Inspired by the success of the hybrid working practices we’ve developed over the last two years, we’re excited to announce that we’ve launched a live trial at GDR exploring the potential of the 4-day working week.
For the next five months until the end of September 2022 all GDR staff will be working a 4-day week, meaning our office will be closed every Friday.
GDR managing director Rachel Wilkinson explains: “After working on a “future of work” project a couple of years back, we were inspired to change the way we worked ourselves and left our leased office of 24 years for a flexible collab space and hybrid hours.
“We all love the flexibility it offers and the company has thrived. So, when the idea of a 4-day week was proposed, we wanted to explore that for ourselves too.”
The 4-day shift
In the UK alone more than 30 companies are already thought to have tested the 4-day week including supermarket Morrisons, who trialled it for its head office staff last year. During the second half of this year a further 3,000 workers at 60 companies across the UK will also take part in the biggest 4-day working week trial in the world, organised by 4-Day Week Global.
Companies from Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will also be taking part in this trial, while countries like Japan, Iceland and Belgium have also explored the potential benefits of shortening the working week.
All of the data and reports on the 4-day week suggest that companies trialling the approach will benefit from an increase in productivity, focus, health and happiness. Indeed, the Japanese government has now formally recommended the 4-day week as a way to improve productivity. A recent article in The New Statesman even posits that a 4-day week could stop the UK from going into another recession.
GDR’s 4-day week trial
As a business futurist consultancy we’re going into this trial with an open mind and a critical eye and will be interrogating what works well, and what does not.
We have established new working practices and policies to allow us to work smarter and we have set a range of KPIs linked to employee happiness, our collective productivity and, of course, the company’s bottom line to help us assess the success or otherwise of the scheme.
Whatever happens, we’ll monitor the experiment and publish our findings in October.
“I’m both hesitant and excited to take part in GDR’s 4-day week trial over the summer,” Rachel Wilkinson adds. “I hope that this extra time off will allow everyone to rest, get more head space and to spend more time with their loved ones. Some of us are volunteering; teaching Ukrainian refugees to speak English and others plan to take a course, work on their health and fitness, or have culture days.
“I know that the extra day will help to provide a better balance where we can all enjoy our passions and interests and bring that enthusiasm and diversity of interests back into the office too. It has already helped us to secure and retain talent and everyone is excited about the change.”
To find out more about GDR’s 4-day working trial, contact rachel@gdruk.com.