{"id":11397,"date":"2019-07-16T02:54:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T02:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arliemediadesign.com\/?p=11397"},"modified":"2025-03-26T02:59:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:59:19","slug":"a-4-day-week-lets-start-with-a-4-day-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.happy.co.uk\/blogs\/a-4-day-week-lets-start-with-a-4-day-august\/","title":{"rendered":"A 4 Day Week? Let\u2019s Start With a 4 Day August"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

20% productivity increase from a four day week<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In New Zealand, the finance company\u00a0Perpetual Guardian moved to a permanent four day week<\/a>\u00a0after a two month trial. MD Andrew Barnes comments that “Our total profitability, revenue, service standards didn’t drop, so as a consequence our productivity must have gone up 20 per cent.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did change was a reduction in stress, and improvements in work-life balance, loyalty to the firm and employee empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Benefits of a shorter working day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Others have tried a shorter working day. Tasmanian finance company Collins SBA switched to five hours. The\u00a0FT reported<\/a>\u00a0that the firm’s bottom line has been unaffected, sick days have plunged and some advisers have done record business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this video<\/a> Martin Banck, CEO of Toyota Gothenburg in Sweden describes how they introduced a six hour working day back in 2002 and increased sales and profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City of Gothenberg responded by introducing a six hour day in its care homes. There were\u00a0early indications of success<\/a>\u00a0but the project was abandoned after political control of the Council shifted from the left to the right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Four day weeks for the summer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In their (strongly recommended) book It Doesn\u2019t Have to be Crazy at Work<\/em> the founders of software company Basecamp describe how they work a four day week through the summer. At Basecamp the summer lasts for five months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by this, but not yet ready to take that big a step, we are at Happy going for a four day week throughout August. In the UK, August includes a bank holiday so we are only talking about three extra days off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our people will be paid their full salary and the company will stay open for the full five day week, with different people taking different days off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The unexpected benefit of a non-working day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I am hoping it will bring unexpected benefits. I remember, about 20 years ago, we agreed to give people their birthdays off. When it came to my turn, I was at a loss for what to do. With my wife at work and my children at school, I had to find something I wanted to do in this ‘me time’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decided to catch a train into the countryside and go for a cycle. It is no exaggeration to say that it opened new possibilities to me and changed my life. I am now a regular weekend club cyclist, have ridden the public stage of the Tour de France twice and enjoyed a glorious seven days cycling through the Alps (three Tour de France cols a day). I reckon that, at 60, I am fitter than I was in my 20s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Join us in a four day week for August<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So I am looking forward to finding new things to do in those three days in August. And hoping, though short, it will improve our people\u2019s wellbeing generally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will we manage to find efficiencies and get as much done? That will be interesting to see. That could determine whether we continue it next year, or even extend it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will you join us? Could your organisation help make the four day August a thing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My thanks to Robert Hawkins and Sam Spencer, who commented on my initial LinkedIn post, for some of the links here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Related blogs:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n