A shorter workweek can boost employee productivity

Andrew Barnes, founder of the New Zealand-based investment advisory firm Perpetual Guardian, was curious about his own company’s workflow after he read a startling statistic that employees were productive for only two and a half hours a day.

His solution? Implementing a four-day workweek at the firm. Employees had the opportunity to take a day off, while still receiving their usual five-day salary.

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“I thought if I offered my staff a day off a week, would they change the way they worked so they could be as productive in four days rather than five?” Barnes says.

It didn’t take long to see results: after 12 months, the program was so successful that the firm decided to make it a permanent part of the employee experience.