Addressing The Needs Of A Modern Workforce Through A Four-Day Workweek

The future of work is “work in any way”

 

The early results are in, and they shouldn’t be a surprise to HR and business leaders worldwide: employees trying out a four-day workweek in the U.K. in the biggest workplace experiment of its kind say their new schedule is a game-changer.
 

Many of the 33,000 workers--who represent 70 companies participating in the trial--say the new schedule enables them to take up new hobbies, pursue longer-term goals and improve their home lives, all without sacrificing productivity. These results echo a smaller trial of the four-day workweek in Iceland last year, which was so successful that shorter working hours are now an option for more than 85% of the country’s workforce.

In the larger U.K. trial, employees are being paid the same for working 80% of the hours. And because they are boosting their mental health and finding better work-life balance with their additional time off, they are completing tasks in four days that used to take five.

This knowledge is changing the workplace in fundamental and permanent ways. Now that employees know they can successfully work remotely and be more productive with less hours, they want the flexibility to do their jobs in ways that work for them. It’s up to employers to embrace a people-centric approach to workforce management and provide an environment that allows them to perform at the top of their game. Failing to do so could easily mean losing top talent to a competitor who is willing to create people-centric work policies.

Our team at Safeguard Global has worked relentlessly through significant upheaval these last three years, just as we know many around the world have. Our employees deserve flexibility as we’ve seen that they will use it to achieve, and even exceed the goals they have in front of them. That is why we have decided to launch our own trial of the four-day workweek.

Addressing the Needs of a Modern Workforce

Our trial began about a month ago with ten of our remote engineers, who follow asynchronous schedules and are used to putting in extended hours for special projects. As we work through this trial to see if the four-day workweek helps us to better support our teams’ work-life balance, we’re keeping an eye on the progress of our teams and communicating with them frequently about how they feel the four-day week is affecting their ability to do their job, their job performance and work-life balance.

As we monitor overall sentiment and productivity, we’re making adjustments to our program based on their feedback and the trends we’re witnessing. So far, we’re seeing a positive impact on the team’s performance. In fact, the team has improved a lot of the metrics that matter such as the quality of work and our retention rate. Our Chief Technology Officer reports that team members have been creative, eager, and engaged – and when new challenges arise, they are able to quickly problem solve with the new flexibility and freedom to set their schedules.

We’re looking at the results of this trial from a qualitative perspective to see if outcomes align with our expectations of more energized, engaged, and motivated employees. In the next two months, we plan to expand the four-day week to our operations centers, where we employ over 1,200 people across six different countries. By the end of this year, we will know whether performance benchmarks are being met – such as quality of work, quarterly results, daily deliverables, and the impact on our clients. Depending on these results, we’ll know whether Safeguard Global is set to join the four-day movement as one of the largest global employers putting a premium on employee well-being.

It’s important to note that the four-day workweek is not the only way we’re experimenting with the best ways to balance employee workload and avoid burnout. There is never a single solution. We’re looking at numerous initiatives, whether it be implementing required holidays, designated PTO hours, wellness weeks, etc., and exploring how they would work for different teams. We know all teams will not react or work better with the same structures – we need to be deliberate in identifying the different approaches. But this is going to help shape the future of work for our company, to be a Work in Any Way company.

The Future of Work is “Work in Any Way”

Every company, and often each department within it, is different and requires a unique approach to meet their goals. The four-day work week is not a one-size-fits-all approach that will generate the same results across the company. It’s just one example of what I like to call a “Work in Any Way” mentality that puts employee needs and flexibility at the forefront.

The world of work was radically altered by the pandemic with the larger company adoption of remote work and now the great resignation, where a record number of 47.4 million American workers voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021. As a result, people are increasingly realizing the traditional 9-5 work model doesn’t work for them. Employees want more than just a flexible workspace - they want a flexible work experience.
Culture plays a significant role in determining which job offers workers accept, how long they stay and how well they perform. And now that employees have proven they can excel in unconventional environments, they are demanding the flexibility to do their jobs in ways that better suit their schedules, their relationships, and their mental health.

The question is: how is your company adjusting to let your people work in any way?

HR and business leaders have had a front-row seat to the evolving global workscape and identified different ways to restructure how our teams work, not just through the lens of what is best for the company, but also what is best able to serve the needs of our workforce. We are increasingly erasing geographic borders, reconfiguring office space, updating remote work policies, and allowing employees to choose between being remote-first or traditional office environments. Our mission has always been to transform how people work. Ten years ago, that meant helping organizations hire and pay their employees globally. Today, it means helping companies support a diverse array of workstyles and workplace cultures around the world.

If a valuable employee wants or needs something out of the ordinary, it might not be simple to accommodate them. And in the past, the answer might have been “no.” But there is a revolution in the workplace today because employees have learned how much they can accomplish. And the future is all about “getting to the yes.” The four-day workweek is one way some of us are getting there – how are you?

Author Bio

Bjorn Reynolds is Chief Executive Officer & Chief Guardian at Safeguard Global. Connect Bjorn Reynolds