Reinventing the working week

That’s not to say staff don’t want to work. Many of the job-switchers interviewed in recent media reports insist the reverse is true – but they just need more workplace support. In terms of what form that may take, some have suggested an overhaul of the traditional 9-5 workday could help them feel more productive and prioritise their own lives and mental health.

A spate of recent trials has given weight to their argument. In Iceland, a four-day work week implemented by Reykjavík City Council and the national government was hailed an overwhelming success. Between 2015 and 2019, 1% of the country’s workforce (around 2,500 employees) moved onto shorter hours for the same pay, while productivity remained the same or improved in the majority of workplaces.

Spain is now also currently piloting a four-day working week for companies, while consumer goods giant Unilever is following course, giving staff in New Zealand a chance to cut their hours by 20% without impacting their pay in a trial.

And apparently the benefits aren’t restricted to employers and their staff – in May, a report commissioned by the 4 Day Week campaign from Platform London claimed that shorter hours could be better for the environment too, by cutting the UK's carbon footprint.

It’s not for everyone…

Of course, cutting down the working week isn't a ‘one size fits all’ solution to boosting productivity and wellbeing at work. Depending on the nature of the job, many employers may find it an impossible change to implement. For shift work such as in care homes or security, a continual presence is needed and cutting hours could put pressure on bosses to find someone else to cover. In other instances, immovable deadlines could also throw a spanner in the works.

Staff themselves may have concerns about such a dramatic overhaul, including how they’ll fit all their regular tasks into a shorter time frame.

However, there are countless other that employers can reinvent the traditional work schedule, and reap benefits by doing so.

Be flexible

First, you may want to consider focusing efforts on increased flexibility, whether that’s a later start time so staff can avoid rush-hour traffic, or giving the option to occasionally work remotely. This is a subject we’ve touched upon in a previous blog post exploring workplace benefits, and the advantages to your staff are many, not least the flexibility to meet family needs and personal obligations – watching a child’s after-school football match, for example, or staying in for a new sofa delivery. Other employee benefits of this arrangement include an increased feeling of personal control over their schedule and work environment, which leads to a healthy feeling of personal empowerment and better engagement with work tasks.

Flexible work hours can also massively improve gender equality within your organisation. Many women reduce their hours – and consequently their pay – when they have kids, to fit in around childcare and the school run. As a result, a firm’s gender pay gap can increase and they also lose out on talented women who are held back from contributing more by rigid contracts.

Address unpaid overtime

The UK is known as the “unpaid overtime capital of Europe”, with ADP research suggesting that full-time employees work an average of 6.3 hours extra per week without pay. Over a year, this adds up to more than £5,000 of their time.

You'd think this would make UK businesses hugely productive as a result, but studies have shown we actually lag behind many of our European neighbours who manage better outputs for far fewer hours per week.

So what can employers do about this? Many are trying to shift the focus from quantity of hours worked to the actual quality of work produced, by making sure staff have enough downtime to recharge and spend quality time at home. Of course, sometimes overtime is necessary, but in these instance employers should ensure that the extra hours are rewarded and recognised effectively.

Encourage ‘unplugging’

One way to stop staff working long hours is to encourage them to turn off their laptops and log out of email at home. Even if they don’t reply to messages, phone notifications still interrupt their downtime and act as a constant reminder of the day job, which does little to lower stress levels.

You could remind staff there’s no expectation to monitor work phones and inboxes when they’re not in the office. And be sure to set an example yourself. The obvious way is by not sending emails or texts to staff out-of-hours in the first place, but there are subtler reminders you can role-model too. If you're travelling for work with an employee, for example, don’t spend the journey hunched over your screen working on the latest spreadsheet, as this will put pressure on staff to follow suit. Take out a book or watch a film instead, and give all parties a chance to take a break and decompress.

Be creative with breaks and early finishes

It’s near impossible to stay in a concentrated state at work for eight hours straight, but in shorter bursts focusing can be easier and procrastination a thing of the past. To that end, don’t be afraid to offer staff longer lunch breaks to give tired brains and bodies time to zone out and come back properly revived in the afternoon. When people are ‘in the flow’, however, and concentrating hard to finish a particular task, it can be a good idea to maximise this with fewer and shorter interruptions for breaks – all offset by allowing them to leave earlier once the job’s done. Rewarding staff with time off when deadlines or milestones are reached ahead of time is also a good incentive for employees to be productive at work.

Ask your staff for ideas

If you’re still unsure how fewer hours will leave enough time for your employees to do their jobs, consider asking them for ideas on streamlining tasks and cutting out distractions. They might have thoughts on curbing non-work-related internet usage, or suggest innovative ways to automate manual processes.

If your staff spend a lot of time in meetings, it’s worth asking if they think these are an effective use of their time. Training employees how to run them more efficiently might be useful, as would avoiding them altogether unless there is a clear plan and specific reason for them. At the very least, it could be worth trying to keep all meetings as short as possible by imposing time limits on their duration.

Financial wellbeing will also free up work time

We talk about this point in more detail in our blog post describing creative employee benefits. In short, however, shining a spotlight on workers’ financial wellbeing at work is another great way to weed out unhelpful distractions, so reducing the time people need to spend on the job.

Our previous post mentions a recent American survey which found that a third of staff worry about finances at work several times a week (if not every day), with half (47%) of respondents admitting spending an hour or more per month on their personal finances at work.

One way to address this could be to enrol with WorkLoan’s salary advance scheme, which offers a financial helping hand in emergencies (to cover an unexpected bill, for example). WorkLoan also has a more general focus on helping workers manage their money better, including a free budget report and regular blog posts sharing financial fitness tips.

Take-home message

When it comes to reducing hours, the long and the short of it is that while four-day weeks can be a win-win in the workplace, they’re by no means the only option available to employers. Strive for something that’s realistic, remain fluid and check in with staff for their ideas too. With a bit of creative thinking you should be able to come up with a solution that leaves employees happier, less stressed, performing better and more engaged in their job, which can only be a good thing for business.