Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Leaders Consider the 4-day Work Week

Q. The employees are interested in a 4-day work week, and we’d like to consider it. How should we make this decision?

A. Think about how your organization serves your customers, patients, students, or members. Do people work in person with the public and do they need to?

Each organization has to assess how a 4-day work week could work for them. Management doesn’t have all the answers. If your organization is small, gather ideas from all employees about how it could work. If your organization is large, create a committee to research and discuss the pros and cons. They can propose the benefits of switching to a 4-day week and how your customers will still be served. Perhaps you create various shifts for workers.

The main benefit is that people have more autonomy to make the choices they want in their lives. Burnout, stress, and turnover can decrease because people have three days to re-energize; have time for their errands, appointments, exercise; or time with friends and family. The four days at work are more focused, and the longer day doesn’t feel much longer.