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A four-day week trial showed that if workers have more control over their job, they feel and perform better.

Employees at a New Zealand company behind an innovative trial of a four-day working week have declared it a resounding success, with 78% saying they were better able to manage their work-life balance.

Perpetual Guardian, which manages trusts and wills, released their findings from the trial, which was prompted by research that suggests modern workers are only productive for about three hours in a working day.

The analysis shows that employees working four-day weeks felt better about their job, were more engaged, and generally reported greater work-life balance and less stress – all while maintaining the same level of productivity. Interestingly, they also experienced a small but significant decrease in work demands.

The setting

The company asked its 240 office workers to work a four-day week (at eight hours per day) instead of five days, while still being paid their usual five-day salary. The trial was inspired by growing evidence that modern open-plan workplaces can be distracting for workers and reduce productivity.

Managing director Andrew Barnes thought a shorter working week might be an innovative way to get employees to focus on their work and maintain overall productivity, while providing benefits such as an enhanced work-life balance, better mental health and fewer cars on the road.

The results show a 24% increase in employees saying their work-life balance had improved, a significant improvement in engagement and a 7% drop in stress levels – all without a reduction in productivity.

The challenge

The first challenge for the company was that not everybody does the same work across a varied workplace. It is not a production line making widgets, where productivity can be measured easily.

Their solution was to ask teams (and their managers) to detail what they actually did in their job and how they might do it over four days instead of five. This involved organising coverage within teams so that they could still meet deadlines and maintain performance and productivity. In practice, the four-day week meant employees within a team all had a day off each week, but that this day moved from Monday to Friday across the trial period.

The expectation was that if workers could maintain the same level of productivity and do so in four days, they should achieve greater personal benefits and the company would make other gains through enhanced reputation, recruitment and retention, as well as energy savings (20% reduction in staff at work).

There is a large body of research showing that if organisations care about their employees’ well-being, staff will respond with better job attitudes and performance. In addition, research shows that work-life balance is important for job satisfaction and general well-being, and that by being able to spend more time away from their job, employees engage better with their work.

However, there is the potential that employees might report greater stress and issues around work demands because they are now, in effect, doing their current workload in four days rather than five.

The findings

To enable analysis of the trial, employees and managers completed pre- and post-trial surveys. Additional employee data were collected at the end of last year. Thus, analysis is based on five different data sets, from employees and managers.

The results show that employees’ perceptions of support changed across the trial. Employees felt that the four-day week (with five days’ pay) showed how much their employer cared about their well-being. This type of perception helps organisations because their employees work harder, are more satisfied and want to stay in their jobs longer. They also perform better.

The employees reported better job satisfaction and engagement, and felt their teams had become more cohesive and skilled at doing their work together. This likely reflects the team focus at the start of the trial when they spent time developing the new four-day approach.

Another finding was that employees reported a small but significant decrease in work demands. This is interesting because there was a potential issue of staff feeling more stressed, but research shows that having more control over one’s job enhances psychological well-being. The fact that Perpetual Guardian allowed employees to plan their work week actually aided their ability to do it in a timely and stable manner.

Finally, the supervisors rated their team performance as no different across the trial. However, supervisors also found their teams had greater creativity and engaged in more helpful behaviours, as well as giving better service performance.

The four-day week trial showed that workers can complete their work satisfactorily, or even better in some aspects, while enjoying greater work-life balance and reduced stress. This reflects the power of organisational support and highlights the performance benefits that can be achieved when an organisation takes the risk to trust their employees and support them in a new approach to work.

The eight-week trial was a success and the organisation is now refining the approach before rolling it out full time.

Jarrod Haar, Professor of Human Resource Management, Auckland University of Technology

This article was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article here

Photo: Shutterstock

I’m no stranger to burnout and I’m not proud to say I’ve experienced it more than once in my previous lifestyle. In the workplace I’ve coached many people with signs of burnout. Sure, we can all feel stretched and overwhelmed at times, but when ongoing workplace stress occurs it becomes a serious problem that not only leads to highly skilled people leaving professions, it affects team morale AND your bottom line. According to a report by Medibank, stress related presenteeism and absenteeism is costing the Australian economy $14.81 billion per year. How much of that are you losing?

What’s burnout in the workplace?

Burnout is physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by excessive ongoing stress. People presenting with burnout often feel overwhelmed and unable to meet the consistent demands they’re experiencing. They start to lose motivation and passion in a career or position they once found meaning and purpose in.

Three components to burnout

Pioneering research conducted by Psychologist Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter describes three dimensions of burnout:

1. Exhaustion: Physically, emotionally and mentally. This affects people’s ability to be able to perform in their position effectively and find fulfilment in their role.
2. Cynicism: Feeling disengaged, negative and cynical towards their role.
3. Ineffectiveness: Feelings of being incompetent due to lack of being able to achieve usual levels of performance and productivity.

Recognising the signs

In addition to the above there are many signs and symptoms of burnout.

1. Forgetfulness and or lack of concentration

Being unable to concentrate and becoming forgetful are early signs of burnout. If left unchecked it can result in work piling up.

2. Reoccurring illness or increased illness

When our body is under stress our immune system can’t perform at its best and it leaves us more vulnerable to colds, flus, infections and other immune – related medical issues.

3. Insomnia

People may initially find they’re unable to sleep for one or two nights a week in early stages with thoughts, tasks and “to do lists’ looping in their mind. This can progress to a point where they find themselves unable to sleep despite feeling exhausted.

4. Increased irritability

Exhaustion and feelings of not being able to cope can leave people feeling irritable and ineffective. This can have a negative effect on their professional and personal relationships. If left unchecked and allowed to manifest it can destroy relationships and careers.

5. Decreased productivity and performance

Despite working long hours, when people are burnt-out they’re unable to achieve the same level of productivity they once did. This results in work piling up and tasks incomplete which can leave them feeling overwhelmed and inefficient.

6. Feelings of disengagement and apathy towards their role

This can start initially with feelings of overwhelm that progress to negative self-talk, feeling disconnected to their role and a “what’s the point” attitude. They may become unresponsive to returning calls, emails and withdraw from colleagues, workplace meetings and events.

7. Physical symptoms

Our amazing bodies have many ways of telling us it’s under stress. Some physical symptoms include: heart palpitations, chest pain, headaches, irritable bowel, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, anxiety, anger and depression. If a person is experiencing any of these symptoms, seek medical advice.

If you’d like to take The Malach Burnout Inventory self-rating test here it is

Beating Burnout

Burnout is preventable and according to Harvard Business Review it’s an issue with the organisation not the person it requires leaders to take a proactive approach through increased awareness on what causes burnout and how to recognise the signs.

How to keep burnout at bay

Become aware of stressors

Encourage team members to take stock of stressors and actively look for ways to reduce them. It may be that they take on too much and find it difficult to delegate, allow people to take up more of their time than necessary, they have difficulty in prioritising tasks, there are unrealistic expectations of their position, a toxic work environment or a combination of several factors.

Encourage staff to learn how to manage stress

Short term stress can lead to burnout if it’s not managed properly, there are several ways that can be achieved.

Keeping a simple stress journal of the things that cause stress is a great way to become aware and start establishing ways to prevent it – awareness is the first step.

Practicing breathing techniques and meditation to help calm down and re centre during stressful situations.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle

Maintaining a lifestyle that includes daily exercise for at least 30 minutes combined with a whole food diet that’s predominantly plant based and 2 litres of filtered water per day are essential in lowering stress levels and staying at peak performance.

Other self-care strategies include, massages, long baths, walking in nature and engaging in other healthy activities they find pleasurable.

Mindset Matters

The way we think can create stress, encourage your team to monitor their thoughts and practice positive thinking. By learning how to manage their mindset they can change unhelpful ways of dealing with stressful situations and create new positive outcomes.

Read the 2016 Snapshot of the Australian Workforce here

If you’d like to create a culture of health by implementing a workplace wellness program, please get in touch.