5-Day Work Week
In today’s fast-paced world, striking a work-life balance is the real deal. Forest Communications strives to help its team maintain a work-life balance by incorporating a 5-day work week. A two-day pause per week has its own plethora of benefits such as good returns in the long term by leading to less stress and providing a healthy and satisfactory life. Apart from the breather that the weekend provides, a 5-day work week is traditionally believed to be more productive. Welcoming fresh mindsets on Mondays is every organization’s dream come true. But mind you, getting fresh mindsets on board is only possible after an ample amount of rest. Believe it or not, another added benefit of a shorter work week is an improvement in staff recruitment and retention. According to the facts, almost three-quarters of people would consider this as the master reason for choosing to work with a specific employer, and rightfully so! Well, what more benefits are there of a five-day work week? Let us dive into it right away.
Firstly, increased productivity is one of the most prominent benefits followed by decreased absenteeism. Job satisfaction yields improved morale and enhances work-life balance helping to avoid burnout. The motivation and focus to work really hard and be productive skyrocket when one knows they’ll later get plenty of time to do what they love and indulge in some alone time. Who wouldn’t love a great day at work and going back to some relaxing time at home! In short, a happier team with great loyalty is the most significant advantage of having a shorter work week.
It is way too easy to get a creative block when kept on working relentlessly. One of the ways to derive more work that is high in quality is by increasing bit of time during the workdays, doing this not only compensates for the weekend time but also helps boost work. The magic is about managing work hours by distributing them differently. It’s not necessary that the team is productive for each and every work hour. There are some common distractions such as multitasking, small talks with co-workers, and meetings. Once distracted it takes at least 20 minutes to get hold of the task at hand. Hence, we realize not every hour is productive and it’s not supposed to be tightly productive as creative breaks are a thing to keep ideas brimming on the surface. That apart, not all businesses are a perfect fit for the criteria of a shorter work week. It’s about what’s best for the clients. No matter the need, figuring out solutions that are tailor-made to suit your business is of utmost importance. It doesn’t make sense to incorporate a shorter work week just because everyone else is doing it. Hence, figuring out if your business is a fit is one of the tedious but much-needed jobs to be done.
Though we discussed all the goodies about having a shorter work week, not everything is rainbows and sunshine. Back to Forest Communications, one of the biggest challenges we face as a 5-day working agency is managing weekend work from the clients and integrating it into our work week. Nevertheless, the light of benefits outshines the disadvantages of having a 5-day work week.
In the end, it’s all about empowering your team to put their best foot forward.