The nitty gritty of how this Aussie business made the four-day work week work

At Beaumont People we were one of the early adopters of the four-day work week, after our founder, Nikki Beaumont, heard Andrew Barnes, pioneer of the concept, speak at a conference. We were soon discussing how we might be able to implement the idea.

In our own world-first research into meaningful work, we discovered that in the previous academic studies “hours that allow for free time and rest” had been highlighted as a factor of meaningful work. Simultaneously, the rise of the four-day work week has shown benefits for both workers and organisations alike, including 71% reduced burnout, 65% reduction in sick days, and a 57% reduction in staff turnover, according to Swinburne University. 

The core objective of a four-day work week is simple: team members who are on a full-time five-day a week contract continue to get paid for five days whilst working only four. However, like a lot of leaders, my initial reaction was sceptical. How would we maintain our 7.30am-5.30pm five days a week schedule? Could there be potential entitlement issues? Would our service quality and compliance metrics falter? What about clients and jobseekers, would they go elsewhere? Not to forget the existing four-day week employees when we hadn’t budgeted for a 20% salary surge. 

Eventually, we agreed a trial was the best way to test it and to trust our people to devise the solutions.

We unveiled the plan at our annual conference in August 2019, to a spectrum of reactions from excitement to cynicism. Leveraging the de Bono groups’ six thinking hats methodology, we workshopped different aspects: the facts needed, the potential positives, the risks and problems, the feelings and intuitions, the creative solutions, and the thinking process required. This gave us some preliminary thoughts to consider. 

Subsequently, we extended an invite to any interested employees, at any level, to join a working group to delve into the specifics, with the objective of creating a recommendation to our executive leadership for implementation. Whilst I chaired that group, my job was only to facilitate the conversation and provide feedback on their procedural approach.

Productivity guidelines by role

After a bout of over-engineering solutions, which even addressed issues unrelated to the four-day week framework, our team arrived at a breakthrough: productivity guidelines categorised by role type. This entailed outlining precise measurable outcomes necessary to qualify for the four-day work week. Encompassing all our role types, these benchmarks spanned from the receptionist through to myself, the managing director. These standards were set at a level higher than mere acceptability but beneath our top-performer tiers.

Next came the debate around the specific nature of these guidelines. They couldn’t be solely financial metrics, as not all positions generate revenue, and they needed to embrace aspects like service quality and compliance. A series of workshops led to the final guideline framework, also providing clarity on the increased effort required for any part-timers requesting to transition to full-time to participate.

In January 2020, we announced the launch of a four-month trial commencing on February 1. Employees post probation and already meeting the productivity guidelines became eligible. Assessed monthly, those failing to meet their productivity guidelines would lose their four-day week privilege the following month, regaining it any month after meeting the guidelines again. 

Initially, it was a great success, but the Covid pandemic halted our trial for six months before it was resumed in late 2020. The four-day work week has been in place consistently ever since.

We’ve never looked back

It has been a resounding success for Beaumont People. Measuring output instead of hours has been good for our team, but also good for our leaders. The team is now steadfast in its desire to maintain its performance even as the market conditions are changing. It’s improved our business performance – we experienced the reported benefits of reduced burnout and sick days. It’s also been a powerful tool for our employee value proposition, in a time of extreme talent shortage. 

While it was challenging to figure out how we would implement a four-day work week, the concept of productivity guidelines has opened more doors to meaningful work for all involved. 

Nina Mapson Bone is the author of Meaningful Work: Unlock your unique path to career fulfilment, and managing director of Beaumont People.