The 4-day working week has been getting a lot of publicity recently. With the recent 6 month trial resulting in 86% of companies continuing the approach, could it work for you?
During 2020, most of us got used to working from home full time. But it doesn't suit everyone. As we started to return to the office after restrictions lifted, an overwhelming amount of employees were looking for flexible working. However, maybe that's something that doesn't necessarily work for your business. Then what? Maybe the 4-day week could be the answer?
We look at the pros and cons of a 4-day week and what it means for your business.
Flexible working has always been a key retainer. With reports of over 60% of UK professionals wanting to change roles this year, 24% site the lack of flexible working for their reason to move on. The labour market is experiencing a skills shortage like never before. For example, the UK has lost over 600k people from its labour market, and this means that we need new ways to attract the best people to your business. Being able to offer a more flexible work pattern, like a 4-day week is definitely a perk that will persuade people to not only join, but to stay with your business.
A 4-day week can also help increase loyalty within your teams. Therefore, giving your teams that extra time off will mean that they are more committed to you. Studies have shown that it also helps to reduce absence levels. So it seem that long weekends really do have a positive impact on our wellbeing and your business success.
You may think that a day less in the office, means losing 8 hours of productivity. In the most cases, this is a total myth! Did you know that the average person is only productive for 3 hours in an 8 hour day? Reducing the working week to 4 days has proven to increase productivity by as much as 40%! There have been numerous pieces of research and reports that support the reduction in the working week.
The idea of having 3 days off during the week, instead of just 2, is to regain some work life balance. Your team are more refreshed, have better mental health and will be more productive as a result.
It won't work for every business, just in the same way that it won't work for every employee. Some employees are naturally more productive than others. Some are able to be productive for 7 or 8 hours straight! These are the people that a 4 day week would have a negative impact on. Plus, there's the issue of how it fits in to the needs of your business. How do you allocate the days?
There's also something else to be aware of. You may have some team members that will be more prone to working longer hours in the 4 days and increasing the likelihood of work-related stress. This is an important thing to manage as the wellbeing of your team should be a key priority. Longer hours can also mean that mistakes may be made as people rush to get through the to do list.
We are experts in 3D printing, print management and IT recruitment. We've been working with companies around the globe since 2014 and our team really are specialists in their chosen sector. If you are looking for the next step in your career, or your looking to hire into your team, we'd love to hear from you.
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