Want to make your staff happier and more productive? Try getting them to work fewer hours
I’m interested in any idea that makes staff happier and more productive, because I work in HR. But until last year I hadn’t given a lot of thought to asking people to work less. When I first heard about the idea of a four-day week, I have to admit I thought it sounded a bit too good to be true. When we gave it a try, though, my teams and I thought it was a huge success.
Last year, from July to December, Citizens Advice Gateshead – where I work – was one of 61 companies, comprising about 2,900 workers, who took part in a six-month trial run by the 4 Day Week campaign. So far we’ve been continuing with the trial as our staff have found it so rewarding. We want conversations to continue so that staff are thinking about how they can improve their work-life balance and what we can do to support them.
To begin with we were paired with a mentor company in the US and we did a lot of research and listened to our staff because we wanted all our colleagues to feel involved and engaged. When I understood that the idea was about maintaining present productivity levels during a shorter working week, the idea began to make more sense to me.
For someone like me who manages their own workload, it wasn’t too difficult to change the days I work, but for those taking calls in a contact centre it helped to allocate set days off to ensure there were always enough staff on any shift. We talked about improving digitisation of some tasks, and handovers and consistency in others, and gave managers guidance about managing their teams. Some people were initially concerned about the potential impact on clients, but we continue to measure waiting times and other services levels and I’m not aware of any detriment.
I expected people to enjoy it, but I have been surprised by the overwhelming response, and by the fact that everybody is talking about the effect on their wellbeing. I’ve been sent photos of colleagues on long hikes in the countryside, growing vegetables in their allotments or cooking with their children. Lots of them say that they get their life admin out of the way on their new day off and free up the weekend to spend quality time with their families. One person has been learning to drive and one has revived a cross-stitching project.
A colleague told me: “I knew it would help with my mental health but I didn’t realise how much … It has also helped with my performance and general mood coming into work [and] I have been finding it easy to hit targets without feeling rundown or tired.” I’m looking forward to seeing how sickness and absence rates compare with previous years. Nobody has had anything negative to say.
I tend to use my day off to do all the boring jobs that would usually be left to the weekend. Sometimes I go to the hairdresser or get my nails done, or I just spend time with family. I’ve got two young children, and they’re really happy because we get to do more things together.
Today the 4 Day Week campaign released its report about the results of the trial, and it seems that our positive experience is typical. The data they recorded shows that 39% of employees were less stressed after the trial than before it, and work-life balance had improved: 60% were better able to combine paid work with care responsibilities, and 62% found it easier to combine work with social life.
Meanwhile, the companies involved experienced an average 1.4% rise in revenue and the number of staff leaving decreased by 57%. And when they were asked how much of a pay rise they would need to persuade them to work five days a week again, 15% of employees said that no amount of money would make them go back.
There will be heads of HR reading this and thinking: “That’s not going to work for us.” I’d urge them to read more about it, speak to people who are already doing it and give it a try. There are bound to be challenges, but if you engage your managers and the whole workforce, you’ll find ways to make it work. And you should, because the benefits are amazing.
Claire Hall is head of HR and agile working at Citizens Advice Gateshead