Interesting article this morning from BBC News about the 4-day work week trial in Scotland and the benefits from employees.
However, the author mentions: "For employers? It's maybe not so attractive".
Did you know that in the UK, the number for mental health-related costs sits at £35 billion per year.
BILLION!!
A lot of these stress related absence and health costs can be prevented completely.
Creating a better work-life balance is definitely a great start.
But unless we make structural changes, working 4 days isn't the answer.
As a employer, these costs will keep piling up and definitely hurt the bottom line.
Good and talented employees will leave to go to the competition or start their own business.
Did you know that:
- 20 % say their employer doesn’t care about their work-life balance,
- 54 % feel overworked and
- 39 % feel exhausted
Even if 4 day work weeks mean your staff doesn't put in the same amount of hours, even though research shows they are more productive and deliver a better quality of work...
It is a long-term investment into business and people that pays for itself.
The way we view work is changing for good and employees will leave if they don't feel valued.
Did you ever leave a job because you felt undervalued?
You can read the article here: https://lnkd.in/eV5tds-v
Replies
I once left a job as I could see that they were going down the wrong route - their idea of flexitime was that you could work as many hours extra as you want, but you never seemed to be able to get the time back. Yes you got paid for the extra hours, but the pressure to always do extra hours was mounting and most people had profesional exams to study for at the same time.
It wasn't a healthy environment, and I went elsewhwere and never looked back. 15 years now with Henderson Loggie, and I couldnt have asked for a better management team to aid my development over that time.
Flexible working is the way forward, but a simple 4 day week (where in all likelyhood you end up working 9/10 hour days rather than 7/8 hour days) is not a solution that would suit many - especially those working around school days and other commitments.
Some employers might jump into the 4 day week and actually accept less hours for the same pay, but i think a lot will simply extend the working day to create a 4 day option.
I think flexibility to work from home (if possible) and maybe work flexi hours or varied shifts is a way forward and employers need to look at not just salary, but their non cash offerings (mental health and wellbeing, training and development, staff engagement and autonomy etc)
Good management is so important, isn't it?
4-day work weeks does depend on what industry and how flex time and 4-day work weeks get implemented in a beneficial manner.
I have been lucky enough to have worked for some great managers. There was however one that I left because of though. The way I look at it now is that this was a lesson on how not to manage people.
That's a valuable lesson for sure.