After the pandemic, it’s become clear that the standard work arrangements we were used to might not be optimal anymore. Acceleration in tech innovation and work-from-home schemes proved that most companies don’t need to work 9-5 Monday to Friday in an office.
CopyHouse has always challenged the status quo. Since its inception, CopyHouse has had an all-remote team and a flexible working policy, allowing our staff to work when they’re most productive.
Now, we’re taking our efforts one step further by trialling a 4-day work week. By making small changes, CopyHouse aims to reduce wasted time and allow employees an extended weekend for the same pay. We hope that giving our staff one day back per week will help increase their engagement levels, support mental health, and improve our employee retention rate.
Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of a 4-day work week and see a breakdown of how CopyHouse will trial the shorter week and measure its success.
Companies worldwide have documented a range of positive impacts of implementing shorter work weeks. We’ve listed the top advantages below.
Stress is a major obstacle to employee productivity. In addition, discontented staff tend to be more easily distracted. The theory behind a shorter work week is that staff will get more time to recover, recharge and deal with domestic matters over the weekend. As a result, employees will have more energy to focus on their jobs when in the workplace.
One company (the Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand) trialled a four-day week and found that 78% of employees could balance their work and home life more effectively, increasing from 54% before the experiment.
According to one study, 63% of businesses found it easier to attract and retain quality staff with a four-day working week.
We live in a tech-driven world, and younger generations (Millennials, Gen Z, etc.) have higher demands regarding company benefit packages. The ability to offer a flexible working pattern is an advantage that can help companies attract and keep talented workers.
In addition to increasing productivity in the workplace, a 4-day work week also enhanced employee engagement. A longer weekend demonstrates a commitment to supporting a healthy work-life balance and gives staff a chance to improve it.
Back in 2015-2017, Sweden experimented with shorter work weeks, allowing nurses at a care home to shorten their days to 6 hours (still over 5 days). The results were largely positive, with nurses reporting better health and mental wellbeing and logging fewer sick hours. In addition, the nurses showed greater engagement and arranged 85% more activities for patients in their care.
While this particular trial used a different form of a shorter week, the principle remains the same: happy, well-rested staff have more energy and willingness to give their best.
Removing an entire working day from everyone’s schedule requires planning and adjusting to ensure we can still offer our clients the same high-quality service we always have.
So, we created a detailed plan that included clear goals and objectives to help us track our progress to ensure the trial achieves our desired results.
To help our creative department make the most of the 4-day work week, CopyHouse will;
Delivering client services to the same (or better) standards is a top priority while trialling the shorter work week. To help us achieve this goal, CopyHouse will;
Another top focus of the shorter work week is to create a happy and inspiring workplace. To ensure the trial achieves our desired results. For example, we’ll;
After 12 months of working fewer hours, we expect employee stress levels to drop by 20%. This new adventure is an exciting time for us, and we believe the 4-day work week will help us keep our talented team happy and inspire them to deliver even better results to our clients. Stay tuned for our update on how we’re getting on in a few weeks!
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