Tom Armstrong’s Post

Summary : Her Comes the Four Day Workweek? Once a workers’ pipe dream, the four-day, 32-hour workweek is gaining ground as hundreds of employers try the schedules and businesses rethink the conventional ways of work. The United Auto Workers made the shorter week a demand in its contract talks with Detroit automakers. Lawmakers in California, Massachusetts and other states have introduced bills aimed at pushing more businesses to adopt a four-day schedule. Most proposals are long shots but signify the appeal in policy circles. Organizations that have dipped a toe into shortened workweeks say it has resulted in happier, healthier staff, less turnover and a wave of interest from job applicants—usually with little to no loss in productivity. Meeting bloat was one of ThredUp’s biggest targets as it gave the four-day week a test run before making it official early last year. Department heads cut meetings by roughly 20% after reviewing which were really necessary and which served mostly as progress reports. Managers and workers were trained on running more efficient huddles and volleying fewer emails. (One tip: Pick up the phone after three rounds of replies without a resolution.) Tuesdays were deemed “maker days,” devoted mostly to uninterrupted focus work. Still, voluntary turnover among corporate employees fell to 4% last year, less than half of what it was in 2020. More than half of new hires who were surveyed said the shorter workweek tipped the scale in their decision to join. And over 90% of employees, who the company says are meeting the same goals as before, said the four-day workweek has boosted their productivity. After the trial run, “at least two engineers said to me, ‘I’ll take a pay reduction to keep Fridays off,’” said Anton Naumenko, senior director of software engineering. To keep Monday through Thursday from feeling too intense, Qwick bosses break for lunch or organize occasional happy hours. After a decadelong career in technology, during which she would work from a coffee shop some Saturdays, Kekic said she occasionally has to remind herself not to message a colleague or her team on Fridays. 

The four-day work week is making traction and workers (and their families) are loving it! Companies like ThredUp are making it work by: 🔍 Relentlessly examining work and organization behavior 💀 Killing needless meetings 🧘♀️ Staying flexible to meet the needs of customers and the business Similar to return to office policies, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to bringing this to life. Are you ready to take the plunge into the four-day work week? #disruptwork #transformation #futureofwork #keystothefuture

The four day work week concept just begs the question what if people worked smarter in the way article highlights (less email, less meetings) but still worked five days a week. If you’re working for the a mission based company, how much more could be accomplished and how much would US productivity go up (which translates to living standards)?

How a Four-Day Workweek Actually Works, From the Companies Pulling It Off Fewer meetings, busier days, and other ways to fit a week’s work into 32 hours At ThredUp, an Oakland, Calif.-based online clothing reseller, moving its nearly 300 salaried employees to a Monday-to-Thursday week meant culling meetings, focusing on the most important work, and curtailing lengthy email exchanges. The shorter week can get hectic, and work sometimes spills into Fridays, but employees say having more time to recharge is worth it.  #hrm #Workhours #4dayworkweek #workforcedevelopment READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE LINK BELOW

A smart piece on the 4-day workweek with solid tips for making it work! Want to pull it off? 1. Reduce the number and length of meetings. You're down to four days, those meetings better be productive. 2. Shorten those email exchanges. Go lower tech and pick up the phone when there are more than three emails in the strand. 3. Focus on the most important. Prioritize the most impactful work, but hey, you'll have three days at the end of the week to recharge. #work #fourdayworkweek #employeeengagment #retention #morale #productivity

THREE EMAILS? PICK UP THE PHONE!! More debate around the 4 day work week via The Wall Street Journal This article is interesting because it speaks about how much work is actually needed to transition to this new way. Changes in behaviour & process are required. At one organisation in the article the number of meetings were cut by a fifth and a new email policy was instigated which I love - after 3 email “volleys” between employees you must pick up the phone and speak to your colleague! #4dayworkweek

Check out this terrific WSJ piece about companies trying four-day workweeks. It also includes data and commentary from the ActivTrak Productivity Lab! 🔥

Interesting read.

Flexing a business to utilizing a (4) day work schedule is a great way to help reduce operational labor costs while the same time promoting team member recharge time. The trick is for company leaders to help with maximizing organizational goal performance success while the same time ensuring employees meet there personal financial obligations. Both of these dynamic focus items will need to be balanced and managed by company leaders to attain excellence for the business and its people