Have you heard of the 100:80:100 rule? It’s a working-hours model, designed to help businesses implement compressed working. The rule is simple. It states that employees will receive 100% pay, while working 80% of the time, if they continue to deliver 100% productivity. In other words, work four days and you can have the fifth day off.
Now, if you think this sounds like employment abracadabra – the equivalent of adding two and two to get five – you wouldn’t be alone. Business owners are right to be sceptical of splashy new theories that promise the impossible. But in fact there’s growing evidence to suggest it actually works.
This spring saw the conclusion of the world’s largest pilot scheme for a four-day working week. Trialled by over 60 organisations and several thousand UK employees – and using the 100:80:100 method – it made some eye-catching discoveries.
By trial-end, 55% of employees said they had experienced an “increase in their ability at work”. The number of staff quitting dropped by 57%. And revenues actually rose by an average of 35% when compared to a similar period from previous years. Perhaps not unconnectedly, 92% of the organisations said they planned to continue with the setup.
Too good to be true?
The four-day week may not be for everyone. Indeed, it’s not practical for some businesses. Yet the pilot does raise a point we’ve been making at HRS4B for some time. Which is this: that while it’s tempting to see rigid workplace hours as the best measure of an employee’s productivity, it’s actually more effective in the long run to focus on their output. That, contrary to what we often think, offering more freedom actually leads to an improved business culture – and, potentially, a better bottom line.
Here’s why we say that.
5 benefits of an “output focus”
It might be compressed hours. It might be offering latitude around when and how often your employees come into the workplace. Either way, there are some well-evidenced arguments for promoting flexibility over the traditional 9-to-5.
Encourages smarter working
Most of us know that working crazy hours doesn’t really increase output. One Stanford study found that employees who clocked up 70 hours per week actually achieved no more than people who worked for 56. Perhaps the best argument for the 100:80:100 model is that an employee who buys into it is incentivised to make it work. The only way to take more time off is to get more done in less time. And the only way to do that is to streamline workflows and reduce timewasting. Less chat and browsing, more focus.
Creates a better culture
If we’re asking people to spend their premium waking hours at work, it also makes sense to make work as pleasant as possible. That doesn’t necessarily mean investing in a beanbag zone with a free beer tap. It’s about trust. An employee who knows they won’t be censured for leaving early to deal with a childcare crisis, or that they can take time out for a plumbing problem, is likely to be more accommodating in return. A last-minute late shift. The emergency cover when you really need it.
Eliminates ‘drag’
Handing employees more autonomy over working practices may sound… like more hard work. But evidence suggests it actually reduces organisational drag, those bureaucratic processes that gobble up time, particularly as companies expand. Netflix, for example, has a famously curt policy for expense-reporting: “Act in Netflix’s best interest.” (That’s the policy.) “You might think this much freedom would lead to chaos,” they explain. “Instead, it has created an extremely successful business model.”
Improves recruitment
Studies suggest modern jobseekers – the young especially – aren’t so much seeking flexibility at work as expecting it. That may be one reason why so many organisations anticipate big change in this area; a survey by the CIPD found that 34% of businesses think the four-day week will be a reality in the next 10 years. By offering flexible hours, a business owner might find they can attract a whole new category of candidate. A highly-experienced mature worker, for example, who might not want to work a five-day week, but would be keen to join for four – or three.
Boosts productivity
The output-over-hours formula can only work if there’s a business case for it. This is where the 4-day pilot played its trump card. The 35% revenue spike suggests employees had bought into it with gusto. One reason, perhaps, is that people’s wellbeing rose as they took more control over their work-life balance. Nearly three quarters felt more satisfied with their use of time; a similar number felt “less burnt out”. The rise in morale, focus and energy levels produced real-world results for their employers.
5 ways to introduce it
So let’s say you were convinced by the business case for output-over-hours and wanted to seed it in your own organisation. Where would you start? Here are some things to consider.
Choose the right approach
Four-day weeks grab headlines, but they aren’t right for all businesses. Fortunately, there are plenty of other ways to approach compressed working. Would a nine-day fortnight (every second Friday is a day off) be more realistic? Or, following PwC’s example last year, how about summer hours? In PwC’s case, this meant employees could leave work at midday on Fridays in June, July and August.
Take people with you
How do you adopt one working pattern over another? Part of the answer will involve carefully canvasing your workforce. What do they think about the idea? Do they actually want to compress their hours? Or would they place more value on flexible start / finishes, or taking time out for GP appointments in return for making up their hours later? Whatever you decide, feedback and collaboration will be key to making it work.
Decide how you’ll measure success
People-related change of this kind can’t happen on a whim. It needs to be part of a strategic HR plan. One part of that will be how you judge if it has actually enhanced the business. One of our clients found call waiting times were a useful metric (they improved significantly). But there are many others: call volume, error rates, retention figures, satisfaction surveys, and so on. This is something we can help you decide.
Trial it
The four-day pilot scheme was, of course, just that – a pilot. Whatever changes you plan to make, you’ll almost certainly want to trial them across the business before you implement them for the long run. A typical trial period might last six months, but quite possibly longer. During this time, you would want to fully assess and document the process as you go.
Put it in contracts
Speaking of documents, any permanent change to the business needs to be reflected in your contracts. Avoiding discrimination is a key part of this. If you plan to roll out hybrid working, or a reduced week, it needs to be weighted fairly – catering also for those employees who, perhaps for personal or medical reasons, may not be so suited to the new arrangements.
The bottom line
If it sounds like output-over-hours is complicated to implement – well, in fairness, it can be. But that’s where we can support and advise you. Ultimately, it all comes down to good planning. Having a clear, well-communicated roadmap in place is the way to tackle a culture change of this kind. But, rightly done, we’re confident it will be worth the effort – both for your employees, and for your business as it grows and develops.
