Evidence is mounting for the success of the four-day week – high productivity, happier team members and lower overheads. But there are some downsides, too. Could a four-day week boost your business? What are the pros and cons.
The four-day work week is a winner – or at least that's the result from a major pilot program conducted at 33 international businesses.
With employees working only four days, the companies involved saw a 38% increase in revenue year-on-year, despite no reduction in pay for employees. Every single business involved in the trial is sticking with the four-day week, and employees loved their day off so much that most said they'd need a significant pay rise to go back to working five days.
Maybe it's time to think about whether it could work at your business; let's take a look at the pros and cons of working 80% of the time for 100% of the pay.
The advantages of the four-day week:
- It improves staff morale, wellbeing and retention.
- It can cut overheads by up to 20%.
- Productivity is likely to remain at 100%; some studies show an increase.
- It's easier to recruit new team members.
- Emissions created by commuting will reduce.
The disadvantages of the four-day week:
- Your total revenue may suffer.
- It simply won't work for many businesses, particularly those focused on customer service.
- You'll have to decide whether to limit your operating hours or try to manage workers' schedules and workloads to allow a four-day work week to succeed.
- We don't have long-term studies of the positive effects on staff morale – there are some indications that it may fall back to the baseline over time.
- Squeezing more into four days of work could prove stressful for you and your team.
We can help you run the numbers
If you're considering a four-day week or another flexible arrangement, we can help. It's useful to identify your least profitable days, for instance, if you plan to simply shut up shop for one weekday. Or we can help you figure out optimal staffing requirements based on revenue streams.
Our team can work with you to do a cost-benefit analysis of what a four-day work week might look like for your business, discuss how you can change the way your business operates – and help you reap the rewards.