53 Recruitment bank holiday when absolutely no-one worked , and none of our clients would expect anyone to answer the phone ( do Gen X , Y , Z even pick up the phone now ?). This may work for some companies , but the majority of venues operate 24 / 7 with leisure customers as well as business events , so how could they operate with a team only working for four days ?
Putting into practice
Is there a middle ground ? Would expecting everyone to get their full-time job done in four days lead to more stress and people working longer hours ? Would employers have to employ staff to cover that missing day ? Would companies have to find efficiencies that would effectively give them a 20 % increase in output ? Could we look at fractional working where its down to the management to review a job and decide on the output required and what is expected from that person , and not just focus on the hours ? Many surveys showed that working from home increased productivity by 25 %; if that ’ s so , then why do we need to work that fifth day at all ?
Employers , it ’ s not your fault that you don ’ t know how to do this , but you will have to get your head around this fact ; your employees want a more controlled work / life balance . Working five days a week and having two days off just doesn ’ t cut it anymore . The ratio is changing and becoming far more balanced to 50:50 , well it would be 4:3 but you get my drift . Work life balance is a key motivator , we will have to seriously start looking at how we shift our way of working to encompass these needs .
This may not be imminent - it will not be our future , and it may not even be my children ’ s future , but it will be the future for their children .
Fundamentally , as an industry we have to recognise that things need to change and the people that are going to need to drive this are the employers . The industry has spoken , and we need to listen . Eventprofs want to work a four-day week ; this is happening and we , as an industry , need to be ready . CN www . conference-news . co . uk