Anyone fancy a four-day week ?
Or should I say , who wouldn ’ t want a four-day week ?! If you ’ ve ever wondered how this might work and how you could convince your boss , let me share with you some recent data that has been published relating to some trials that have been done here in the UK .
In 2022 a team from Cambridge University conducted the world ’ s largest trial of a four-day working week . 61 organisations in the UK took part , each committing to a 20 % reduction in working hours for all staff for six months - WITH NO FALL IN WAGES !
Before you pooh-pooh the idea thinking this just involved corporate blue chips , here ’ s who took part , it ’ s a real breadth and size of organisation from lots of different sectors :
• online retailers
• financial service providers
• animation studios
• a local fish-and-chip shop
• consultancy , housing , IT , skincare
• recruitment , hospitality , marketing , and healthcare
As interesting as the participants list is , what ’ s more intriguing are the results . Here ’ s an overview of what they were and what can we learn from this research : 1 . Self-reported levels of anxiety and fatigue decreased ; mental and physical health improved
2 . 60 % found an increased ability to combine paid work with care responsibilities ; 62 % reported it easier to combine work with social life
3 . Workers were much less inclined to kill time , and actively sought out technologies that improved their productivity
If there ’ s anyone out there reading this and currently working part-time or in a job-share , you ’ re probably shouting at the page right now : “ this is what part-time workers have always done !” I know from personal experience that if you ’ re working part-time you are WAY more efficient than your full-time colleagues and you can get really creative making sure you get everything done in time . I hear you 😊 . But for those who aren ’ t in that boat , here are some of the really interesting tips that came out of this trial and lots of the ideas are ones you could consider even if you ’ re not looking at trialling a four-day week . Such as :
• shorter meetings with clearer agendas
• introduction of interruption-free ‘ focus periods ’
• reforming email etiquette to reduce long chains and inbox churn
• new analyses of production processes
• end-of-day task lists for effective handovers or next-day head starts
All this data has given me lots of food for thought . If you ’ re considering the idea of trialling a four-day week ; or perhaps you just keen to look at some of the efficiency ideas which would apply to any number of days worked , do let me know . I ’ d love to discuss these concepts further and I ’ m always happy to chat !
Ruth George - HR Consultant ruth @ ruthgeorge . com ; 07899 920075 This is not legal advice and is provided for general information only . © Ruth George HR Consulting .
18 < Boxmoor Direct < August 2024 <