The four-day week is the trending topic amongst businesses at the moment.

“Should we make the move?” “Should we keep our staff’s salaries the same?” “Will productivity improve?” “Will all of the work still get done?”.

 

It’s been over a month since we introduced the four-day week to Whyfield. As a company that recently made the leap to the shorter working week, we can hopefully answer some of your burning questions and give insights into how it’s working for us so far.

 

Firstly, the Whyfield facts…

  • Each staff member works four days per week with an allocated day off, meaning the business can stay open for five days per week.
  • There is no change in salary for employees. We actually boosted pay for our staff to help with the increasing cost of living.
  • Each staff member works an hour more per day.

 

By taking into account all of the above, the business can still run smoothly, and staff can still get all of their work done whilst having a full day off per week enabling them to have a healthier work-life balance.

 

Employees at Whyfield have found countless positives in this initiative, but what about our clients and the other businesses and individuals that we network with? What do they think?

It was SO important for us to primarily think about our clients when making this decision. We of course wanted to make this incredible change to benefit the lives of our employees, but we also wanted to make sure that our clients were completely happy with this new way of working.

And… they absolutely were.

 

Here are just some of comments we’ve received:

“Love this. It’s so well thought out that it’ll have a great effect of your team, a great effect on us all without impacting the service. Brilliant! It’s the sort of thinking that made us come over to you guys”.

– The Thirstea Company

 

“I’m so proud to work with a female company who are brave enough to make changes like this which will be so beneficial to all. I used to be a solicitor in my past life and it was always the women picking up the pieces of family life and scratching around to try and balance career progressions with other demands. I think your approach is inspirational and indeed aspirational and I just wanted to say a massive well done for being such trailblazers”.

– Victoria Clark, Readmoney Beach Shop, Fowey.

 

“Loving this guys! Happy staff; happy clients. Bet your productivity goes up”.

– Melanie Louise Rowe

 

“Brilliant! It is the way forward”.

– Mel Coldon-Dyer, Looe Town Council.

 

“I hope this catches on! I love it, great work.”

– Warren Callan

 

“Love it. Would you be up for sharing how you are making a 4-day week work operationally? Would be great to hear how you implemented this in practice and what you considered along the way”.

– Anja Jones, AJT Translation and Localisation Services.

 

Anja’s not the only one to ask more about the process.

The four-day week is something that we put a lot of thought and planning into to make sure it was the right choice for the company and our clients. To share what we’ve learned, what we’ve done and why we’ve done it, we’re putting together a small event. If you’re interested in attending, sign up to our emails via the link below and we will send you an invitation. We will get together with like-minded individuals and businesses to discuss the benefits of a four-day week as well as some of the potential hurdles.

Now more than ever we need to think about ourselves and not glorify the ‘grind’ – being overworked, stressed and burnt out. We need to push for a better work-life balance, allowing us to live happier and more fulfilled lives. Because of this, employers offering a four-day week to their staff will in turn receive an increase in productivity, creativity, staff retention and a more appealing perk for future employees.

 

To express your interest in receiving an invite for the 4-day work week event, email megansearle@whyfield.co.uk

Read more about our move to a four-day week here.

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