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Team Reusser

Is A 4-Day Work Week Right For Your Company?

Andrew Culbertson
Andrew Culbertson
Content Strategist

Should your business switch to a 4-day work week? We implemented the 4-day work week back in 2013 and recommend these 5 questions before jumping in.


What would you do with an extra day off each week?

Companies across the country are allowing their people to answer that very question. In the wake of status-quo shakeups, many businesses have adopted a four-day work week.

Here at Reusser, we ripped Fridays off the calendar back in 2013. What started out as an experiment blossomed into a core element of our company culture. With nearly a decade of experience under our belt, we’ve made mistakes, evolved, and learned a lot along the way.

Before introducing this idea to your company or pitching it to your boss, here are five questions you must answer:

How Will Four-Day Work Weeks Impact Your Employees?

Get ready to see more smiles. According to one study from the Henley Business School, four-day work weeks made employees 78% happier and 70% less stressed. Turning every weekend into a long weekend is a great way to promote work-life balance. But it’s not for everyone. Whether it’s the longer days or the tighter deadlines, shortened weeks are not ideal for everyone.

> Lesson from Reusser - We started with a two week trial. This gave our employees a chance to try four-day work weeks without making a long-term commitment. Also, we allow for flexible scheduling. Any missed hours can be made up on Fridays. This gives our people the opportunity to step away from the keyboard when life happens.


How Will This Affect Your Customers?

Customers expect open doors, email responses, and answered phone calls. While it’s easy to keep a mental tally of all the ways you benefit from a four-day work week, your customers won’t feel those same perks. Make sure you have a plan before implementing any changes. Depending on your industry, automation tools such as chatbots can help bridge the gap.

> Lesson from Reusser - We notified all clients before making the change. Although it was an adjustment at first, it got easier with every new client because we set the expectation that meetings would not be scheduled and emails would not be responded to on Fridays.


How Many Work Hours Per Week?

40 or 32? That’s the big question. Some employers condense 40 hours into four days. Others trim off those final eight hours while expecting productivity to remain consistent. Both have their drawbacks. 10 hours is a draining workday, but on the other hand, a 20% drop in hours can easily become a 20% drop in revenue. Before making this decision, it’s important to have a strong understanding of your people, your customers, and your industry.

> Lesson from Reusser - We chose 40. Although this can make for long days, we’ve always encouraged our people to take breaks and PTO whenever needed. Work hard, rest hard. Free coffee in the office doesn’t hurt either.


What Metrics Will You Monitor?

You won’t know if your four-day work week is a success or failure unless you look at the metrics. And which data points you decide to follow is key. What is most important to you? Revenue? Projects completed? Customer retention? Also, make sure you establish a baseline before diving in.

> Lesson from Reusser - We focused on employee satisfaction. No matter what else happened, if our people weren’t happy, we knew the experiment would fail.

What Operational Changes Will You Make?

Like a child trying to force a round block into a triangle hole, you can’t expect a calendar overhaul not to impact your day-to-day. That means changes. Where will you start trimming? Fewer meetings? Shorter lunches? Tighter deadlines? While it’s true that tasks often expand to fit the time available, losing an entire day will require sacrifices. Choose wisely.

> Lesson from Reusser - We strive for uninterrupted focus. Sometimes that means adding blocks of time to the calendar, ignoring email, and pausing Slack. There’s nothing like giving your full attention to one task. With fewer days per week, focus is key.



Four-day work weeks are not for everyone, but by giving employees an extra day off, you have the potential to curb burnout and bring in more talent.