Four day working week pilot - I get asked all the time "as the leader how do you spend your day off?"
This is the third in a series of blogs in which I share our experience, the highs and the lows, of piloting a four day working week within our business. My first blog is about how we got started and the effects of the four day working week on our people, the second is about the history of the four day working week. In this blog, my third, I'll answer the question I get asked most often, and that is "do you manage to get a day off, and what do you do with it?".
As I talk to more and more people about the four day working week, some are curious to understand the science and how we manage productivity, some are determined it can never work and people will become complacent (even though the evidence does not support this), and others want to understand how staff wellbeing translates in to better customer service and quality of advice. But the single question everyone asks me, no matter their motivation for reaching out is as the leader "do you manage to get day off, and what do you do with it?".
So, if you've read my other two blogs you will know that the term "four day working week" is a little misleading. Underneath this heading there are many models, and very few businesses actually close down for the day. Most, like ours, continue to be open to our service users but resource the work differently, some use condensed hours where the employees still work 37 hours but over four days, and others have a combination of all of this where employees work (say) 34 hours per week. And many take their productivity gains over time, driving a continual programme of marginal gains and reducing their working week incrementally. The Atom Bank are a great example of this, if you aren't familiar with their journey its definitely worth checking them out and their CEO, Mark Mullen he's a key advocate and influencer for Four Day working week.
For us, we've been really clear that our journey toward a four day working week is about 3 things, first and foremost its about staff wellbeing. It takes a huge amount of fortitude and emotional resilience to be an adviser in the current climate, so our staff need time to recharge and rebalance so they can do the best job possible for the people we serve. Secondly, its about reducing staff absence and increasing retention, so we are not spending money we can ill afford on a constant cycle of recruitment, onboarding and training - this money can be better spent on changing the lives of the people we serve. Thirdly, and very importantly, its about increasing our accessibility and moving us closer to a seven day service because people's problems don't fit neatly Monday to Friday between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm.
So, back to the question I get asked all of the time, and that is as the leader "do you manage to get a day off, and what do you do with it?". The answer is ...... not very often.
I get that you may be disappointed by my answer, expecting that I am living it large every Friday sipping lattes and eating cream cakes. Well, to be fair, I am doing that most weeks, and I am really happy with my lot. Whilst it may not be textbook, the four day working week has transformed my life and my leadership. So let me tell you a bit more.
Friday is now the day where I catch-up on the things that I do not usually have the time to do. Those coffee dates with colleagues that we keep putting off because we are overwhelmed with "stuff", but which are so important to oiling the wheels of our work and life.
As a non-negotiable rule I never fill my Friday with the usual Teams meetings from 8 am to 6pm, instead I take a Friday to physically go and meet colleagues, to have meaningful and peaceful conversations, that aren't rushed, that are a both social and important to our business. I'll maybe do a "walk and talk" with a colleague or employee, I'll read that report that's been sitting on my desk for a while, and I'll complete a task that I've been procrastinating about for a month, going in to my week-end with a sense of achievement when its done.
It may not be the answer you were hoping to hear, but I am the CEO of a very busy charity, a charity with high aspiration to change the world. I'm also a Service Director in local government and the Chair of Trustees for VONNE, so there's lots for me to do each week. But despite the demands of my work, I have definitely changed for the better, and by that I mean better for me and better for everyone around me.
Fridays are nice days, and on Fridays I do important work, some of my best actually, without the pressure of moving from one digital meeting to another, creating more meaningful and memorable relationships that are delivering improved results for the charity and its subsidiary Society Matters. Since the inception of the pilot, I always get away early on a Friday so I start my week-end earlier and in a better frame of mind. But here's the real benefit for me as a leader, I rarely if ever now take my work in to the week-end.
When I sign off on a Friday mid afternoon, unless something really drastic happens that's me clear of work until Monday morning and for that I'm very grateful. Its a significant change, its transformed my professional and personal life because its not just about finishing early and being clear of work on the week-end, its also about the quality of the decisions I am making as a result of being better rested. It is noticeable. My energy levels are increased. My happiness is improved. My relationships are better. My productivity is through the roof, because guess what? Being busy and being productive are not the same. I keep saying it, and I urge you to write this down and put it where you can see it.
Presenteeism is not a badge of honour. It's taken me a while to truly understand this, and to accept my previous determination to work all hours of the day and night is actually holding me back, and hypocritical as a standard I would never expect of others.
Presenteeism can cause significant problems for a business, including loss of productivity, increased likelihood of mistakes, worker exhaustion or even workplace epidemics. Those who work while sick take longer to recover and their lack of enthusiasm/continued illness can lower workplace morale. I'm pleased to say through this pilot we are tackling this head on, and whilst we still have some big questions to answer about our version of the four day working week, there's no doubt it has improved wellbeing, morale and happiness - even mine!
So, if you are free Fridays and fancy a coffee send me a message, I'd love to meet up with you, but I need to be away by 3 ......