Counting the days: is the four-day week really the best way to work?

In September 1956, Vice President Richard M. Nixon predicted that in the "not too distant future" every American would enjoy a four-day work week and a fuller family life.

Is his vision about to come true? And how will it affect leaders and the teams and organizations they lead?

Many countries, including Germany, are looking at it—some with trials, and some, like Belgium, have become the first country in Europe to legislate for a four-day week.

In February 2022, Belgian employees won the right to perform a full work week in four days, instead of the usual five, without loss of salary.

On the surface it sounds like a good idea. We know that employees value more flexibility and a better work-life balance. Advocates for the four-day workweek suggest that when implemented, worker satisfaction increases, and so does productivity. So, a win-win.

But is it really that easy?

Adding to the load

Firstly, the common understanding of a four-day week is that employees would work four days a week while getting paid the same and earning the same benefits, but with the same workload.

It is the latter aspect that deserves investigation. We know that employees are already in many cases over-stretched and over-whelmed.

Despite Germany having  some of the shortest working hours in Europe, burnout is still on the rise.

By the end of 2022, 37% of Germans surveyed reported experiencing burnout at work, according to the Future Forum. That figure is up from 29% in May 2021.

In this context, HBR points out that we are looking at issues like a four-day week “….without addressing the real problem: the issue of excessive workloads and intensification. By focusing so strongly on the where and when of work, policymakers appear to have lost sight of how and how much we are working.”

Extra pressures

There is another factor to be considered when contemplating a change from five days to four, and that is the reaction of managers.

It is understandable that if managers look at a four-day week, there is likely to be a heightened effort to increase overview and supervision of those that they manage. It is exactly what happened when working from home was at its peak.  NZ research on the four-day week showed that “not only was work intensified following the change, but so too were managerial pressures around performance measurement, monitoring, and productivity.” Not exactly good for the stress levels of the employees.

Not switching off

When you are not at work, you should be enjoying the benefits of your time away. But that doesn’t mean that work can’t spillover into your ‘me time’.  It’s hard to switch-off and not check your inbox, especially if you have a large workload and responsibility for important projects.

For some, not being able to check on progress can lead to the stress of feeling out of the loop and losing control of priorities.

“Perhaps we need a wider definition of a ‘four-day week’ as simply working one day less”, says Klaus Hansen, Partner at Odgers Berndtson Germany.

“Would it be better to consider that working four days’ worth of hours across the full week is a better idea? Why not empower employees to come up with a proposal based on their personal circumstances and workload?”, he asks.

After all, they know their job best, they know when demands are at their highest (and lowest), and can set up a work schedule with this in mind.

Of course, a pilot of the new set-up is a good way to measure if the new arrangement is working, or if any adjustments are required.

Or, maybe, more radically, we should be looking to actually cut the total of the work we do, or at least revise the workload substantially.

Working for everyone

In any move to a four-day week, a final point worth considering is whether a single, company-wide solution works equally well with diverse groups and those with caring responsibilities.  A shorter workday with the flexibility of choosing when you work your hours over the day might be a better solution for someone with a young child or a person caring for an elderly parent.

Leading change well

Undertaking this type of progressive change always requires a high level of trust between leaders and employees. If you don't trust that employees can make a success of the change, they are unlikely to want to even test it.

As in so many transformations, having the right leaders is crucial to lead with clarity and sensitivity, able to provide a vision of the future, whilst understanding what it will take to change from a practical point of view.

Our LeaderFit profile model can help provide just such a picture of those who might have the potential to succeed in a world of change. By using a unique leadership assessment methodology that combines personality data, behavioural patterns and leadership experts’ judgement, we can paint a picture of individual performance in targeted senior roles.

We have experience of assessing and developing leaders across publicly traded companies, privately funded companies, and government/not-for-profit organizations.

To discuss your current talent plans, or your individual career trajectory and ambitions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’ll be keen to hear from you.