I’ve always been a ‘crammer’. Even at Uni, I would leave everything to the last minute before pulling it out the bag just before my deadline. And while it might seem like poor time management on the surface, cramming isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There’s actually a bit of science to it, according to the Parkinson’s Law, the longer deadlines we have, the more likely we are to decrease effort and set ourselves less challenging goals.
That’s how many of us are wired. When we’re given a task, and told a timeframe that it needs to be delivered in - we make it happen in that timeframe.
We’ve adapted this to the workplace; we give ourselves five days per week, every week. For decades, centuries even, we’ve accepted this is just how it is.
The 9-5pm working day dials right back to the 18th century. The eight-hour workday was created to protect workers who held jobs brought about by the Industrial Revolution, and we’ve been working five-day weeks since the 1900s, when a New England mill factory first introduced it. Ironically, it was the Great Depression that cemented the two-day weekend into the economy, as shorter hours were considered a remedy to underemployment. We’ve been working this way since then; nothing has ever changed - how crazy is that?
When the pandemic hit, it turned the working world upside down; and for us, it was the perfect example of the old adage: every crisis presents an opportunity.
At my business we are working hard to lead the charge and reinvent the rail category; we’re putting passengers first and bringing the joy back into train travel, so we need to build a company for modern times too - one that people genuinely love working at. Covid allowed us to step back and ask, how do we make create a great company? If you want to attract the best possible talent, you’ve got to think hard about creating the best environment for that talent to do their best work.
Throughout the pandemic, we were all working remotely. Everyone worked different amounts - some two days, some four, and some people were off completely. It allowed us to see that working differently could be beneficial. So in 2020, we decided to experiment with a four-day week and see what the impact would be on our employees and the business.
When I told the board we were going to trial a four-day week, it went down like a lead balloon. They questioned why we would work anything less than the full working week - as a fast-growth scaleup - why wouldn’t we just max out on every hour we have? And they certainly couldn’t get their heads around the fact that I wouldn’t be reducing anyone’s salary in light of the reduced hours.
I completely understood the resistance, but my response was this: let’s see. Let’s look at the data, let’s crunch the numbers and let’s give it a chance. Perfection is the enemy of progress, and innovation only happens when you take risks. And so that’s what we did. We tested a four-day week for nine months, and the results were incredible. By working fewer hours per week, we increased productivity by 20 per cent, and staff satisfaction went through the roof.
When people come to work on Monday, they have loads of energy; they’re ready to attack the week. As a result, we have consistently seen an uplift in delivery; we’re beating deadlines and innovating faster than anyone. The impact on the team is incredible; it comes up a lot in our happiness surveys as something that means a lot to their life balance.
For me, I use my Friday off for a date day with my wife. As parents of three-year-old twins our life is hectic. Fridays are when I get to be with my wife, the kids are in childcare, it’s our chance to adventure just the two of us. This makes me happier as a person; it makes me throw everything at winning in business because I am very happy at home, and it’s my way of giving something back to my wife, who is an absolutely incredible human.
One of the team members told me that they’ve been using the extra day a week to help manage IVF appointments with his partner. Once the baby is here, that day will be used by them for childcare and to experience those incredible new moments as a family. Another told me recently that since joining Seatfrog, they have finally been able to get the work-life balance they have always craved. How incredible is it to be able to help people to achieve happiness in their lives and work?
Other employees are using their time to travel the world, with one team member ticking off their European bucket list every weekend without needing to dip into her holiday allowance. One member of my team even got married on a Friday at Glastonbury! Then there’s also volunteering - one tech team member uses Fridays to volunteer with the police.
The fundamental pillar of any relationship is trust. When you hear Lord Alan Sugar bleating about the negatives of working flexibly or Jacob Rees-Mogg droning on and leaving passive-aggressive notes on the desks of people working remotely, they’re setting themselves up to fail. The ill-fitting suits of office culture have long gone (sorry Jacob!) and companies that go against this premise in the future will see their businesses lose, the best people just won’t work for you. It’s that simple.
If people don’t feel trusted, they won’t run through walls for you. My advice to companies thinking about a four-day week is to take the leap - trust your team and embrace the flexibility. The business benefits - emotionally and on the bottom line - are enormous.
