Four-Day Working Week Trial Is A Success With Happier, More Productive Staff.

Fact!

A trial was carried out in New Zealand to see if a four day week makes a difference to people's work-life balance. Now it looks like the way to go as the results found that staff were more productive and happier on a whole as a result.

The results released revealed that, despite the working week being cut by 20 per cent (from 37.5 hours to 30), there was no drop in work output, reported stress was reduced because of the extra rest day and staff were more engaged with the company.

Here are the top recommendations for bosses from the 4-day week website;

• Give employees plenty of time to think about how they can work differently and encourage them to come up with their own measure of productivity.
• Encourage staff to consider how they can organise time off within teams while still meeting customer and business imperatives.
• Begin with a trial and engage outside consultants/academics to evaluate qualitative and quantitative measures of success.
• Consider introducing an opt-in policy for employees/departments on an annualised basis. An opt-in form can keep track of an employee’s productivity measures and roster information, as well as linking it to company values.
• Establish clear personal and team business goals and objectives.
• Consider seasonal workflow differences and ensure the policy can flex appropriately.
• Be clear that the aim of the initiative is to improve things not just in the context of the company but also as regards the wider social obligations.

The results of this trail were overwhelming and (🙏) that Irish bosses take this on board!