100-80-100
The key guideline in our four-day week was 100-80-100: you get 100% of the salary for 80% of the time, as long as you maintain 100% productivity. If you are achieving that 100% productivity – as we are – what is not to love about this approach?
For me, the main concern was whether we were able to deliver as much to our clients as we were before, without having to take on more staff. And the answer is yes. In fact, we are targeting 10% growth this year, with no increase in staffing.
Some of the comments from our people in the survey:
“I am loving having a day off to be outside and active, I am generally feeling much happier and in turn enjoying work so much more.”
“I have found more productive ways of working so I can manage my workload efficiently.”
“I’m more focused and feel good about sticking to my hours – I don’t feel guilty, while before I would feel that if I was not carrying on over my hours to complete some work sometimes. I’m sure that made me less productive!”
How have we become so much more productive?
There are a whole range of elements, but they include cutting back on meetings (less of them and less time in them), being really focused, cutting out distractions (from email or Teams) and by doing personal things such as appointments or phone calls on your day off.
Another interesting statistic is our Great Place to Work scores. These are 5% up on last year (when we came top two in UK and top 15 in Europe in the small company section).
We are not alone. Most of those in the UK pilot are reporting the same successes, with at least 86% set to continue after the pilot.
The detailed figure aren’t yet out for the UK pilot but they are for the US and Ireland ones, and they have certainly been a huge success.
Of the 27 companies that filled out the final survey, 18 are definitely going to make the four-day week permanent, seven are planning to continue, one is leaning towards continuing and just one is not sure. In addition:
- Companies achieved a 38% revenue increase compared to the previous year
- Sickness days fell from .56 to .39 days per month
- Stress levels declined (on a 1-5 scale, from 3.15 to 2.95)
Overall, work time reduced by six hours a week, with 79% saying they did manage to get their day off each week.
Of those participating in the survey, 97% said they wanted to continue, 3% leaned towards continuing and not a single person said they didn’t want to continue.
There was also less fatigue, less sleep problems and – on average – a 24-minute increase in how much exercise people did.
“Absolutely loving the four-day work week. It took time to adjust, but months later, I am more productive and more satisfied with my job while working significantly less than I was prior to the trial.”
Many people I talk to say, “that’s all well and good for you but it wouldn’t work in our sector”. Well, check out this blog on how it works in health, schools, hospitality, manufacturing and even in tech start ups.
What is not to like?
Want to give it a try?
Happy is running a one-day workshop (held online via Zoom) on 11th April, where we will discuss all the elements you need to make the four-day working week a success. This includes productivity tips as well as logistical elements such as how to involve your people in the process.
Related blogs
- A 4 Day Week? Let’s Start With a 4 Day August — Intimidated by the idea of a 4 Day Week? Maybe you could try, as Happy did, a month pilot.
- Andrew Barnes: Why the 4 Day Week is the Future of Work — The founder of the 4 Day Week movement talks about the benefits and data supporting it in this video from the 2022 Happy workplaces Conference.
- Could a 4 Day Week Work in Your Sector? Yes! — Henry highlights various sectors where the 4 Day Week has proven to be a success in this blog.
