Living the Dream? Our review of the 4-day week
One of the founding commitments of Eleos Compliance was that by the end of our 3rd year, we would move all full-time staff to a 4-day working week. ?i.e. 4 days would equal full time at Eleos and staff would be paid as if they worked 5 days however would only be required to work 4.? Staff working part-time would keep the same hours however would have their pro-rata salary increased correspondingly.
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In February this year, we decided that the company had achieved sufficient levels of profitability and consistency to enable us to deliver on this commitment.? We’ve been operation in this manner for over 9 months now and are happy to be able to to share our experience.
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As an international business with a geographically dispersed team working flexi-time anyway, the shift for us was perhaps easier than for the other businesses however required some consideration to ensure maximum benefit for our team with no negative impact for our clients.? We settled upon inviting each of our staff to suggest 2 half days per week that they would like to be off (this could be the morning and afternoon of the same day or 2 different half days during the course of the week) then we mapped out a rota to see how that would look.?
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As luck would have it, the rota requested by the team was sufficiently diversified as to meet our objections (albeit with a heavier preference to an early finish on Fridays). ?We finally decided upon each team member having 1 half day per week fixed on an ongoing basis and their 2nd half day being chosen each week depending on workload and/or the needs of others.? Our office hours would remain the same as we would always ensure sufficient staff to cover those that are off.
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9 months on and measuring the outcome of this move, response from the team has predictably been highly favourable.? ?Our staff use their extra time in all manner of ways from taking care of their children (thus reducing childcare costs), studying and professional development, engaging in ‘life admin’ to simply enjoying more recreation and time with their loved ones.
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On seeking feedback from the team, some of my favourite comments are:
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“I believe this measure reflects the progressive vision of the company in recognizing the importance of the balance between work and personal life, making me feel valued as a team member in an organization that prioritizes the well-being of its employees.”
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“The condensed work period heightens my sense of urgency, which I think, results in more efficient and effective time management.”
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“Working a 4 -day week has allowed me to study and get my Prince2 certification. Also, having that day off allows me to do all the administrative tasks (going to the bank, public administration, post office, etc.) and some days off, I can just relax and enjoy time with my family and my son.”
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Even a values-based business like Eleos however has to consider more than just employee well-being but a review of the figures indicates that happy employees translate to business success.
Eleos has remained roughly on the same growth trajectory in the 9 months since introducing the 4 day week as we enjoyed in the 9 months prior.? Moreover, we have not yet needed the
additional head we budgeted for to alleviate the anticipated pressure on the business as a result of lost man hours; our team have increased productivity during the 4 days they work such that the business suffers no noticeable impact. ?
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It really has been a win-win!? Summary of the Pros and Cons as we’ve found them as follows:
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Pros
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Cons
Following the success of our trial, 4 day working week is now standard policy at Eleos and we’d advocate strongly for other progressive businesses to give it a try!? I’m sure ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ and more conventional businesses may need to take a slightly different approach however given the enormous benefits to employees it’s well worth giving it a shot ??.