The overwhelming response from the staff was hugely positive (Picture: Getty Images)
If I told you that my staff are the most productive they’ve ever been, you’d probably ask how I managed to make them work more.
The 1,300 people in 17 offices we have across the globe are the happiest at work they’ve reported as being, all because we allow them to work a four-day week, while being paid for five.
And the same amount of work is being done as before, just in less time.
That’s why I think companies should absolutely trial a four-day working week – because our results speak for themselves.
I run a digital marketing platform – we help brands to sell goods and services online, we connect them to larger audiences through digital advertising that’s purely based on performance.
In 2021, we drove about £12billion worth of sales for clients – so as you can imagine, our colleagues need to be at the top of their game.
But when the pandemic hit in 2020, everything changed. As everyone went remote, we saw the huge pressure that was being placed on people, especially those who had kids and had to deal with homeschooling.
Because of the blurred lines between work and home life, people tended to startearlier and finish later. Something had to change.
We introduced a concept called Family Fridays, which was effectively a four and a half day week – we told staff that we were going to shut down business on Friday afternoons and give them time to be with their family to deal with the pressures of Covid-19.
For those who didn’t have a family, it was their chance to take a breather and get to grips with what was going on in the world.
We have over 1,300 employees across 17 offices (Picture: Awin)
The overwhelming response from the staff was hugely positive and after monitoring performance for three months, we saw that the initiative actually had made no negative impact whatsoever.
We hadn’t had complaints about bad service. The company was doing really well, people were happier, what more could you want? So, we decided to test it further.
In January 2021, we started a six month trial of a four-day working week, complete with pay reflecting five days of work. We told the team that it was up to them to make it work if they wanted it to be a permanent feature.
We needed to maintain a five-day service, because we had lots of clients who didn’t operate on a four-day week so they needed to be able to speak to us.
Within their teams, staff managed to maintain a five day service – some took Fridays off, some took Wednesdays, while some took Mondays, and it rotated.
But it wasn’t just that the same amount of work was being done as before – more was being achieved.
We actually extended the trial for another year – and then it just kept on going. Why? Because it works.
We’ve achieved record performances in terms of our output, …read more
Source:: Metro
