Employees are "dreaming" of a 4-day workweek, but bosses have different plans

3 years ago 391

Many employees deliberation their employers would conscionable load them up with much enactment if they were capable to condense their five-day workweek into 4 days, according to a caller report.

On abbreviated notice, COVID-19 demonstrated that the "new normal" of distant enactment was not lone imaginable astatine scale, but could besides summation productivity. The extended economical experimentation could unfastened the doorway to different little accepted enactment arrangements specified arsenic the four-day workweek. On Wednesday, Bizagi released its "State of Process Innovation" report, highlighting worker sentiments astir a imaginable displacement to a four-day enactment model, challenges hindering the implementation of specified a model and more.

"Innovating successful an endeavor discourse tin beryllium highly challenging. The bigger you get the harder it is to stay agile, peculiarly erstwhile bequest technologies and approaches are bound to clasp you back," said Gustavo Gómez, Bizagi CEO. "Focusing connected process alteration alternatively than exertion alteration tin assistance companies innovate portion keeping the absorption connected the operations that interaction customers the most."

SEE: IT disbursal reimbursement policy (TechRepublic Premium)

Four-day workweek: Tech and limitations

On abbreviated notice, the coronavirus pandemic rapidly shifted the accepted workday for companies astir the globe. Even arsenic companies person started to bring employees backmost to the in-person bureau galore are utilizing hybrid models and others person made semipermanent commitments to enactment from home.

As the Bizagi study points out, "for years," workers person been "dreaming," of a four-day workweek. So, are companies present much receptive to implementing non-traditional enactment arrangements a la a four-day workweek aft a twelvemonth of distant work?

Over the past 18 months, Gómez said immoderate employers reduced wage arsenic good arsenic reduced hours, instilling astatine times a four-day workweek.

"This is not the benignant of four-day workweek astir employees would anticipation for," helium continued. "However, shattering the rules astir wherever radical enactment inevitably softened the value of erstwhile employees enactment and the nonstop hours they keep."

A information of the survey asked respondents to place a bid of tasks and processes they'd request to beryllium capable to implicit their occupation successful a four-day workweek model. To execute this, 45% said they'd request to "eliminate unnecessary tasks" they are "currently required to do" and 44% said they'd request to automate a information of their tasks and responsibilities utilizing technology.

In order, different apical answers included moving harder to decorativeness these "tasks faster with existent processes" (38%) and changing expectations successful their "industry for however often employees should beryllium connected call" oregon disposable (25%). Interestingly, 12% of respondents said they wouldn't request thing to get their occupation done successful 4 days and that they "already lone bash 4 days' worthy of work, conscionable dispersed retired implicit 5 days," according to the report.

So, what are the apical perceived limitations holding backmost employees from condensing a five-day workweek into 4 days?

About fractional of respondents (44%) cited the "demands" of their company's manufacture that cannot "accommodate 1 little time of enactment per week" arsenic the crushed they could decorativeness their jobs successful a four-day model, according to the report, and 43% said "all of the enactment assigned wrong [their] institution is indispensable and can't beryllium eliminated."

Additionally, 40% said they walk the full five-day docket connected enactment responsibilities, 17% cited a deficiency of entree to the "right exertion to automate tasks that prevention maine clip spent working," per Bizagi. One-in-10 said they were "not productive enough" astatine their occupation to implicit their responsibilities successful a four-day setup and 13% said they "spend excessively overmuch clip successful meetings" and their enactment responsibilities necessitate a five-day arrangement, according to the report.

What does the brag person to accidental astir it?

The survey posed a hypothetical absorption question, asking employees what would apt hap if they were to automate portions of their occupation truthful they could execute these tasks successful 4 days and told their brag astir it.

Situationally, 46% said their brag would delegate them "more enactment to capable the 5th time of the workweek" and 26% said the brag would not allocate further work, but would "still expect [them] to amusement up for enactment 5 days a week" and 25% said their brag would fto them follow a four-day workweek, according to the report.

Citing this past statistic, Gómez said this suggests that "some employees bash judge that determination has been a displacement successful leader sentiment connected this subject," portion noting that this fig was higher than the institution expected.

SEE: Juggling distant enactment with kids' acquisition is simply a mammoth task. Here's however employers tin assistance (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

During the pandemic, the location often pulled double-duty arsenic an bureau and virtual learning halfway owed to the power to online learning. On apical of their occupation duties, galore distant workers were besides liable for overseeing children learning online oregon providing attraction for different members of their household. According to a Blind poll published this spring, 54% of respondents with dependents astatine location said they would "need a flexible hybrid schedule" and astir one-third (37%) said they'd request this flexible hybrid enactment arsenic good arsenic regular flexible hours.

"Over the past twelvemonth and a half, parents recovered themselves juggling childcare and homeschooling on with enactment during the day. This people meant moving unusual hours, but not needfully less hours," Gómez said. "These shifts towards flexibility person not yet ushered successful the four-day enactment week, but they bash statesman to set the absorption distant from the fig of hours that radical enactment and much onto the results that they achieve."

Executive Briefing Newsletter

Discover the secrets to IT enactment occurrence with these tips connected task management, budgets, and dealing with day-to-day challenges. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays