A Four Day Work Week… For The Summer, At Least. Why Not?

I have observed that, for many reasons, many small businesses slow down over the summer. It could be the seasonality of some goods or services offered, it could be because local schools and universities are on break so the students and faculty are gone for a couple of months. It could just be that many people take vacations and thus are uninterested in your service or product one any given week or two. If people head for the beaches and clear out of town, it may reduce your market for the summer. And on it goes. Whatever the reason, for many, the summer is frequently a lot slower business-wise than the rest of the year.

Why not take advantage of it and provide Fridays off during the summer? I do this in my office. We have all agreed to work an extra hour during the week, but we take Friday off. I was going to take Fridays off this summer and I decided that if it was good for me, it was good for my employees as well, so that is the policy I have implemented. Of course, our clients come first, so they have our cell phone numbers and should there be any “emergency” or necessity to communicate, we are quite available. However, for all intents and purposes, we have the day off. Three day weekends all summer and it is terrific.

Has productivity gone down? No, it’s up, actually. Is everyone happy? You bet. Are they working the extra hour to compensate? Absolutely.

So, what do I gain? A very happy workforce, both very productive and very committed. What did it cost me? In my analysis, nothing.

Obviously, this will not work for every business. Certainly retail cannot shut down for a Friday or a long weekend, and many other types of service businesses also cannot tolerate such a program, but some can. Those that can are often prevented from doing so by notions that such an act is costly and will reduce revenues. Not so. If  planned well and managed properly, it is a win/win for everyone.

We cannot be overly concerned about being generous. In the end, treating our employees better builds commitment, longevity and develops quality organizations. This is one way to add value to the job and to your business.