Welcome to the working week
24 July 2023
How’s your week ahead shaping up?
Findings announced earlier this year from a trial project found that allowing employees to adopt a four-day working week with no reduction in pay raised staff satisfaction and increased overall business profitability.
Of the 61 participating companies, 56 decided to extend the trial, with 18 making it permanent. Employees felt less stressed, sickness levels dropped and worker retention improved.
Of course, such changes cannot suit all industries. Companies participating in the trial include online retailers, financial service providers, restaurants, hospitality and marketing firms in which it is perhaps easier to adapt employment patterns than, say, a busy hire desk environment serving customers well beyond the 9 to 5 routine.
And as a recent blog post discussed there are other ways in which improvements can be made in terms of introducing employee benefits instead of adapting the working week.
Nevertheless, many hirers and suppliers that I’ve talked to are being as flexible as they can. For example, another story nearly a year ago mentioned how The Hireman based in London has embraced working from home for some staff.
Recruitment was another sector represented in the trial and Neil Holloway, MD of the Wilson Brook executive search consultancy, says that the company has itself explored adopting similar arrangements.
“We discussed the four-day working week internally and also contemplated working a nine-day fortnight alternating four and five-day weeks, but we came to the conclusion that it’s more practical for most of us to finish early each Friday, where possible. We want to offer a good work-life balance in a demanding job.”
Some people from an older generation might be shocked by the idea of a four-day week. But it's worth pointing out that until the 1930s, factories expected employees to be at work on a Saturday (and that's one reason why football matches traditionally kicked off at 3pm).
What measures are being adopted by your business or employer to enhance the working week?
● The Employment Relations Flexibile Working Bill has just made its way through parliament and is now awating royal assent. The Act gives workers the right from day one to request flexible working from home, staggered hours or part-time. Employers must consider any request and provide a reason before rejecting it.
The government believes this might attract people back into the workforce at a time when vacancies can be very hard to fill.
