Things to Consider Before Moving to a Four-Day Work Week

While I would love to personally embrace the 4 day work week (and often do), there are challenges that need to be considered before implementing this a shorter week broadly across your organization. Whether it's because the team is already so busy a shorter week may only lead to more stress, or you have front-line hourly employees who require a different solution, it's important to consider both the pros and cons of the 4 day week before making your decision.

Fans of the shorter week already know about the many positive outcomes they can expect. In case you're a skeptic or need a reminder, here are the ones at the top of my list.

Pros:

• It's getting harder to fit rest, relaxation, and errands/chores into the weekend. Life has gotten more hectic, and many people frequently end the weekend nearly as exhausted as they ended the week.?Taking three days off vs. two can actually give employees time to unwind, step away from email, and enjoy family, hobbies, etc.?rather than spending the weekend running errands and attending to personal chores.
• Time away from work is good for people's physical and mental health. Coming back to work refreshed means your team will have more energy and a new perspective.?Check out this Forbes article called Why Taking Vacation Time Could Save Your Life.
• People often get their most creative ideas and find they're better at problem solving when their brains are at rest. That could be while they're doing yoga, out for a run, or in the shower. Those breakthroughs can increase productivity in a way that a few more hours behind the desk never will. Learn more about this concept in Manoush Zomorodi's book Bored and Brilliant.
• When your employees enjoy a rewarding personal life while working for you, you can expect an increase in engagement, commitment, and wellbeing. It's hard to put a price on that when you consider the cost of turnover including the time it takes to hire and train a replacement, and the knowledge you lose when a valuable team member moves on.?

While there's a strong business (and human) case for the four-day week, I won't say there are cons, but it doesn't come without its own set of challenges.

Challenges:

• In a customer facing or service job, will the customer wait? In some cases, yes, but if you're closed and your competition is available you could miss a business opportunity.?That might be ok with you, but you still want to think it through.
• Workload could prove hard to manage. Attempting to cram four days of work into five may feel stressful. Employees could be resentful if you announce a four-day week, but they are not actually able to take three full days off.?
• If team members are already busy during a five day week, it may not be feasible to move to four days.?One argument for shorter weeks is that people can be just as productive as they are in five days. But if there's little or no slack in your company, you may need to add more staff.
• It's easier to move salaried staff to a shorter week without changing their pay and benefits since there's an expectation that they will get the job done regardless of the number of hours worked. If you also have an hourly, non-exempt workforce, you could inadvertently wind up creating two classes of employees.?

So, moving to a four-day week could be a little more complex than you first anticipated. If you're still leaning toward a shorter week, here are some things to consider as you make the switch. What does the team need in order to complete their work in fewer days? It could be better tools, more automation, or improved processes. Can your current staff still get the job done, or do you need more resources?

What will a shorter work week look like? It may be tempting to close on Fridays, but will someone still need to monitor email or respond to customers? If so, you may want to stagger the time off, with some people out on Friday and others on Monday, or whatever day is slowest.?Consider letting people choose which day they take off. Don't forget to evaluate the impact on time off policies or other benefits.

What expectations are changing? For instance, if you have SLAs regarding response time, how will those be affected??Does the change apply equally to people in management and leadership roles? People will watch what they do and follow suit. If leaders continue working a 5 day week, people will assume that's what they need to do in order to get rewarded.?

Are you considering a shorter work week or looking for other ways to create an environment where people can thrive and have a sense of belonging? Visit us at Reverb to see how we can help.