Do you know the conditional week with four days?

Willing to go back to the office 100% if in return they get 4 days a week. (photo: Tim van der Kuip for Unsplash)

Stained job! It’s a section where Oliver Schmocker answers your toughest questions [et les plus pertinentes] In the modern business world…and of course its quirks. A reading date Tuesday and the Thursday. Would you like to participate? Send us your question at [email protected]

Q: “Coffee breaks, lively meetings, laughter … Needless to say, everyday life at work was much more pleasant when everyone came to the office every day. I still don’t understand those who, instead of these lovely moments of relaxation, prefer to do their laundry Or online shopping…” – Anne Marie

A: Dear Anne-Marie, It is true that the pandemic has changed many things, particularly the way we work. This necessarily has its share of satisfied people (better work-life balance, less time spent commuting between home and workplace, etc.) as well as its share of dissatisfied people like you (less human contact, Zoom fatigue, etc.).

Now, many employers are scrambling to get employees back to their offices. They believe this is because they are convinced that nothing beats face-to-face exchanges, “ensuring individual and team performance”. Added to that is the fact that it frustrates them from paying insane prices for empty workspaces, most of the time.

a result? The current trend is to force employees back into the office as often as possible, ideally 100% of the time. As in the old days.

But here, is forcing an employee into something that doesn’t charm him the best way to get 110%? I highly doubt that…

So what do we do? Well, there seems to be an alternative that will make almost everyone happy, employers and employees alike! Yes Yes…

I discovered it in a recent survey conducted by the recruitment company Hays in Great Britain. In fact, we find that 62% of the nearly 11,000 employees surveyed would agree to work 100% in the office, but only on the condition that they switch to four days a week!

In other words, the idea is very simple: Employers adopt four days a week, and you’ll see that the vast majority of your employees won’t be back in the office anymore. Because the deal will be win-win.

How do you explain that many employees are willing to draw a line under remote and mixed-mode work? The survey gives several answers:

– 89% of employees believe that four days a week is good for mental health and well-being.

– 59% of them believe that this leads to individual efficiency and overall productivity.

– 44% believe that it improves the organization’s image to the point of increasing its attractiveness to talented people looking for a new job.

That’s not all.

– 92% of those who take advantage of four days a week indicate that their personal quality of life has improved.

– and 84% that it had a positive impact on their career.

As we can see, these big gains more than make up for the disadvantages associated with going back to the office by 100%.

Now, which four day week formula is the most popular? The survey highlights the fact that there really isn’t one formula that is more popular than another.

– In 38% of cases, no one works either on Friday or Monday. So everyone has three days off.

– In 31% of cases, the day off varies from week to week. Often, the manager defines it for everyone according to the team’s requirements.

– In 16% of cases, everyone is free to spend the day as they want.

– Finally, in 15% of cases there are slight differences in the three formulas presented above.

One last point worth emphasizing: when we talk about a four-day week, we’re talking about four working days of normal duration, paid as five (no pay cut, for that matter). It is not a question of extending the working days so that the workers can complete their five days in only four.

Finally, what do employers say about this alternative? 100% return to the office versus four days a week? From the outset, 34% of them said they were ready to sign such an agreement. Yes, you read that right: 1 out of 3 employers are actually ready to accept this agreement! Undoubtedly, this percentage will rise dramatically if the pioneers take the initiative and witness the positive consequences that will follow from this…

So, Anne Marie? What about the four-day week, if at any time it allows you to reconnect with coffee breaks and laughter with your mates? will you ride If so, well, I invite you to have your manager read this column. who knows? It can make a lot of people happy in your organization…