A blueprint for starting a four-day week trial

Perpetual Guardian’s four- day week, where employees work four days and are paid for five, has attracted a great deal of global interest and coverage, and in light of this, company founder Andrew Barnes recently released a white paper on flexibility and productivity.

The white paper’s contents include current data on productivity and flexible working arrangements; detailed case studies from Perpetual Guardian’s eight-week trial and its aftermath; a ‘how-to’ guide for directors, CEOs and HR managers considering a trial in their enterprise; and appendices including Perpetual Guardian’s productivity week policy and legal framework for employees. See https://www.4dayweek. co.nz/access-white-paper.

“The purpose of the white paper is to inform and feed the global conversation that began when we launched the four-day week trial nearly a year ago,” says Barnes in a statement.

“In the ensuing months, we have learned more about flexibility and productivity and how to balance the interests of workers and businesses in the 21st Century economy. Having implemented the four-day week on an opt-in basis at Perpetual Guardian from November 1 last year, we are continuing to identify ways to raise productivity and improve engagement, well-being and job satisfaction within this ground-breaking model of flexibility.

“We will keep sharing our discoveries on a global platform. We have much more to say about these issues and plan to release a book on the four-day week later this year,” he says.

Included in the white paper is the company’s step-by-step guide on how other companies can start their own four-day week trial: • Do your own desktop and local

research. • Speak to your staff and be clear about your objectives and what you are trying to achieve. • Involve employees in all aspects of the design and implementation of the trial. • Give employees plenty of time and space to think about how they can work differently. • Ensure policy is well supported and

resourced. • Be bold and don’t let technical issues

stop you seeing the policy through. • Create a policy that can flex depending on workloads, projects or customer requirements. • Encourage staff to come up with their own individualised productivity measures. • Encourage staff to consider how they

can restructure ‘time off’ within teams. • Empower staff to come to their own decisions and trust them to make the right call. • Engage outside consultants/ academics to measure and evaluate the trial. • Let your customers know what’s going on and assure them there will be no drop in service. • Ensure new employment structure

doesn’t cut across legal requirements. • Be clear that the aim of the initiative is to benefit the company as well as employees. • Recognise that flexible working

initiatives aren’t magic bullets.