A 4-day work week? This businessman is making it happen

In 2018, New Zealand entrepreneur Andrew Barnes decided to conduct an experiment at one of his businesses. He asked the staff of 240 at the financial services company Perpetual Guardian to design a four-day week that would let the company meet its targets but with everyone doing 100% of their jobs in 80% of the time at the same salary.

The teams were ecstatic. Some staff took the extra day off, some opted for more half-days, others came in all five weekdays but arrived late or left early. Over time, Barnes found that productivity, engagement, job satisfaction, work-life balance and employee wellbeing had all improved. He’s since adopted the practice permanently and now works to promote it internationally.

His non-profit, 4 Day Week Global, set up with Perpetual Guardian CEO Charlotte Lockhart, helps companies, workers, researchers and governments incorporate better and more sustainable work practices. Excerpts from an interview.

You describe the extra day off as a gift. But the two-day weekend was a hard-won labour right. Why is this couched as an act of benevolence?

It is important to understand the use of the word “gift”. In this case the extra day has to be “paid for” with extra productivity. If it was just a reduction in the working week then there would be no incentive to improve productivity, resulting in lower output. Far from being an act of benevolence, it is the opposite – something that needs to be earned. It’s a pact between employer and employee, in which the former recognises that so long as the expected output is delivered, it is beneficial to all parties for employees to have more balance between work life and home life.

How does a four-day week give workers what you call ‘collective ownership of the future of work’?

Teams decide how they function when members take time out. The solution is not dictated from above. Linked to this is collective responsibility for the four-day week. If I do not play my part then I forfeit not just my personal benefits from reduced work hours, but also those of my colleagues. I have a colleague who takes two afternoons off a week and spends time with his granddaughter. When he talks about this, he cries. He will do anything to keep that precious time, and his colleagues know that they are equally responsible for giving him that opportunity, as he is for giving them theirs.

“Statistically, an individual is interrupted once every 11 minutes and it then takes 22 minutes to get back to full productivity.”

How are the immediate changes in adopting the four-day week different from the long-term ones?

We are more profitable and productive now than we were two years ago. We have seen sick days halve. The company, used to flexibility and with a higher degree of resilience, was able to navigate the Covid lockdowns making record profits. We were among the businesses in New Zealand that did not need or take the government subsidy.

The initial excitement has gone, but this is now part of our work environment and philosophy. While there are isolated issues with productivity, this is more linked to normal performance management than the four-day week.

What have you found to be the worst sappers of productivity in the office today?

Open-plan offices, which make it difficult for people to concentrate. And unnecessary, long meetings. Statistically, an individual is interrupted once every 11 minutes and it then takes 22 minutes to get back to full productivity. Changes to office layouts and working rules (the quiet hour, no meetings at desk clusters and no lunching at the desk) can make a significant difference.

Do you see more companies experimenting with a non-traditional workweek in the pandemic?

Yes. The two biggest issues prior to Covid were companies being unsure they could trust their staff to work productively away from the office, and the measurement of productivity without using the metric of time in the office. Once these are addressed, it becomes much easier to implement non-traditional workweeks.