Lifestyle Insights
A New Zealand company has had such success with a 4-day work week that they are contemplating making it a permanent arrangement. Perpetual Guardian, which specializes in trusts, wills, and estates, allowed its employees to work only four days while still receiving pay for five. The results were remarkable, with productivity on the rise.
With a workforce of 240, employees reported that the new schedule gave them more time to engage in personal activities, such as spending time with family, exercising, grocery shopping, and gardening. The experiment, which took place in March and April, involved employees working 32 hours instead of the traditional 40 while researchers closely monitored the outcomes.
Jarrod Lane, an HR expert from Auckland University of Technology, noted that supervisors observed increased creativity among staff, improved attendance, and punctuality. They found that employees maintained their job performance even with the reduced work days. “People were able to communicate when they needed focused time, leading to more efficient meetings and better time management,” Lane explained.
Tammy Green, a senior client manager at Perpetual Guardian, shared that the trial helped her sharpen her focus: “I prioritized tasks and noticed significant productivity gains by the end of the day.” Meetings that previously took two hours were trimmed down to just 30 minutes. The initiative not only enhanced productivity but also led to a 24 percent boost in work-life balance. Green, a mother of two, utilized her additional day off to manage errands, allowing her more quality time with her family on weekends. Employees returned to work feeling rejuvenated after their extended breaks.
Perpetual Guardian is not alone; various organizations worldwide have experimented with reduced work weeks. For instance, a cosmetics company in Austria saw a significant rise in sales after adopting a similar model. In Sweden, the shift to 6-hour workdays resulted in comparable productivity levels, with some employees even completing more work.
Andrew Smith, the founder of Perpetual Guardian, initiated this experiment after discovering that the average employee only spends about three hours of their workday being productive. Although the trial was intended to last just two months, the positive results have spurred the board to consider making the 4-day work week a permanent fixture. There’s hope that this trend will inspire other companies to follow suit.
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In summary, the 4-day work week at Perpetual Guardian has proven to enhance productivity and improve work-life balance, prompting discussions about its permanence. Companies around the globe are beginning to recognize the benefits of flexible work arrangements.
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