By | Bruce M. Anderson | www.linkedin.com
Andrew Barnes, the founder of Perpetual Guardian, an estate planning firm in New Zealand, made the four-day workweek a permanent policy at his business in 2018. The following year he published a white paper extolling the benefits of the shorter workweek. At the time, his vision seemed a pipe dream, extremely noble but highly implausible.
Every visionary must stand alone. Initially.
Now employees and employers, governments and businesses are lining up behind Andrew, embracing his enthusiasm for a shorter workweek. With the increased focus on employee well-being, on attracting and retaining talent (without breaking the bank), and on the need to evaluate employees on performance rather than attendance, the timeline to the four-day workweek has become, well, shorter.
“Whoever cracks the four-day workweek,” says Marta Riggins, employer brand and employee engagement strategic consultant, “is going to win the talent war, because that’s going to be the new in-demand perk.”
In LinkedIn’s recent Global Talent Trends report, we focused on the reinvention of company culture, with particular attention to flexibility and well-being. Read on to see how the shorter workweek can help with both.