I have written before about my frustration about the lack of traction that organisational psychology seems to have in the workplace (and even with HR's professional body in the UK - the CIPD). Can you imagine any CEO not listening to his engineering managers on the installation of some new plant or disregarding her corporate lawyers input based on current case law? Not a chance!
So CEO you want to know how to motivate your people and improve productivity - then listen to your organisational psychologist (or HR if they are any good and not lost in the detail and creating blockages to change all over the place).
There are however some shoots of hope out there as exemplified by John Medina in his groundbreaking book "Brainrules". Here Medina puts a strong case for organisations to think about peoples brains before making organisational changes. The idea being that a happy brain leads to a happy employee seems pretty obvious to me.
The latest idea is the notion of the 4 day week. Cary Cooper (professor of organisational psychology) and others have been asking us to consider the possibilities of this "radical" change for some time. Some organisations have suggested implementing it including KPMG and others in car manufacturing however this has been financially driven rather than being implemented to give employees a different way of life. Well they do say that good can come of bad and perhaps the credit crunch will lead to more and more organisations introducing the 4 day week....and a good thing too.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
2009 - the year of the 4 day working week?
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Malcolm Gladwell will tell you that there is no such thing as the perfect spaghetti sauce. There are only the perfect spaghetti sauces. (search Gladwell on TED and you'll find his talk)or click here: http://is.gd/1ldV
His point though, is that different people will have different preferences and so, for the greatest general happiness, you have to offer alternatives.
So here's another alternative (is that redundant?) work week: The six-day week.
It's based on a 28-hour day and is ideal for late nighters who would like to be able to stay up all night at the weekend, but work vaguely normal hours during the week. The attached comic kind of sums it up.
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/28_hour_day.png
Greg Stewart
www.clarityrules.com
I think a lot of employees would be happier with the removal of at least half the pointless, mind-numbing, repetitive staff meetings. Of course, without those, you might not be able to fill five days at the office. So if we go to four days, they'll take out the meetings too, right?
As nice as the idea of another 50 free days per year is, I wonder if people would accept a 20% pay cut for that extra day - which would surely be the only way to protect companies' profitability...
I also wonder whether the extra day will end up being spent working anyway! Although that could be done from home which would be a blessing for those who suffer from 'presenteeism' at work.
Also heard lately that the UK's opt-out on the maximum hours per week EU law is to be challenged, which may mean we are all limited in how many hours we can do. So in this instance, this could well lead to those hours being done over 4 days or even 3...
This is an interesting site for EU country comparisons
http://www.fedee.com/workinghours.shtml
In Ireland some employers are starting the 4 day working week, i.e. a 20% pay reduction.
This week we had a presentation with a potential customer and we were informed not to try and communicate with them on Friday as every Friday from next week, until further notice, they will be closed for business.
The reading is grim, see this report from the BBC.
The post has its point. My idea is, to have a survey on what would be the best option. A 4 day work, 5 days, or 6 days but a shorter working hour?
With this, the manager will get all responses and then balance the answers on what will be the best option.
I wonder whether the extra day will end up being spent working anyway! Although that could be done from home which would be a blessing for those who suffer from 'presenteeism' at work.
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