In the United States, only about 18% of companies have taken steps toward implementing a 4-day workweek, although 59% say they’re willing to consider such a model.
That interest may be on the rise as employees are increasingly demanding more flexibility—and leaving jobs for greener pastures if they aren’t able to have enough flexibility and work/life balance in their current jobs.
The idea of managing in a 4-day workweek environment may seem daunting for some. In reality, though, a number of organizations have been able to not only survive, but thrive, with this model.
FischTank PR is a case in point.
Addressing Challenges
FischTank PR has been running a hybrid 4-day workweek for almost three years says president and partner Matthew Bretzius.
“The biggest challenge for us was ensuring clients still received the appropriate attention and that the quality of work did not suffer,” Bretzius says. But, having heard of other companies with 4-day workweeks that had tried to force five days of work into four days, they took a different approach. In some cases, for instance, that meant operating four, 10-hour days—a schedule that could be trying and one, says Bretzius, that seemed to minimize the benefits of the model’s intent.
“Our goal was to be able to provide the same incredible service to clients while enabling our employees to have a more flexible work week/some extra time off,” Bretzius says.
Another challenge was communication. “With half the firm being out every Friday, it become even more important to communicate on initiatives that needed to be done,” he says.
To address this issue, FischTank became innovative with its staffing practices.
Creative Staffing
FischTank overcame the challenges of communication and coverage by staggering staff into two groups and having these groups rotate each week to allow for a Friday off.
“This way we can ensure proper coverage, our clients get the same value and production they are used to, and the staff can enjoy the benefit of some extra time every other week,” Bretzius says.
That model may still be challenging as the firm grows, he acknowledges, “but we’ve hit a good stride now.”
And Communication
In terms of communication, he says, “we’ve asked people to just over communicate—don’t feel bad about reminding your team about something happening on a Friday you’re out; volunteer to handle something that comes up on a Friday where you’re in but a colleague is out, etc.”
For FischTank, Bretzius says, the staggered method has worked great. “It enables us to have team members available—including senior ones—every Friday, and we don’t risk someone having to work on a Friday they may have expected to be off,” he says.
He advises others considering the shift to first understand how to balance client needs with people in and out of the office. Then, try it out on an interim basis of one or two Fridays a month to see how your workload is impacted.
The biggest advice he gives: “There’s really no one-size-fits-all solution.”
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.