Fewer Working Hours Equals Greater Productivity
One extra day off per week impacts positively on our well-being, delivers the required work-life balance, reduces our stress levels, and increases motivation. Very few of us would, however, believe that our work output would remain the same or even increase if we worked 30 instead of 37.5 hours a week.
In partnership with a Dutch private university Global DiVision accompanied field tests that were carried out by a business consultancy company. Over a period of 12 weeks all 160 employees were given Fridays off – but their salary remained the same. The findings were astonishing.
The amount of work that was completed remained the same. Productivity increased so much that the additional day off had no impact whatsoever on work output. Contrastingly, levels of motivation, commitment, and mutual empowerment rose significantly over the course of the study. Stress levels dropped from 45 to 38 percent; work-life balance satisfaction went up from 54 to 78 percent.
“Managers also told us that their employees even became more creative thanks to the model experiment while their customer focus also improved,” reports a delighted Dr. Monika V. Kronbügel (PhD.), CEO of Global DiVision.
In the meantime several other comparable field experiments have been carried out, all of which produced similar findings. An increasing number of companies are rethinking their working hours models. Global DiVision now has inquiries from existing clients in 16 countries who would like to carry out the same kind of pilot project.