A South West-based environmental consultancy has permanently adopted a four-day working week after taking part in a national trial.
Tyler Grange, which offers firms services such as advice on tree planting projects, joined 60 other firms in the scheme which saw its 100 staff gain an extra day off with no pay cut from June last year.
The firm, which has offices in Bristol, Birmingham, Exeter, London, Manchester and the Gloucestershire village of Rendcomb near Cirencester, said it had found productivity had gone up by around a fifth with workers on reduced hours.
It said that employees had produced 102% more work than they had over a five-day week, and had reported being 14% happier and 28% less tired. Sickness absence during the trial also fell by two thirds.
Tyler Grange said since it had introduced the four-day week, which is made permanent in December, it had seen a “huge increase” in applications for new roles and visits to the jobs section of its website, with a near 90% increase in the number of CVs received.
The company said it developed an app to monitor workers’ alertness levels, in order to ensure having reduced hours did not cause them stress and fatigue while they were working.
The firm said it had found the “very opposite” was true, with the increased awareness the app gave to staff about potential burnout helping them them make “good decisions” regarding it - such as choosing to use public transport rather than driving, or booking into a hotel rather than driving home late at night.
Managing director Simon Ursell said: “The UK has an unhealthy culture where it is seen as a badge of honour to work all the time, yet our productivity levels are low and younger talent – as well as the brilliant talent that we want to attract at all levels of our business - doesn’t want to be defined by a burnout life.”
Mr Ursell said Tyler Grange has been approached by “a number of businesses” considering making the change for advice.
He added: “Change is uncomfortable and transitioning to a four-day week has provoked negative responses amongst some. I suppose that’s the nature of it; that it’s necessary to make people feel uncomfortable in order to change.
“We’re here to do what’s right for our people, planet, and our clients. We believe that making the four-day week permanent is the right thing to do, even if it’s seen as disruptive.”
Around 2,900 employees took part in the national six-month trial, which was run by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign and researchers at Cambridge University, Boston College and Oxford University.
Eight out of 45 organisations who publicly announced their involvement have confirmed they are to keep the four-day working week. A further 16 UK companies took part but declined to have their names made public.
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