A lot of people I talk to believe you can’t have a 4-day week and still pay people a full-time salary. I’ve been thinking about this a lot and besides my vested interest in making it possible for myself, here are a number of other things to consider. Long thread incoming...

One of the first things business leaders or finance people usually say when proposing a 4-day week is that people won’t accept the pay cut. So then I say “why not do a 4-day week on full pay and see what happens”. This is where minds start to melt. “You can’t do that!” Why?

Apparently it’s bad for business - or at least a traditional business. So let’s be clear: A traditional business doesn’t believe in the value of its workers, it only believes in the hours that they are working. This is *exactly* why we have working time legislation.

Without those protections, greedy businesses would pay minimum and expect maximum. But this is not how a 21st C business should be operating. We’re not in an early-stage industrial revolution any more, with a physical and linear labour+time=output relationship;

We’re thought-workers using machines, parallel computation and automation to improve efficiency. This has translated to massive efficiency gains, major up-skilling of the labour force, and a huge transfer of wealth. What it hasn’t done is change the amount of time put in.

The traditionalist views still reign: more labour + more time = more output = more profits = fat bonuses for shareholders. Trying to turn the steering wheel on this juggernaut isn’t going to be easy! And there’s one major reason why the system fights so hard for the status quo:

Fear! Of losing a standard of living, of competitors taking over, of employees taking advantage. But where is the trust? Intelligent people *want* to do good work! They want to provide for their families. They want to invest in more than their bank balance.

I don’t work for a company based on hours. I come in to do my job. If the job requires a few extra hours this week, I’ll give a little to get the job done. Next week I’ll take a little to make up for last week, but the work will get done. I bring more to my role than labour.

Another objection I get is related to the fact that “every other business is working 5 days.” Let’s break that down for a second because it’s a falsehood. *Most* businesses work Mon-Fri as some accepted norm. This is just a man-made construct with a slight socio-religious history

A lot of businesses operate 7 days per week, some even 24 hours per day! How? They employ enough staff to cover the time in shifts. Now I’m not saying every business needs to run 24/7, but if you’re worried about beating competitors, why lock your biz into the same 5-day pattern?

In a capitalist society, where investor greed and shareholder demands hold sway, surely the business should be operating at all hours? Every minute of downtime is wasted opportunity! But we don’t think that way. Interesting there is a little sense available.

If every business was 24/7, every business would *have* to be 24/7 to compete and to service etc? No. We compete on other dimensions. Work smarter, not harder. Reinvent. And this is why we need to break the mental shackles of the five-day week: it is holding us back!

There are a few companies that are finding a way to nudge this steering wheel in a new direction. They’re testing and seeing if there is an alternative route to the current course. And their findings are getting a lot of attention. Instead of the anticipated loss of productivity,

they’re seeing gains - some as much as 40%! Sensationalist? Possibly. Hyped? Definitely. However, consider one possible outcome: your business continues to operate the same. There are huge gains still to be had in this scenario. Let’s consider the most important here:

From a business perspective, a success is usually a significant positive change in profit or loss. These are short-term metrics which hide a lot of ‘mistakes’ along the way: “it doesn’t matter that we screwed the planet over, we made $20b extra profit this quarter.” Success

“It doesn’t matter that our poorest employees are on the breadline, we saved £500m this year by cutting wages.” Success!

Let’s not get sidetracked.

The most important gain I’m talking about is *employee satisfaction*.

What happens when you have happy employees? Let’s see:

They come into work, looking forward to their day. Sure there’s a lot to do, some of it menial, some of it unknown, but they’re working close to people they’ve come to appreciate and they’re solving problems together and can see the business doing well. They enjoy their work.

They work hard. They get a lot done, but there’s still more for tomorrow. They’re mentally and physically drained. They go home to relax, spend time with friends or family for a few hours and sleep soundly. The next day, they’re ready to continue. They aren’t distracted.

They’re not distracted by a problem in their personal life, they’ve been able to deal with it. They’re not distracted by a desire for better pay or “more fulfilling” work, because they know they won’t get this opportunity elsewhere.

They’re not distracted by hobbies or side-projects, because they’ve got more time for those already and they’re pleased with the progress they’ve made. They feel valued by the company that employs them because they know they’re appreciated for their skills, not just their time.

As a result of all of this, they are able to focus better on their work. They produce faster, at a higher standard. They anticipate instead of react, prevent instead of cure. They grease the cogs of their relationships with their colleagues to form a well-oiled machine.

The one thing that actually matters about your business - the well-being of your staff - is improving and you haven’t had to do anything special. The net financial result is the same. But it’s clear that it won’t be for very long! Soon it will become a significant positive change

You have given these people the space and time to invest in themselves. The world will be a little greener around them because of it and your competitors will wonder what kind of magic dust you’re sprinkling over everyone. They will come to compete on your ground, not on theirs.

Suddenly, hundreds, thousands, millions of people are happier and more satisfied, the economy is growing and business is booming. The planet is healing. Yes, perhaps your shareholder’s wallets are a little lighter, but look at all the good you’ve done.

The juggernaut is still moving. It’s direction has changed only slightly. It’s destination comes up clearer as the dust fades. It’s greener than the one we were aiming at before.