The days are getting longer, brighter and warmer, and there’s nowhere workers want to be farther from their desks on a summer afternoon.
This is why L’Oréal, Asos and Nike have all joined the growing list of companies allowing staff to leave work between noon and 3:30 p.m. on Fridays during the summer months.
The concept isn’t new, dating back to the New York advertising industry in the 1960s, when executives left work early to head to the Hamptons.
But in recent years, “Summer Fridays” have spread far beyond the big Apple while countries like Iceland, New Zealand, Japan and the UK are adopting the four-day working week.
Only in Great Britaincompanies that reduced their work week to 32 hours saw a 65% reduction in the number of sick days taken, an improvement in productivity and a 57% drop in the likelihood of an employee quitting, dramatically improving the job retention.
So, for employers who cannot afford to permanently reduce staff working hours while maintaining full pay, reducing the workweek only during the warmer months when business is trending anyway to be calmer, could be an interesting alternative.
Summer Fridays: Productivity gains
THE research is clear: long working hours are detrimental to our mental and physical health.
Thus, any benefit in terms of well-being and productivity obtained by working a shorter week would be canceled out by asking staff to work four more days to compensate for the free time.
But when companies do allow staff to work less, it’s not just good for their well-being, it’s also good for business: just like what adopters of the four-week trial days have found, companies like Dampen who tried “Summer Fridays” reported increased productivity.
“From a psychological perspective, condensing our working hours can create a sense of urgency, in which procrastination may seem less appealing,” says psychotherapist Eloise Skinner, founder of The Purpose Workshop and author of But are you alive?.
“Shortened working hours can also have the benefit of allowing us to work when we are most energetic and engaged, thereby increasing our productivity, rather than leaving our tasks until the very end of the week, when levels exhaustion may be higher and the energy is sinking.”
Experts have already echoed Fortune that encouraging staff to speed up their work and maximize their productivity earlier in the week can reduce Sunday night burnout and anxiety.
“In a world that often prioritizes efficiency, production and output, summer hours can bring a sense of respect, personalization and independence to the workplace, acknowledging that our lives are changing at change with the seasons and that different times may require different patterns of work,” adds Skinner. .
But why limit flexibility to the summer?
Although many companies are considering “Summer Fridays” as a morale-boosting alternative to a four-day work week, experts have warned Fortune that popular advantage could have the opposite effect.
With longer daylight hours in the summer, workers have plenty of time to enjoy their evening and “get the required dose of vitamin D,” even if they work until after 5 p.m.
“Is summer the time when you least need to cut worker hours?” Andy Brown, CEO of Engage, asks employers.
With nightfall arriving shortly after 3 p.m. in the dead of winter, Brown believes employees would benefit more from greater flexibility in the winter to make the most of the shorter days.
“We know that during the winter months, with reduced daylight, we are more likely to suffer from depression, some people suffer from seasonal affective disorder,” echoes Amrit Sandhar, CEO and Founder of The Engagement Coach. “While it can be nice to have Fridays off during the summer months, it’s actually during the winter months that we’re most likely to need support.”
Plus, dealing with gloomy weather, shorter days and what feels like eternal darkness in the winter is no easy task, without the added sting of having to adapt to harsh conditions again. longer working hours.
Really, Sandhar thinks the difficult transition to full-time work may even negate the benefits of having a reduced week in the first place.
Much like working from home, employees can feel resentful if they are denied the benefit of working reduced hours when they have shown they could be just as productive if the benefit continued once summer is over.
“As we approach the winter months, it is possible that this will cause greater disengagement than never having offered it at all, especially once we have allowed it to take hold as a method of work, even for five months of the year. ”
Do you want to attract talent or appease customers?
When assessing whether summer hours would be an appropriate substitute for reduced worker schedules, it is worth considering whether attracting talent or making customers available is their top priority.
Realistically, going back to a four-day work week could cut the time customers have to interact with staff by 20% each week.
“We’re hearing plenty of evidence from CEOs in customer-facing industries that the huge increase in flexible working means customers are starting to get frustrated at not being able to access people, advice and responsiveness. “, warns Brown. “At least with summer hours, customers can get some availability for employees on all five days of the workweek.”
After launching a four-and-a-half-day week at his own company, Sandhar agrees that everyone in the company has had to adapt the way they work. For him personally, this meant refusing any meeting on Friday mornings which could lead to an overflow of work in the afternoon.
Also, as Brown warned, keeping the week shorter required their suppliers and customers to participate in the changes.
But while the only major downside to launching a four-day week during summer hours is that the flexibility could be a year-round nuisance for customers, it’s worth remembering that year-round flexibility is also a major benefit for most workers.
As Sandhar puts it, “If the goal is to attract and retain top talent, with the choice between working for a company offering four-day shifts, versus summer shifts, that would be little competition.”