4 lessons learned from implementing a 4-day workweek

June 2, 2023 2:01 PM

Every weekend, workers struggle to fit all their chores, hobbies and rest into Saturday and Sunday, leaving them stressed and tired before they even start work Monday morning — so why not add another day to the weekend?

A survey by CNBC found that 85% of workers are in favor of a four-day workweek, leaving behind the nearly century-old 40-hour workweek model for 32 hours instead. And while a three-day weekend sounds like a pipe dream for most employees in the U.S., it's gaining traction, with big names like Kickstarter, Toshiba and Panasonic offering full-time pay for a shorter workweek.

Rachel Kratz, the chief of staff at Qwick, a staffing platform for the hospitality industry, saw firsthand the value in switching to a four-day workweek policy after pitching it to her company's CEO over a year ago. She knows there's no turning back.

"At Qwick, one of our values is to hustle responsibly," says Kratz. "We knew we needed to hustle to keep building as a start-up, but it didn't necessarily seem sustainable. I knew the four-day workweek could be the next iteration of our forward-thinking [culture]."

For Kratz, switching to a four-day workweek was similar to when tech companies began switching to an unlimited PTO policy — it's a benefit that is bound to become commonplace as time goes on. And while the switch felt like a no-brainer at Qwick, it doesn't mean the 4-day workweek didn't come with challenges. But Kratz is confident those challenges taught everyone something valuable.

Here are four lessons Qwick learned from implementing a four-day workweek.

Think outside the box

Ideally, one may imagine the four-day workweek to look like Monday through Thursday, with Friday kicking off the three-day weekend. However, Kratz notes that in order for customer-facing workers to participate in the 32-hour workweek, the schedule couldn't be that simple.

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"Some people work Sunday through Wednesday, and others work Wednesday through Saturday," says Kratz. "Since we do serve the hospitality industry, we obviously need to support our customers that work Friday, Saturday and Sunday."

Kratz notes that this schedule also allows everyone at Qwick to be available for meetings at least one day out of the week: Wednesday. While the scheduling was a little complicated at first, Kratz stresses the importance of including everyone in the 32-hour workweek, instead of just settling for a four-day workweek that only impacts a portion of a company's workforce.

Know your workforce

It's crucial for any company reducing their work hours to understand how all their teams communicate and collaborate with one another, underlines Kratz. Without that knowledge, it's impossible to know where people are doing unnecessary work and how a new schedule may impact productivity.

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"We tried our best to audit each team's calendar and make sure the work flow can still be there across the entire company," she says. "Without the unnecessary meetings to bog you down."

It's a sprint

With just four work days on the calendar, Kratz worked to reframe each week as a sprint rather than a marathon. Unlike a traditional five-day workweek, workers have less time to procrastinate or hesitate on completing their weekly tasks — even if the work itself only takes 32 hours to complete, employees still have to get used to working under different parameters, explains Kratz.

"Professional athletes train really hard, but with blocks of rest as well," she says. "That's how we think about the four-day workweek."

Rest matters

Kratz has noticed employees are actually excited to come back to work after three days of rest. For those who do come back to work on Monday, Kratz is proud to say that it seems like the new schedule has eliminated the "Sunday scaries."

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"It feels counterculture to say, but people are excited to come into work on Monday morning," she says. "They got the chance to go grocery shopping, spend time with their family, rest and recharge. And when you're excited, your brain is ready to be creative and solve problems."

Kratz has even noticed the four-day workweek has a great impact on caregivers. That extra day is one day parents do not have to pay for child care, or it's the day they can accompany their child or elderly parent to a doctor's appointment.

"Employers need to be aware that if they want their employees to face big challenges this year, they need to be at their best," says Kratz. "That means they shouldn't have to pack everything — their family, friends, hobbies, leisure — into Saturday and Sunday."