A new design for the American work week
What was once a mere myth in the American workplace is now inching closer toward the realm of possibility. Across the country, a growing number of workplaces are seriously considering testing out or adapting a four-day workweek—a practice that has already gained popularity in other parts of the globe.
Can a four-day workweek help non-profit organizations?
Nonprofits are known for operating with tight budgets and limited staffing, which means optimizing employee productivity is all the more critical (especially when the risk of recession looms.)
Unfortunately, studies suggest that full-time employees are only productive for about 60% of the workday. In fact, research suggests the average office worker may only be productive for less than three hours a day.
The theory behind a reduced-hour or four-day workweek is multifold: when work hours are reduced, employees are incentivized to use their time more strategically and focus on actually completing the work they were assigned to do, instead of wasting time scrolling social media or catching up with colleagues. There’s also the simple reality that when employees are allotted an extra day off, their work-life balance and general well-being improve, which means they’ll be rested, recharged, and ready to get down to business when it is time to clock in.
Is a four-day workweek the future of work?
The idea that giving employees an extra day off can improve their productivity by 20% may seem outlandish, but research suggests it’s an idea that’s very much rooted in reality.
Here’s an example: When Charlotte Lockhart and Andrew Barnes moved their trust estate planning company to a 32-hour week, they found the switch resulted in a 20% increase in productivity, as well a 45% increase in work-life balance, and a 27% decrease in work-related stress.
The trial was so successful that Lockhart and Barnes went on to found the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global, which is now funding research into the four-day week and running large-scale reduced-hour work week trials in countries around the globe.
“There is clear evidence around the world that if you reduce work time, you increase productivity,” Lockhart told NPR. “Somebody has to be bold and say, I’m prepared to take the chance.”
The risk is worth it
In the United States (U.S.), organizations who have given the four-day workweek a shot are finding the risk to be well worth it.
John Leland, Chief Strategy Officer at Kickstarter, says his company’s six-month, four-day workweek trial increased day-to-day productivity, and dramatically increased worker satisfaction and well-being.
“Our productivity has been up, with employees more engaged, more focused, and more committed to remaining at Kickstarter,” Leland told 4-Day Week Global. “They’re also getting time back to rest, spend time with their families, pursue creative projects, and volunteer. We hope other employers look at our experience and decide to adopt a four-day week for the benefit of their mission, their employees, and the public.”
Extending employees the option to work four days instead of five may also help with recruitment, and enable nonprofits to be more shrewd when it comes to salaries. As we covered in the July 2022 blog “Nonprofit Management Strategies for Tough Economic Times,” 75% of Americans say they would accept a lower salary if the job offered more flexible working hours.
″[People] think it’s some Gen Z, millennial, ‘we’re entitled, we should work less’ [kind of thing,]” Mike Melillo, CEO and co-founder of outdoor tech company The Wanderlust Group told CNBC. “The numbers do not lie. More people are applying to come work at TWG, and we’re producing better results than we have in any year prior.”
Need more proof? Since implementing the switch, applications at The Wanderlust Group are up 800%. The company now has a 98% employee retention rate, and revenue has increased 61% year over year.
How would a four-day workweek work?
There are a couple of ways that the four-day workweek can play out—and employers in the U.S. can look to other countries’ trials to see how a large-scale switch might be implemented.
In the United Kingdom (U.K.), where the largest four-day workweek trial kicked off in June 2022, 3,300 workers across 70 companies have committed to working 80% of their traditional work hours. To do so, participating employers agree to adjust working hours to either 32 hours or less, or 35 hours or less, spread throughout four workdays.
In Iceland, two trials between 2015 and 2019 slashed employees’ hours from 40 hours a week to 35 or 36—and found that regardless of the type of work being performed, productivity didn’t slip. In 2022, 85% of workers in Iceland currently, or will soon, work four days a week instead of five.
And, in November 2022, Belgium became the latest country to require that employers give employees the option to spread work over four days. Unlike the U.K. trial, the four-day work week in Belgium does not involve a reduction in actual work hours, meaning employees must work four, ten-hour shifts each week in order to have the extra day off.
Advocates from 4 Day Week Global recommend a “100-80-100” model: 100% of pay for employees, who put in 80% of their traditional working time, in exchange for maintaining 100% of their productivity.
What can organizations expect from a four-day workweek?
As of September 2022, the U.K.’s four-day workweek trial was halfway complete. Nearly half of employers have noted increased productivity, with 34% reporting that productivity has “improved slightly” and 15% saying that it has “improved significantly.”
46% of respondents say that, even with fewer hours being worked, productivity has stayed the same as during a typical five-day week.
The overwhelming majority (86%) of respondents say that, as of September, they would be “extremely likely” or “likely” to consider permanently adapting the four-day week model when the pilot ends.
Further evidence that a four-day workweek works
In another reduced-hour workweek trial in Gothenburg, Sweden, researchers found that employees who switched to a four-day workweek schedule completed either the same amount or even more work on the reduced schedule. And in Iceland, a trial including a range of workplaces from offices and social service providers to hospitals was declared a massive success, with researchers concluding that “productivity can, in many instances, be increased through working time reduction.”
On top of that, workplace surveys during the Iceland trial showed that compared to control groups, employees at workplaces that participated in the four-day week trial noted increased support from colleagues, more encouraging management, less confusion over roles at the workplace, more independence, and more control over the pace of work.
“The opportunity we have here is to completely reframe the workplace,” Lockhart says.
Lia Tabackman is a freelance journalist, copywriter, and social media strategist based in Richmond, Virginia. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, CBS 6 News, the Los Angeles Times, and Arlington Magazine, among others. She writes nonprofit-specific content for 501c.com.
