Could the adoption of a four-day week help you to attract talent in an extremely competitive market? As a number of UK companies prepare to trial it for 6 months from June, Wave’s Emily Buckley considers the benefits and the implications of the 100:80:100 model.
Until very recently a four-day work week seemed incomprehensible, an interesting idea but one that couldn’t be made reality in today’s fast-paced, 24/7 world. And then the pandemic happened. The world changed overnight and what we thought was possible was turned on its head. We’ve seen how successful remote and flexible working can be. WaveTrackR has recorded a tenfold increase from January 2020 to December 2021 in the number of jobs that are advertised as being remote or flexible in some form. The pandemic has opened the doors for discussion about how, when and where we work. And for those companies that do start to offer it, the benefits could be huge – not just in terms of increased productivity and morale amongst employees but in the edge they could gain on competitors when it comes to talent attraction.
No recruiter needs to be told that we are back in a candidate-driven market. WaveTrackR data has shown that, since May 2021, jobs have maintained a fairly consistent upwards trajectory, with soaring figures in the late summer and autumn months – peaking at an incredible 400% over the 2020 monthly average in September. Meanwhile, applications have been comparatively low, leading to a labour shortage that put the ball firmly in the candidate’s court. The reasons for the lack of candidate availability are manifold – remaining uncertainty, a dearth of EU workers in industries that previously relied on them, parental demands at home due to rising COVID cases in schools, historic skills shortages, and early retirement are just some of the factors. The why is almost superfluous. What matters is how employers and recruiters address it. And a four-day working week could be an incredibly attractive proposition to candidates.
The idea is slowly gaining momentum across the world, with trials in Ireland, Spain, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand ongoing. Iceland – often ahead of the curve when it comes to forward-thinking socio-economics – trialled a four-day week between 2015 and 2019 to great success. Researchers found that productivity remained the same or improved in the majority of workplaces and workers reported that their health and work-life balance had markedly improved. 86% of Iceland’s workforce have now permanently moved to shorter hours or will gain the right to. Such results have led other nations to consider a shorter working week, including the UK. A number of companies have signed up to a six month trial of a four-day week, taking place in the UK between June and December this year. The trial is based on the 100:80:100 model, whereby employees receive 100% pay for 80% of their working hours, in exchange for a commitment to maintain 100% productivity.
The potential benefits of a four-day week are huge across a number of areas. Workers can achieve a better work-life balance. Employers can benefit from greater productivity and fewer sick days taken. The gender gap can be reduced as there could be a more equal share of paid and unpaid work between men and women. Even the environment could benefit from a reduced carbon footprint with less commuting and more free time to enable us to make more sustainable choices. And of course a four-day week is a huge selling point to candidates and employees, increasing talent attraction and retention. In research undertaken by 4-Day Week Global, the not-for-profit organisation championing the concept around the globe, they found that 63% of businesses found it easier to attract and retain talent with a four-day work week. In 2022, the offer of flexible working is now almost expected amongst candidates. What will help businesses to stand out from the crowd is to go one step further.
Of course, changing a concept that has been in place for a century requires careful preparation and a mindset shift. In order to produce the same output in fewer hours, all unnecessary tasks must be cut – days need to be streamlined. What you may end up with is fewer unnecessary meetings, more intentional goals, an end to strategies that don’t produce the results you need (freeing up time to concentrate on those that do work). The idea that productivity should be measured in hours needs to be shelved. More downtime can equate to an increase in creativity and that time away from work can enable the brain to process challenges and think through strategies. It’s output that counts, not input.
The four-day work week is a concept that many organisations may struggle with, at least initially, as it requires a break to working culture norms and therefore a complete shift in mindset. It will undoubtedly mean a huge amount of preparation and it won’t work for every industry or every organisation. However, many employers had never considered remote working as a possibility prior to the pandemic and now a large number have admitted that it works for both their employees and their business. It has also become necessary in order to compete for high quality talent. A four-day work week could take that one step further, allowing businesses to have the edge over their competitors in an increasingly tight market.
Wave aims to create a world where talent is never missed by providing recruitment solutions through cutting-edge technology, via WaveTrackR (data-powered multi-poster and analytics tool), RecWebs (tailored recruitment websites) and WaveMedia (recruitment media buying).
