Charity staff are more relaxed and more productive during a four-day week, according to voluntary organisations trialling new approaches to work.
One charity involved in the six-month pilot said employees returned to work “refreshed” after a shorter week, while another described the benefits of a four-day week as “a real eye-opener”.
Under the trial programme, which involved 61 employers and 2,900 staff across the country, employees were paid 100 per cent of their existing salaries but worked 80 per cent of their hours, the equivalent of shifting to a four-day week.
Analysis of the scheme, published today, said that the results were “resoundingly positive” for employers and employees.
One of the six charities involved in the pilot, Waterwise, told Third Sector it had been a “really positive experience”. It has decided to continue with four-day weeks for at least the next six months.
Nicci Russell, managing director of Waterwise, said her colleagues were “more refreshed when they came back on the Monday. People were able to do volunteering tasks or family admin tasks on a Friday, so they could leave their weekends totally clear or do additional things that they would not have been able to do [in a five-day week].”
Staff used the extra time away from work for exercising, training for events “or just chilling that day”, she said.
Russell stressed that the shift “does not happen by magic” and required “changes and simple fixes to how we work as a team”, including changing the default length of meetings, sharing information inside the charity more promptly and tighter planning of work carried over from day to day.
Waterwise will decide in June whether to make the change permanent from September 2023.
Russell said: The trial has been really positive for us, and as you can see from the report, it has worked really well for the majority of organisations that have done it – and they seem to be going ahead with it [a permanent shift].”
Another charity in the pilot scheme, Scotland’s International Development Alliance, said it had kept up its usual results even on shorter hours.
Frances Guy, its chief executive, said: “The target of a four-day week is to reduce working hours by being more efficient, and that was the real eye-opener.
“The pilot has been a positive experience, with staff reporting improved personal wellbeing and decreased stress.
“We are pleased as a member organisation to have demonstrated that it is possible to maintain results on reduced hours and hope our members will benefit from our experience.
“We would be happy to share our learnings with other interested organisations.”
The analysis found that improved staff wellbeing was the “most extensive benefit” of shifting to a shorter week, although the data shows that it also became easier to recruit and retain staff.
The overwhelming majority of participants in the trial – 92 per cent – said they would continue with a four-day week now the programme had ended, with just under 30 per cent saying they had already made the change permanent.
A third charity that participated in the pilot, Debt Justice, said: “Our staff have been working shorter hours and we have seen no drop in the outcomes we are committed to delivering… instead staff are feeling more rested, energised and productive.”