Hello, Fridays. Where have you been all my life?

The invention of the Blackberry years ago marked a shift for workers worldwide. With our office suddenly fitting in our pockets thanks to technology, work began coming along with us wherever we went - and it’s only gotten worse. But there is hope on the horizon for anyone who feels like they can’t get away from the job. Thanks to Four-Day Week Global, and the Four-Day Week Campaign, we are closer than ever before to the tipping point in the quest to have employers across the globe adjust the work schedule to a four-day workweek.

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F5: THE FOUR-DAY WORKWEEK IS COMING

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE…HAVE YOU EVER TRIED REALLY HARD AT A RELATIONSHIP, PUSHED HARDER AND HARDER, ALMOST TO THE POINT OF EXHAUSTION, AND THEN REALIZED THAT THE HARDER YOU PUSHED, THE WORSE THE RELATIONSHIP BECAME?

THIS IS A STORY ABOUT HOW, IN SOME INSTANCES, THE PATH TO RESULTS CAN BE COUNTERINTUITIVE. MUCH LIKE HOW THINGS IN NATURE TEND TO FIND EQUILIBRIUM, THINGS IN OUR LIVES, SPECIFICALLY OUR WORK LIVES, NEED BALANCE. RIGHT NOW, THERE’S MOMENTUM FOR AN IDEA ABOUT IMPROVING BALANCE AT WORK THAT MIGHT GIVE YOU A LITTLE HOPE. IT’S ACTUALLY MORE THAN JUST AN IDEA…IT’S STARTING TO HAPPEN AT COMPANIES AROUND THE GLOBE…THIS IS SOMETHING YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR KIDS, YOUR PETS…AND YOUR SANITY, MIGHT BE THANKFUL FOR….

EPISODE

I’M GOING TO LIST A FEW WORK-RELATED SCENARIOS AND SEE IF ANY OF THEM RESONATE: WAKING UP AND IMMEDIATELY GOING TO YOUR EMAILS. EATING LUNCH AT YOUR DESK. CHECKING SLACK WHILE SPENDING TIME WITH PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT. LAYING IN BED WITH A LAPTOP, TAPPING AWAY AT YOUR KEYBOARD WHILE THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU DOES THE SAME.

THESE THINGS WEREN’T HAPPENING 20 YEARS AGO…AND A LOT OF US THESE DAYS ARE FEELING A BIT…SQUEEZED. THE RESULT? IT’S AFFECTING OUR MENTAL HEALTH, OUR PHYSICAL HEALTH, AND WHAT SCARES EMPLOYERS MORE THAN ANYTHING: OUR MOTIVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY AT THE OFFICE.

FOR YEARS WE’VE SEEN THE PROBLEM COMING. WITH WORK FOLLOWING US AROUND IN OUR POCKETS AND THE DEMANDS AT HOME INCREASING DUE TO ALL SORTS OF FACTORS, BURNOUT IS ON THE RISE FOR WORKERS WORLDWIDE.

FOR A WHILE NOW, THINK TANKS HAVE RESEARCHED WAYS TO HELP, AND WE’VE SEEN COMPANIES TRY TO FIND SOLUTIONS. YEARS AGO, THERE WAS AN EFFORT TO TRY TO MAKE THE OFFICE MORE FUN, SO COMPANIES BOUGHT FOOSBALL TABLES, ALLOWED EMPLOYEES TO BRING THEIR DOGS TO WORK, AND PROVIDED FREE SNACKS. THERE WAS UNLIMITED TIME OFF…WHICH AS IT TURNS OUT, OFTEN RESULTS IN LESS VACATION TIME BEING TAKEN BY EMPLOYEES, COMPOUNDING THE PROBLEM. THERE WAS THE “REMOTE WORK IS THE FUTURE” PHASE THAT CAME ABOUT DURING THE PANDEMIC - WHICH PEOPLE THOUGHT MIGHT BE THE ANSWER BUT HAS SINCE BEEN WALKED BACK BY MANY COMPANIES THAT SAW A DIP IN COLLABORATION AND COMPANY CULTURE. SO, MANY COMPANIES RIGHT NOW ARE SETTLED INTO A HYBRID MODEL…WHICH HAS HELPED TO SOME DEGREE, BUT THERE’S STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT.

AN IDEA THAT’S ALWAYS BEEN IN THE BACKGROUND SIMMERING…AND IN THE LAST YEAR HAS REACHED A FULL-BLOWN BOIL ACROSS THE GLOBE, IS SOMETHING WE’VE ALL HEARD ABOUT HERE AND THERE, AND PROBABLY DISMISSED BECAUSE IT SEEMED UNFEASIBLE…. THE IDEA OF THE 4-DAY WORK WEEK.

BEFORE GETTING INTO HOW THIS MOMENTUM IS BUILDING AND WHY, MY INITIAL REACTION, AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AT COMPANIES - IS THAT THIS IS GOING TO FAIL – COMPANIES CAN’T LOSE PRODUCTIVITY, AND BY CUTTING AN ENTIRE DAY, THAT IS SURELY GOING TO HAPPEN. BUT, I HAVE TO SAY, AFTER READING THE FINDINGS, ABOUT A VARIETY OF REAL COMPANIES OVERSEAS AND HERE IN THE U.S. SWITCHING TO A 4-DAY-WORKWEEK….I’M INTRIGUED.

IN 2022, THERE WAS A STUDY IN THE U.K. BY THE ORGANIZATIONS FOUR-DAY WEEK CAMPAIGN AND 4-DAY WEEK GLOBAL, AND CONDUCTED BY THE THINK TANK, AUTONOMY, WHERE 61 COMPANIES AGREED TO MOVE THEIR EMPLOYEES TO A 4-DAY WORKWEEK FOR A SIX-MONTH TRIAL. THE COMPANIES VARIED IT SIZE AND INDUSTRY AND THEY WERE ASKED TO PROVIDE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE FEEDBACK ON METRICS, FROM EMPLOYEE WELLBEING, TO PRODUCTIVITY, TO FINANCIAL SUCCESS. AT THE END OF THE TRIAL, THE DATA WAS RELEASED, AND IT WAS OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE. TURNOVER DRASTICALLY DECREASED, WELLBEING SKYROCKETED, AND SO HAD RECRUITMENT. AT THE END OF THE SIX MONTHS, 92% OF THE PARTICIPATING COMPANIES HAD CONFIRMED THAT THEY WERE CONTINUING THE POLICY AFTER THE TRIAL.

OF COURSE, THIS WAS PROMISING, BUT BY NO MEANS WAS ONE 6-MONTH STUDY ENOUGH TO CONVINCE MANY OTHER COMPANIES TO MAKE THE SHIFT. WHAT WAS MORE INTERESTING WAS WHAT THEY FOUND WHEN THE COMPANIES WERE OFFERED TO PARTICIPATE IN A FOLLOW-UP STUDY ANOTHER YEAR LATER.  90% OF THE COMPANIES SURVEYED WERE STILL OPERATING THE POLICY, AND THEY WERE SEEING REMARKABLE RESULTS. THEY HAD STREAMLINED PROCESSES, CUT UNNECESSARILY LONG MEETING TIMES, DECREASED IRRELEVANT COMMUNICATIONS, AND FINE-TUNED THEIR PRIORITIES. THIS ALL LED TO AN IMPROVEMENT IN COMPANY PRODUCTIVITY, EMPLOYEE MENTAL HEALTH AND GENERAL WELLNESS, AND THE COMPANIES WERE THRIVING.

AS AN AMERICAN, SOMETIMES I THINK THAT WHILE THINGS MAY WORK IN EUROPE AND ELSEWHERE, THEY WON’T WORK IN THE UNITED STATES. WELL, IN THIS CASE, AMERICAN COMPANIES WHO PARTICIPATED IN SIMILAR TRIALS SAW SIMILAR RESULTS. ONE EXAMPLE IS EXOS, A U.S.-BASED COACHING AND PERFORMANCE COMPANY, WHO INTRODUCED “YOU DO YOU FRIDAYS.” THE POLICY GUIDES EMPLOYEES TO TAKE CARE OF WHAT THEY NEED TO, WHETHER IT’S WORK OR PERSONAL, WITH THE ONLY RULE BEING THAT THEY CAN’T MESSAGE OTHER PEOPLE OR SET UP MEETINGS ON FRIDAY. WITH THE HELP OF ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST, ADAM GRANT AND WARTON BUSINESS SCHOOL DOCTORAL CANDIDATE, MARISSA SHANDELL, THEY FOUND SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS THAT MIRROR WHAT OTHER STUDIES HAVE SHOWN.

BEFORE GETTING TOO EXCITED, I KNOW THAT A 4-DAY WORKWEEK DOESN’T WORK FOR ALL COMPANIES, SUCH AS THOSE IN CERTAIN SERVICE BUSINESSES, OR FOR MANY BLUE-COLLAR SHIFT WORKERS.

STILL, THE MOMENTUM OF THE IDEA GIVES ME HOPE. IT MIGHT SIMPLY MATERIALIZE IN THE FORM OF FEWER MEETINGS ONE DAY A WEEK FOR SOME COMPANIES, OR MAYBE IT’LL BE ADOPTED AS A FULL-BLOWN EXTRA DAY OFF. EITHER WAY, WHAT THE RESULTS ARE SHOWING IS, LIKE WHAT WE SEE WHEN WE GIVE AN INTENSE RELATIONSHIP A LITTLE SPACE, SOMETIMES KNOWING WHEN TO BACK OFF A BIT, COULD PROVE TO BE THE PUSH SOME COMPANIES…AND THEIR EMPLOYEES…NEED TO GROW.

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1234271434/4-day-workweek-successful-a-year-later-in-uk

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/12/business/four-day-workweek-survey/index.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/09/us-4-day-workweek-trial-results-no-one-is-going-back-to-normal.html

https://autonomy.work/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/making-it-stick_-1.pdf