Achieving Work-Life Balance
through a Four-Day Work Week
We all wish we had more time for ourselves and less time for work, but it couldn’t ever really work, could it? Well, some trials and surveys in recent years suggest that it might actually be exactly what we all need, not only for employees but for businesses and the environment too.
In this blog, we’re going to look into the facts that suggest that the four-day workweek might be the future and why we are going to be adopting it at Design Office.
What Do The Studies Say?
Possibly the most clear piece of evidence that the four-day workweek works is the results from the UK trials. Rachel Hall, writing for the Guardian, provided the figures that out of the 61 organisations that took part, 89% are still using the schedule a year later, and 51% have adopted it permanently.
This is a clear show of how well the system works, not only for the staff but also for the businesses, if it was causing them more problems, they certainly wouldn’t still be using it.
Positive Effects on Workers
The most obvious benefit from a better work-life balance is the increased happiness of employees. Everyone wants more time to relax and, according to Douglas Broom writing for World Economic Forum, more than 9 in every 10 employees involved in the global trials surveyed that they wanted to stick with the four-day-a-week schedule, rating their experience with the system as 9.1 out of 10. They added that they felt they had improved mental and physical health, were getting more exercise and better sleep and that they were being more productive.
Furthermore, Dede Henley writing for Forbes, highlighted the statistics that 39% of employees were less stressed and 71% felt less burned out. All of these stats point to the fact that the four-day workweek vastly improves the lives of workers, leading to greater life satisfaction and perceived productivity.
Positive Effects on Businesses
Workers perceived increase in productivity wasn’t just in their heads, businesses saw a noticeable difference. Friday is statistically the least productive day of the work week, and many thought that dropping to four days would just reduce the productivity of Thursdays. However, this proved not to be the case, with the consistency throughout the week staying high.
Eptura also mentioned that there were 65% fewer sick and personal days, while Forbes records an average revenue increase of 35%, indicating healthy business growth.
Additionally, businesses began to experience reduced turnover and increased recruitment. Attracting more talent to help businesses grow, while also keeping existing employees loyal.
Overall, the benefits to businesses are clear. Having happier workers, who are more satisfied with their work-life balance, means more consistent productivity throughout the week, less time wasted and healthy business and revenue growth.
Positive Effects on The Environment
One of the less discussed benefits of the four-day workweek is its effect on the environment. The British Business Bank writes that businesses can reduce their carbon footprint with this new schedule, by removing a day of work you also remove a day’s worth of energy for powering lights, printers, photocopiers, computers, and anything else that powers your
office. An added benefit of this is the reduced cost that it takes to run the office each week.
Not only this, but without employees needing to travel to and from the office, carbon emissions from cars are also lowered, a study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that a 10% reduction in working hours reduced an individual’s carbon footprint by almost 9%.
Conclusion
From employees to employers and businesses to the environment, there are plenty of great reasons to adopt a four-day workweek and plenty of statistics to back up the decision. This will not only improve the mental and physical health of employees but also increase the productivity, revenue, and growth of businesses. All while keeping carbon footprints lower.
Switching up your schedule doesn’t have to mean just removing a day if it doesn’t work for your business, you could add the hours to the other working days to take them away from Friday for example. Whatever you choose, it is most likely in your best interest to give the four-day workweek a try, just like we are.
Have any questions about how our 4-day work week may affect you as a client? Drop us an email or give us a call and we would be more than happy to discuss. info@designoffice.co.uk / 01270 252106
