A company in New Zealand has been running a trial testing out a four-day work rather than the usual five days a week from March to April which becomes unmitigated successful wit incredible positive response.
Perpetual Guardian founder Andrew Barnes came up with the idea in an attempt to give his employees better work-life balance, and help them focus on the business while in the office on company time, and manage life and home commitments on their extra day off.
The company started the eight-week trial in early March with all its 230 employees across 16 offices taking part where almost 78% of employees felt they could successfully manage their work-life balance, a full 24% increase from before the trial started.
During the experiment, conducted alongside academics from the Auckland University of Technology and the University of Auckland Business School staff worked four eight-hour days but were paid for five.
At the end of the trial, stress levels had decreased from 45% to 38%, work-life balance had jumped from 54 percent to 78 percent, empowerment levels had increased to 86 percent from 68 percent, and commitment to the company grew to 88 percent from 68 percent pre-trial.
The company is currently working on permanently implementing the 4-day work week, and they hope their model will inspire other businesses in New Zealand and around the world.
“Employees designed a number of innovations and initiatives to work in a more productive and efficient manner, from automating manual processes to reducing or eliminating internet usage,” said Helen Delaney, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School.
“I’m really keen to work with any businesses that are looking at how they can be more flexible for their staff and how they can look to improve productivity whilst working alongside their staff and protecting terms and conditions,” said New Zealand’s workplace relations minister, Iain Lees-Galloway.
> Shatabdi Sarker Poushi
New Zealand’s Four Day Work Week Experiment Became Success
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