Many British employers who participated in a “4-day working week trial” plan to continue with the same after witnessing a greater work-life balance and productivity. Organizations that took part in this trial found increased productivity, work-life balance, and mental stability.
In this experiment, around 61 Britain organizations were registered to test this 4-day working week trial. During this trial, employees worked 34 hours a week from June 22 to Dec 22 while getting their current salary. Of these 61 companies, 56 companies, around 92%, intend to remain with the same. Besides, 18 companies stipulated to carry on with this practice permanently.
According to Autonomy, a British-based research organization that published the study alongside a group of academics with the support of the New Zealand-based organization, the 4-Day Week working trial is the largest worldwide.
The outcomes of this experiment may be helpful for companies struggling to find the right talent for their organizations. On the other hand, some other surveys disclosed that only a few organizations are planning to execute a 4-day working week in the near future.
The Autonomy experiment encompassed 2,900 employees from a variety of industries.
The major proportion of employees and employers agreed that in a 4-day working trial, productivity remained good.
All the employees said that their health and work-life balance have improved. As a result of a 4-day working trial, employees were less likely to leave their job due to a good work-life balance and no stress.
Joe Ryle, Director of the 4-Day Week Campaign, said this is one of the biggest progressive moments towards a four-day working week trial initiative.
Paul Oliver, chief operating officer at Citizens Advice Gateshead, during this four-day working trial, a few things have improved greatly, such as recruitment and job retention. Also, the employees saw significant improvement in all aspects.
He added that employees could do more work in less time, which is a great outcome of this trial.
In the experiment, the officials found that an extra off was more crucial for employees than their pay scale. Of the total, 15% of participants (Employees) said that extra pay would not lure them to return to a 5-day working system. Some organizations offered Wednesday off along with Saturday and Sunday. At the same time, some organizations supported three days straight off.
The highest ratio of employees was from sectors like marketing, advertising, professional service, and charity. Around 66% of organizations had 25 or fewer employees, 22% had 50 or more staff, and 18% were not working for profit.
The trial represents an increasing examination of how people work, particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furlough plans and forced work-from-home times led many to wonder whether they needed to sit in an office five days a week.
In the past few years, a few renowned organizations have experimented with a four-day working system and found fruitful results. Microsoft opted for this approach in Japan for a straight month in 2019, while Good Giant Unilever tried this system in New Zealand in 2020 for a year. Both of these big companies were satisfied with the outcomes. Although Britain’s corporate sector didn’t appear in this trial keenly at that time.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development surveyed HR professionals in 2022. They found that only a limited ratio of employers is planning to move towards four-day working in the upcoming three years.
Besides, two-thirds of the total didn’t assume any change in the upcoming decade.
This approach can help employers to retain employees efficiently. In addition to this, this can be highly beneficial for those companies facing problems in hiring talent due to pandemic effects.
Another challenge for Britain is due to its exit from the European Union.
“It should offer us competitiveness,” a senior manager at an insurance business said after witnessing employees’ retention from a 4-day working trial.
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