In 1938, after decades of activism by unions and even some enlightened business people like Henry Ford, an early adopter, the 40-hour/five-day workweek was made law via the Fair Labor Standards Act. We’ve used it ever since, but recently, a new idea is gaining momentum.
While I was still the CHRO at Purina, an employee at a town hall meeting asked the CEO a question on moving to a four-day workweek, and she handed it over to me to answer. After jokingly asking for the employee’s name, department, and badge number, my answer was a diplomatic pass, “Right now we are not thinking about it but in the long run we would never rule anything out.” I would not give a hard no. Zeke, if you are reading this, you might remember that exchange. You had guts for asking.
The advocates for a four-day workweek are seeking greater work/life balance, and those against it are worried about productivity. Let’s analyze the issue.
Outcomes vs. Activity
A key consideration is the degree to which outcomes are the goal, vs activity or “being on duty.” You might say that an analyst who provides ‘insights’ as an output could do their job in a four-days per week context. Some might even deliver higher quality insights as a result of having more downtime to marinate ideas. It might be worth considering if performance can be accurately managed.
However, if the job in question is customer facing, (for example, those involving dining out, travel, entertainment, and urgent care), and the customers’ immediate needs do not go away from Friday through Sunday, it becomes a more difficult question. Do we set up overlapping shifts to cover customer expectations?
Do we add headcount to do so? This can be an automatic ‘no go’ for lower margin businesses.
Do we have a good understanding of the outputs and outcomes our knowledge workers are producing? How about the service industry? Travel industry? Sales? Creatives? Obviously, the need for available workers varies greatly from silo to silo. Having a good grip on what the work actually is, can be a good place to start if you are considering this change.
Our Habits: Can We Get Everything Done in Four Days?
We each work at a certain pace which tends to be specific to an industry, an office, a culture or a leader. Each business has its own inefficiencies. Some rely too much on email over in person conversations. Others spend too much time in meetings. So, much like the question of managing outcomes, the question of productivity becomes an issue for any executive trying to decide if a four-day workweek is practical. Does your organization practice agile habits? Are meetings effective? Do people waste time on unnecessary topics? Is your industry stable or in chaos? Are you being disrupted? Acquired?
There are times when everyone needs to be present and work harder in business. Can a permanent four-day workweek be part of today’s accelerated change cycle? Can we stretch it when we need to? Leaders must make these distinctions and clarify organizational needs before committing to anything permanent.
Work Analysis
Good old industrial engineering can be of help in these kinds of decisions. Look at what we need to get done, what the inputs are and what are the outputs. Determine what the desired specifications are and how long are the work cycles required to accomplish them. These are not easy questions to answer. But they are the right questions to ask before riding the wave of enthusiasm grows for a four-day week.
Another big question to ponder might be, “What has changed technically, legally, culturally and so on that would drive this decision?” If there has been a technical breakthrough in automation that allows a certain job to be done differently, then perhaps we can change to a shorter cycle of work for that position. That’s no problem. My concern is that if the local culture and legal requirements are changing, then we may not have a choice.
Who is already doing it?
Believe it or not, various combinations of hours and shifts have been in effect in manufacturing for decades. Some even have gone to three day weeks, with three twelve-hour shifts. Or four days of ten-hour shifts. Some companies offer Weekend Warrior shifts where crews that work Friday to Monday get higher pay. The move to high asset utilization at many factories drove these kinds of shift assignments, all of which can be very popular options for the hourly workforce.
The Unsaid
If you are an enlightened manager, your best employees already have the most flexibility. They may not be working four-day weeks, but many come and go as they need to so that they can take care of their job and their family. In the final ten years of my career as CHRO for a large consumer products company, I had the freedom to take time for personal appointments and family matters, but the job followed me 24/7, and I was where I needed to be no matter which day or time of night. It was part of the deal. This is true for most executives and many of your best employees. You trust them, and they don’t need to be told where to be and when to be there. They get it done. For those types of workers/leaders, this entire discussion is a moot point. Those with the highest commitment and ownership will be where they need to be to support the business, work life balance be damned.
Final Thought:
The times we are in are demanding change. As I write this, Tesla has recently revealed the latest iteration of its Optimus Robot which, at least in terms of its claimed capabilities, seems highly disruptive once it gets deployed. Combine that with AI and we’re in for a roller coaster ride about what work is and what it will become. Business Leaders: keep the 4 day week in the back of your mind as a potential mitigating step at some point. All other professionals, I’d recommend not getting your hopes up on this one in the short term, but there could be a massive shift that takes place in the coming years. Be tuned in to how robotics and AI will affect your discipline. Be ready.
