The four-day workweek is the latest buzzy workplace trend, with experiments and surveys touting improved employee morale, retention and productivity.<\/p>\n
In one study of 41 businesses across the U.S. and Canada \u2014 the majority with 25 or fewer employees \u2014 40% of employees surveyed said they were less stressed after trying out a shorter workweek. In addition, 60% of employees reported a better work-life balance and 32% said they were less likely to quit, according to a July 2023 report by 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit that promotes shorter workweeks.<\/p>\n
ThredUp Can a shorter workweek do the same for your business? The short answer: It depends.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t implement something like this if the underlying culture doesn\u2019t support and nurture trust in your employees,\u201d says Janet Lenaghan, dean of the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University.<\/p>\n For a four-day workweek to work, you need a culture that empowers employees and values results rather than face time, she says.<\/p>\n Planning, training and execution are also key for a successful transition to a shorter workweek.<\/p>\n Asking employees to squeeze five work days into four doesn\u2019t come without adjustments.<\/p>\n Business leaders must assess workload, objectives and success metrics. They also need to invest in tools to streamline or automate tasks, such as\u00a0accounting reports\u00a0or other administrative responsibilities, so employees can better prioritize their time. Lenaghan advises leaders to \u201cfocus on tasks that drive bottom-line results.\u201d<\/p>\n Nevertheless, from the top down, everyone in the organization will need to learn\u00a0how to operate more efficiently.<\/p>\n Large-scale pilots by 4 Day Week Global, which have taken place globally, include two months of workshops, coaching and mentoring. Companies that participate in trial runs also get ongoing support.<\/p>\n Read: <\/strong>Bernie Sanders supports a 4-day workweek. These companies tried it \u2014 here\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n Before ThredUp initiated its four-day workweek, it held training sessions on topics such as \u201chow to lead an efficient meeting, when to cancel or remove yourself from meetings, and how to efficiently communicate with employees,\u201d Breece said.<\/p>\n Managers and owners must also be encouraging and set a good example, which involves refraining from sending emails or expecting employees to work on days off.<\/p>\n A pilot program is a lower-stakes way to try out a shorter workweek and work out any kinks before making it a permanent policy.<\/p>\n Poll Everywhere, a technology company that develops live survey and feedback tools, dipped its toe into a shorter workweek by implementing \u201cSummer Fridays\u201d in 2022. The eight-week trial had bumps, including company holidays that squeezed the already shorter weeks into three days.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the problems we saw with execution and missed deadlines might have had as much to do with how the logistics were set up as with the idea of working four days a week,\u201d says Rob Graham, CEO of Poll Everywhere.<\/p>\n The company revived \u201cSummer Fridays\u201d in 2023 with some tweaks and additional training based on employee feedback and data analysis.<\/p>\n \u201cWe restructured the schedule so that holidays are now considered the designated day off for that particular week,\u201d Graham says. Managers also received special training to help improve communication and efficiency despite fewer meetings.<\/p>\n More: <\/strong>A four-day workweek is less stressful \u2014 and just as productive<\/p>\n Some companies can operate Monday through Thursday without impacting customers or the business. Others need some level of staffing five-to-seven days a week.<\/p>\n Poll Everywhere opted for a staggered schedule for specific teams, where some employees had Friday off while others chose a different day.<\/p>\n At ThredUp, its 273 corporate salaried employees work Monday through Thursday. In contrast, employees in the clothing reseller\u2019s distribution centers work from three to five days a week, depending on their shift.<\/p>\n
\n TDUP,
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\n has seen this play out in-house over the past two years. The online clothing reseller shifted to a four-day week for corporate employees in 2021. Voluntary turnover among that group dropped 55% compared with 2019, and\u00a0hiring got a boost. Most new hires cited the company\u2019s shorter week as a deciding factor in employment, Natalie Breece, chief people and diversity officer at ThredUp, said by email.<\/p>\nAdjust priorities, offer training<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Start with a test run<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Tailor it to your company<\/strong><\/h2>\n