Working 4 out of 5 days ain’t bad!

How to handle work-time adjustments with your team.

One of your team members tells you that she has time to spare during her work week. Now she’d like to move to a four-day work week. She’s a solid contributor, and has been hitting her goals. The company went through a layoff earlier. After losing some of friends, she also lost her trust in the company. With her spare time, she’d like to establish a second income stream so she’s prepared for any possible downturn. Despite receiving other job inquiries, she’d like to stay with the current company — working four days per week.

In theory there are things to like about a four day work week.

Shorter work weeks let people better balance their work and person matters. The arrangement minimizes the amount of distractions during working hours. Doctors appointments, kids events, car service, and all of life’s little maintenance work can comfortably be handled without interfering with your office days.

Often work expands to fill the amount of available time. It may be surprising to see the same amount of work getting done one day faster. Some companies have had great successes with four day work weeks. Shorter work weeks can force people to be more focused and productive during their working hours.

But how would this work in practice? Would it be beneficial, or would it be bad for work ethic? There are a lot of perspectives to consider.

The Preparation

Before jumping into action, we need to understand what’s really going on. What is the context? What is the background? What are the facts? Here’s what you need to think about:

1. The Company
2. The Company Culture
3. The Role
4. The Individual (the personal stuff!)

1. The Company

Before diving into the details of this particular request, we need to consider the larger context. If the company had a layoff earlier in the year, it’s possible that the company is in difficult spot. Perhaps your team size has been reduced. Meanwhile expectations have likely grown.

• What’s the company’s current situation?
• How is the company and the team performing against its goals?
• What does the company need to accomplish its goals?

2. The Company Culture

The general norms and behaviors at the company also come into play.

Some companies are more relaxed than others when it comes to working hours. The most progressive approach is to focus on setting ambitious company goals, and making sure they are met. People are paid and measured for their ability to get things done, rather than for showing up at an office. It’s about being productive and effective, not about punching a time clock.

Nonetheless, plenty of companies still mandate the classic nine to five workday. If everyone is on the same schedule, it can quickly draw negative attention when one person works fewer hours or days.

• How does the company typically approach flexible schedules and remote working?
• Does this company’s culture value time spent in the office? Do peers pay attention to how much time people spend in the office? Does management pay attention to how many hours people spend in the office?
• Are people measured by their results, or by time spent in the office?

Furthermore, compensation and benefits are traditionally determined based on a full work week. If she chooses to reduce her working time, company standards may require a commensurate cut in salary and benefits.

3. The Role

Reducing the work time of a team member has a broader impact. The person is part of a team and contributes to the broader organization.

• How does the role fit into the company’s current goals?
• How important is the role to the company’s future strategy?
• How will the role change? Will the workload for this role grow, or will shrink?

Some roles are easier to manage part-time than others. For example, a customer support team knows that certain hours need to be covered. If a team member wants to reduce hours, then you would need to hire someone else to fill the gap. The gap is straightforward to calculate, and the onboarding of a new team member is relatively small. However, if she’s the only sales person in a territory, or managing a team of engineers, it may be hard to accomplish the role part-time. There will be demands from customers and peers that require attention during the full work week.

It’s great that the team member is currently hitting all of her goals. Could she continue to do this with reduced hours? If so, perhaps she is able to take on more responsibility at the company. Rather than maintaining her current role, how can she grow her skills. This would benefit the company, and help her advance in her career. Should she choose to leave later on, she will also have a stronger background to market to potential employers.

Broadening the view beyond the individual, how is the team performing? Are her peers overloaded with work, or are they equally underwhelmed? If others are struggling to accomplish their objectives, what’s causing this? It’s worth digging in if there are notable differences among team members. Is everyone contributing equally? Is everyone clear about their role? If so, perhaps the team member could spend some of her available time coaching peers to help them be equally successful.

Finally, consider how difficult she would be to replace. Also evaluate if her salary is in line with the current market rate. If she has fallen behind, a replacement might be more expensive than increasing her salary. A raise may also resolve her desire to create second income stream.

• Is it hard to find a person qualified to fill this role, or could you find a more experienced person with ease?
• Does she possess any unique skills that are important to the company’s strategy?
• If she leaves the company, what gap does she leave behind?

4. The Individual — The Personal Stuff

The key question is: what problem is she trying to solve by her reduced working time?

Sure, spending every waking hour at work can cause a lot of problems. Personal matters, family, hobbies can be forced to take a backseat. Over time that becomes taxing. Moving to a four day week can help restore balance if work has taken over. There could also be health or family reasons that require her to reserve one work day. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case with this team member.

This team member lost trust in the company during the layoffs. Unfortunately that trust has not recovered. It’s worth understanding this topic fully, as she may not be the only team member feeling this way. Perhaps she is observing specific behavior that makes her skeptical. What’s more, this will have major impact on her commitment to the company. If she doesn’t feel part of the company, she will be less passionate about her work. Even though she’s hitting her goals, the company may no longer be the best fit for her.

Despite her expressed desire to stay with the company, she’s moving away from the company. This is clear from her motivation to build a second income stream. Rather than using her spare time to grow her role at the company, she wants to reduce her commitment to the company.

If her motivation was simply career progress, she might grow her role and spend evenings working on a second income stream. Managers need to harness this ambition and find a role at the company that allows her to engage and grow.

The Plan

Based on the considered context of the situation, we can put together an action plan. Here’s how to handle this situation skillfully:

1. Don’t respond immediately
2. Check the precedent
3. Get personal
4. Review the role and goals
5. Go through the options to move forward

What not to do

1. Don’t respond immediately

Before making a decision, take the time to fully understand the situation and broader context. This topic won’t be resolved in the first conversation. Take the time to prepare yourself for a thoughtful conversation so you can make the arrive at the best option together.

What to do

2. Check the precedent

People need to be treated fairly and consistently across the company. Research if other team members have adjusted work weeks, and how their situation is structured. Have there been any requests that have been denied? This will provide you with guard rails for what is already acceptable at the company. Keep in mind that this will vary, based on factors such as the role or seniority. If she is the first person in her role to ask for an adjusted work week, consider what precedent it would set for the future.

• What happens when other members of the team ask for an adjusted work week?
• Can the business succeed with people working adjusted work weeks?

Compensation is a key component of the work week. If she is a salaried employee, her pay may need to be adjusted to reflect the reduction in work hours. Other benefits, such as vacation days, may be affected as well. If she maintains the same salary, she would effectively receive a 20% raise by reducing her work week from five to four days. Is this a fair approach that other team members would also receive if adjust their work schedule?

3. Get personal

Before diving into the solution, you need to be clear on the problem. Take the time to inquire and fully understand her motivation, and what change she hopes to effect with an adjusted work week. Perhaps she feels that she’s underpaid or overqualified for her current role, and is looking outside of the company to grow herself and her income.

• What is her goal for the second income stream?
• What makes it difficult for her to trust the company?
• What makes her want to stay at the company when she is receiving inquiries from other potential employers?

Part of the problem is her lack of trust in the company. What is making her feel this way? Regardless of her work schedule, this issue needs to be addressed. She may be happier at another company where she feels trusted. A move may also enable her to find a role that stretches her, or can more easily accommodate her desired schedule. Ultimately it’s better for the company and the team member if the role is filled by someone that’s fully passionate about it.

4. Review the role and the goals

Together with her, review her current role and how it fits into the broader team and company. Discuss how her current goals help the company accomplish its strategy, and how this will evolve in the future. In preparation, this discussion is worth having with everyone on the team.

• Is the role clear to everyone?
• Are the goals in the line with the company strategy?
• Would her adjusted work week disrupt how the team behaves and works together?

This will show whether her concerns are isolated or shared by the team. Perhaps some team members could be overwhelmed while others are spending time on the wrong priorities. If it turns out that she is a top performer, there may be great opportunities to leverage her skills more effectively. She could help coach team members, and take on more responsibility to help the whole team grow. Conversely, if there are simply no additional challenges for her to conquer, the role may not be needed full time.

• What else could she do with the extra time as part of her role?
• Can the role be expanded to give her development opportunities?

5. Consider Alternatives

As you discuss and clarify her goals, a number of possible alternatives to an adjusted work week may emerge. This could include a different structure, a different role, or perhaps moving to a different company that better meets her needs.

• Does her work week need to be 4 days? Could it be 40 hours in 4 days? Or could it be 32 hours in 5 days?
• Could she use vacation days to regularly reduce her work days?
• Is there a different role in the company that would allow her to accomplish her goals?

6a. Yes! Move the team member to an adjusted work week.

A reduced work schedule might be exactly what this team member needs, and the company might be able to accommodate it while still accomplishing its goals. In that case: go for it! The company’s isn’t hindered, and the team members contribution might increase. Now she is able to maintain the balance that she needs to feel and perform her best.

As you plan for the adjusted schedule, make sure very clear about her role, her goals, and what is expected of her. For example: should she respond to urgent messages on her day off? Share this with the team so everyone is aware of how she will be contributing and collaborating moving forward.

Even if all signs are positive, it can be a good idea to start with a trial period. Pick a three to six month period to see if the adjusted schedule is working. Is she still hitting her goals? Is the able to perform as before? Determining these questions in advance allows everyone to evaluate the arrangement objectively. If the team still performs after the trial period, you can make the arrangement permanent. If not, you have a predefined checkpoint to make adjustments or move back to the previous work schedule.

6a. No. Decline the request.

In many cases a reduced work week won’t be a feasible forward. The role and the team might require her to be available for the full week. The company may also be at a stage where it can’t sustain the precedent this would set. Whatever the reason, explain why you’ve reached the decision.

What’s more, this is a great opportunity to continue the dialogue about the team members happiness at work. Moving forward, how can her needs and her role match more holistically? Is this still the role for her? The right company?

Have you faced a similar situation? We’d love to hear your challenges and experiences.

Interested in talking further? Don’t hesitate to send us a note.

Good luck & looking forward to hearing from you!