these models, a deep organizational transformation is required, particularly in the following areas:

1. Mindset: Working smarter, not harder
2. Culture: Change must start from top management through reverse change management, leading by example. A manager who does not respect their own time will not respect the time of others
3. Governance: Creating safe work environments where mistakes and experimentation drive innovation
4. Behavioral: Enhancing individual and team efficiency by eliminating unnecessary or ineffective activities, such as redundant meetings
5. Technology: Leveraging digital tools (e.g. AI) to automate low-value tasks

Additionally, a methodological approach, like the 100-80-100? framework, is essential. Structured frameworks, proven processes, and reliable tools can reduce implementation timeframes, mitigate risks, and ensure success.

The perfect strategy involves launching a pilot project within a specific division for six months. Such experimentation helps identify challenges, opportunities, and best practices, minimizing risks and actively engaging employees.

The key to success lies in reciprocity: when people feel respected and valued, they respond with loyalty and outstanding commitment.

Conclusion

The future of work is already here. Models like Flexible Working, the 4 Day Week, and the Smart Week are not alternatives to one another but complementary tools for building a more sustainable, productive, and fulfilling work environment. These models provide concrete solutions to the needs of modern organizations, striking a balance between employee well-being and business performance.

In particular, the 4 Day Week and the Smart Week offer viable alternatives for organizations considering a return to in-person work, allowing them to fully harness the benefits of flexibility, motivation, and productivity. Implementing these models means adapting to change and leading it with an innovative vision.

Now is the time to act. How will your company keep pace with rapid economic, cultural, social, and technological changes? The answer may already exist within your organization, waiting to be unlocked and valued.

The future is not something we wait for: it is something we build together today.

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