My company has been running the Four Day Week for over 3 years. But right now, I’m working a five day week.

I have a secret. It’s about the Four Day Week (FDW).?

Inventium was the first company in Australia to adopt this novel way of working. Over the past 3.5 years, I have done literally hundreds of interviews about the policy. We call it Gift of the Fifth (GOTF) - if you can get your work done in four normal length days, you receive the gift of time on Friday. And you still get paid a full-time salary.

But here’s my secret: I haven’t taken a Friday off all year.

Right now, my business isn’t on track to hit its company goals for FY24. As CEO, the way I see it is if the business is not hitting company targets, I haven’t earned the gift. And after meeting with my leadership team this week, I know they are not taking the gift either.?

This is the dirty little secret that leaders who have adopted the FDW are not talking about publicly.?

When it comes to media coverage of the Four Day week, it’s often all sunshine and rainbows. This is typically in the form of huge uplifts in productivity and engagement and energy. Inventium has also boasted about such results.

But in 3.5 years of doing the FDW and consuming media about it, I have not read a single piece about the really hard things about running the Four Day Week.?

So let me share some, because I have had countless conversations with leaders who have adopted the FDW. Here are the things that are really, really challenging:

• Having a conversation with a team member who is not hitting their goals but is taking the “the gift”. (Luckily, Inventium has a strategy of employing adults who take responsibility for their goals, however I have spoken to many other business leaders who have had to have some very uncomfortable conversations).
• When teams and individuals don’t have clear and objective targets, it is near impossible for people to accurately make a decision as to whether they have earned the gift of the fifth. And when it’s not clear, most leaders report that their team members will take the gift.
• Managing a team member who has achieved all their individual goals, but arguably, could have a big impact on a team member’s goals if they worked the fifth day. Should they take the gift, or not?
• What to do as a leader when people are treating it as “entitlement of the fifth”, not “gift of the fifth”??

While I love the FDW concept and I would implement the policy again in a heartbeat, it is not all smooth sailing and it’s certainly not a panacea for improving the world of work.

Every great policy has a shadow side. And the more we normalise the FDW and all its complexities instead of glorify it, the more realistic and prepared we can be to tackle its complexities head-on.

So am I missing having Fridays off? You bet I am. Do I hate that some of my team have to work Fridays right now? I sure do. But to be honest, a small part of me is adrenalised by the challenge of getting things back on track because when I am able to take the gift of the fifth again, I will appreciate it so much more.