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The reality of a 4-day working week for SMEs

We all know how the pandemic brought change to working practices and flexibility of how we work but is a 4-day working week a realistic and practical idea for all?

Being out and about with customers over the last few weeks allowed me to ask how the talk of a 4-day working week would impact their business and what, if any, opportunities it presented.

The LemonZest USP is that we offer round-the-clock event and production services based on customer needs that require us to be flexible and reactive. Our customers cover all industries from the public sector, retail, charities, service sector providers, software companies and more, so it’s been interesting to hear a wide range of opinions.

Back in 1926, Henry Ford standardised the Monday – Friday pattern of work. Common practice was a 6-day working week that included a Saturday. In the events and hospitality sector, a ‘standard’ 5-day working week is rather uncommon. The industry operates at often unsociable hours and frequently across every day of the week.

Without carefully planned changes the risk is that 4 days impacts productivity and the stress of working longer days to squeeze the same work into a shorter week.

One of the customers I spoke to was concerned about longer days and shorter breaks that would present unmanageable workloads. We spoke about the impact on teamwork as the focus changes to ‘getting the job done’. Both of us felt that this changes the work culture and teamwork dynamics. One customer who had implemented more flexible working practices around working from home said they struggle to get the teamwork ethos to as it was pre-pandemic as there is less face-to-face office working and more remote/hybrid working.

There is also the economic impact on productivity and profits to consider. Ultimately, costs will need to be absorbed and it remains to be seen if this is viable for SMEs or even larger companies. It seems that it is not viable for all organisations.

One customer who works in the hospitality sector thought the staffing and scheduling of staff would cause extra stress and is likely to mean extra work for others. With possible staffing/schedule gaps, this would likely cause extra expenses on outsourcing work, hiring extra staff and training new staff.

This brought us onto the topic of the current labour market issues. The ONS reported last week that there are a record high number of job vacancies – with more vacancies than people unemployed. The hospitality industry is just one industry struggling to fill and cover vacancies as it is, and that is without the possibility of trying to recruit additional staff to backfill/cover.

It is an interesting topic and one that does potentially cause a divide between small/larger businesses as a larger business has the luxury to test the practicalities and take the brunt of the impact. Smaller businesses have leaner structures and are potentially a more vulnerable group.

I’m interested to hear your views on how your business would cope and operate productively without detriment to your clients.