In the last few weeks, companies in Sweden and the U.S. have been making considerations towards lowering the standard working day from eight hours to six. The idea is that this will increase the efficiency of production compared to an eight-hour day. Moreover, there will be more satisfied employees and higher profits.
In some companies, even a five-hour workday has been introduced. These companies argue that the eight-hour working day no longer fits the current times and trends.
Companies that have shorter working days for their employees still pay the same amount. This is because the productivity of the employees remains the same. Furthermore, it is much easier to recruit new employees when it is known that they pay the same salary for twenty five percent less hours of work.
Productivity
There are a number of reasons why lowering the number of working hours by twenty five percent does not adversely affect productivity:
• People are not machines. Eight hours sitting behind a desk does not imply eight hours of productivity.
• Employees only work for a few hours.
• Shorter working days lead to employees having a better division of energy, making employees happier.
• According to research, happiness boosts productivity.
• The sense of scarcity. If employees feel that their time is valuable, they're smarter with their time and make them better priorities.
Not all companies and organisations can use a six-hour workday. For example, hospitals and the police force could never legitimise such short hours with their current staff. However, knowledge workers whose jobs are mainly behind a desk, a shorter workday is always possible.
Implementing a six-hour working day
When justifying a six-hour workday, think of the eighty-twenty rule; eighty percent of productions comes from twenty percent of the effort. Evaluate the day and figure our where the twenty percent lies, and eliminate the rest. Here are a number of ways you can do this:
• A good start is to limit the time you read e-mail.
• Switching to a manufacturing mentality also helps, where you measure work not by hours taken, but by output.
• Knowledge workers commonly do not get paid by the hour. Their employer will pay them for their shower thoughts, as well as their late night musings.
• For many organisations, it is not needed to be always availiable for your customers. If your customers know when they can come to you, then they can get back to you.
• Make use of technology to work more efficiently. If you have time constraints, think carefully about how you can use technology to improve your workload. Automate packing orders, use e-mail auto-responders, even providing customers with comprehensive FAQ pages help shift the dependence of your customers from you, onto easy to use technology. It's all much more efficient, but this is now hidden by man hours.
• Be flexible in your hours. Sometimes, something extra pops up. Take the opportunity to set your schedule as the situation demands.
• Teach your employees to deal with distractions. The whole day is screaming for our attention. Messages and emails continue to pour and colleagues keep asking questions. We can work much more productive by learning how to deal with distractions.
Source: P&O Actueel