Businesses that have adopted the four-day week are reporting an upturn in productivity and a happier workforce.
A survey published in the Henley Business School report, The four-day week: The pandemic and the evolution of flexible-working , reveals that most businesses have seen improved quality of work (64%), ability to attract and retain the right talent (68%), and employees feeling less stressed at work (78%).
Plus, businesses which have introduced a four-day week say they are making significant financial savings by reducing costs, with those surveyed claiming to have saved an estimated £104bn, approximately 2.2% of the UK’s annual turnover.
So, if it's so good, why aren't more businesses doing it? and what are the downsides?
We've reported on the challenges of getting a week's worth of work done in fewer days and covered the criticism from the likes of Lord Sugar who called PwC 'lazy gits' for saying staff could have Friday afternoons off.
And we've covered all the good news stories from businesses who haven't looked back.
So what's stopping you? BusinessLive asked the experts to explain the barriers to working fewer hours.
What will my customers think?
Trevor Worth, founder of Devon law firm Portcullis Legals was one of the first to introduce the four-day week in 2019. It was so pioneering that the decision attracted global media attention.
He explained that his initial doubts were about how clients and business partners would respond but his worries were unfounded.
He said: "For some clients and business partners, we have become an even more interesting firm to work with. Comments such as "if you look after your staff that well, I can only imagine how well you try and look after your clients" have been frequent and it does differentiate us as a business in what can be a dull, old legal sector."
Gareth Hoyle, managing director of Marketing Signals, a search engine marketing agency in Altincham agreed - his Linkedin post about the change went viral when he introduced the four-day week in May.
He said: "W hat clients will think should be the least of the worries but I do understand why it exists.
"If you are measuring and managing the right data points and outputs, your customers should never even know you are working a four day week as the output to them should remain unchanged."
Research by Henley Business School in 2019, called Four Better or Four Worse found that the biggest barrier to implementing a four-day week for businesses was concerns about being available for the customer (82%). While still a concern, the pandemic has caused this number to drop, and now employers are less concerned about availability to the customer being a barrier to implementing a four-day week (75%), as reported in its latest research, published in March 2022: The four-day week: The pandemic and the evolution of flexible-working .
I'll need to take on more staff
This remains a big concern for business owners because by reducing employee availability they may need to employ more staff to cover - affecting business profitability - and for some businesses there may be no way of getting around that.
For firms that operate outside of normal working hours the concept gets more challenging and may not work at all.
Mr Hoyle said that he still ensure five days coverage at Marketing Signals by splitting the team into two, alternating Monday and Fridays off.
Fear of the unknown
Mr Worth said the thought of the disruption it may cause to work schedules is putting people off. He said: "That in itself, creates extra work at a time when a lot of firms are already struggling with the economy post pandemic. So it sort of feels like other priorities need to take precedence and as a small business owner, I can fully understand and empathise with that."
Mr Hoyle urges firms to 'embrace the change'. He said: “ 'We’ve always done it this way' is not what I want to hear from anyone. By embracing the change and challenge, you will discover new and innovative ways to tackle the hurdles you face."
Implementation and management problems are still considered major issues for businesses that are currently not offering a four-day week. 70% believe it would be too complicated to manage once in place, concludes the Henley Business School research.
Author of the report, Dr Rita Fontinha, Associate Professor in Strategic Human Resource Management, said in the report: "Many employers believe that incorporating such shifts would be complicated to put into practice, while about 40% of employees would not opt for this way of working if they felt their employer didn’t support it properly. What becomes clear is that any shift towards a flexible working week needs to be thought through and planned thoroughly."
I'll lose money
Employers are also recognising that a four-day week doesn’t necessarily mean rising staff costs. 82% of firms who were not offering a four-day working week to employees in 2019 harboured concerns that any productivity gains from implementing a four-day week would be outweighed by the rise staff costs required to implement the policy.
However, two years on, while profitability concerns remain, this figure has fallen significantly to 65%.
In fact, evidence shows that most firms are not seeing a drop in productivity and are saving money by reducing base costs on energy and fuel bills.
Lack of trust
If you hired someone to do a job and you know the expected output is reasonable, why not trust them to run a bit quicker, said Mr Hoyle.
"By finding some efficiencies, employees can free up some of their time to enjoy life outside of the working environment. Your team members will appreciate it and reward you with their efforts."
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