Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 32

* * * WORK SMART
What's the Deal with
" W
Shorter Work Weeks?
Freeing up 8 hours a week may (or may not) be the answer
Fast forward to the early 21st century and the
BY MALIK ANDERSON
orking five days, 40 hours a week
is so early 2000s, " they say. By
" they " I mean several articles all over
the web about tech companies in the United
States and Europe
toying with the idea
of implementing fourday
work weeks in an
attempt to increase
productivity and reevaluate
the work-life
balance of employees.
This topic is nothing new, but since the pandemic
the conversation of expanding the weekend
has been injected with new life, as people began
to place greater priority on their health and general
well-being.
Destinations around the globe have stated their
intent to put the shorter work week into practice;
the United Kingdom is already on it. On June 6,
the U.K. launched the largest four-day work week
pilot program ever, consisting of 70 companies
and more than 3,000 employees across various
workplaces, to test how well companies can operate
at scale when putting it into practice. The trial
will last for six months.
Similar six-month trials are being run in New
Zealand, Australia and Asia-Pacific; in the United
States, Ireland, Spain and Canada, tests are to
begin this fall.
Why the Four-day
Work Week Is Back
Talk of the four-day work week first found its way
into the conversation in the early 20th century,
even before the five-day work week was even the
standard. Workers of the Ford Motor Company
had their work weeks shortened from six days to
five days at the behest of the then-progressive
Henry Ford. When calls were made by employees
to shorten it again from five days to four, their calls
went unheard.
32
OCTOBER 2022 * s m a r t m e e t i n g s . c o m
This topic is nothing new, but since
the pandemic the conversation of
expanding the weekend has been
injected with new life, as people
began to place greater priority on
their health and general well-being.
relationship between employer and employee is
vastly different than the days of Ford employees
and their assembly lines. What employees want
from the companies they
work for has changed,
and the power has shifted,
albeit slightly.
For example, the
request for work-life balance,
something unheard
of until relatively recently,
is something 60% of employees now expect from
employers, according to a study by JLL focusing
on employee well-being. Seventy-five percent of
these employees also say they're struggling to find
the time or energy to incorporate habits conducive
to their physical health and well-being. Perhaps
this is where the extra 24 hours comes into play.
What Are the Places
That Have Done It Saying?
The results of practicing the four-day work week
vary. While some workplaces have been able to
introduce the shortened week and keep it going
with much success, others brought it into the workplace
and received the exact opposite response.
A study conducted in Iceland from 2015 to 2019
found that working shorter working hours were
strongly correlated to greater productivity. The
five-year study, which included 2,500 workers from
workplaces such as preschools, offices and hospitals,
was met with success. Employees reported
feeling less stressed and at risk of burning out and
86% of Iceland companies now have the right to
implement the shortened workweek if they choose.
In the summer of 2019, Microsoft trialed a fourday
workweek in Japan and the company reported
productivity, measured by sales per employee,
rose by nearly 40%.
Other companies such as Alter Agents, a market
research consultancy firm in Los Angeles,
found trouble adjusting to a 32-hour work week.
Alter Agents' 10-week experiment didn't work for
several specific reasons: everyone didn't have the
same day off, some employees continued to work
on their off day and a lack of communication
among employees.
Generational Sentiment Varies
Much like the results companies reported when
running four-hour work weeks, employees' feelings
about the concept are not unanimous. In
a study of more than 1,000 people, technology
platform company Qualtrics found that 92% of
employees would support their employer introducing
a four-day work week, for reasons including
an improved work-life balance and greater productivity.
However, concerns were voiced by 55%
of respondents about how reduced hours may
impact customer experience.
While most were in favor of implementing a fourday
work week, sentiment about how this would
affect sales was split down middle, with 46% saying
a four-day work week would have a negative
impact on sales and revenue, while 47% believe it
would have no impact.

Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue

October Cover
Table of Contents 1
Table of Contents 2
Online Exclusives
Bright Perspective
Founder/CEO's Letter
Dash of Smart
Dash of Smart
Essential List
Smart Buzz
Smart Recap
New & Renovated
Essential F&B
Smart Moves
Smart Chat
Meetings MBA
Work Smart
Healthy World
Smart Tech
Smart Style
Feature: Airline Outrage
Feature: Incentive Hyperdrive
Feature: Oh the Destinations You Will Go
Destination: Tennessee
Destination: New England
Destination: California's Central Coast
Site Inspection: Louisville, Kentucky
Site Inspection: Birmingham, Alabama
Site Inspection: Reno, Nevada
Smart Space
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - October Cover
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Cover2
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 1
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 2
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 3
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Table of Contents 1
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 5
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Table of Contents 2
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 7
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Online Exclusives
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 9
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Founder/CEO's Letter
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 11
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Dash of Smart
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 13
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Dash of Smart
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 15
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Essential List
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 17
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Smart Buzz
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 19
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Smart Recap
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 21
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - New & Renovated
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 23
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Essential F&B
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 25
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Smart Moves
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 27
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Smart Chat
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 29
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Meetings MBA
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 31
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Work Smart
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 33
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Healthy World
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 35
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Smart Tech
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 37
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Smart Style
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 39
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Feature: Airline Outrage
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 41
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 42
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 43
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Feature: Incentive Hyperdrive
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 45
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 46
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 47
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 48
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 49
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Feature: Oh the Destinations You Will Go
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 51
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 52
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 53
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 54
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 55
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 56
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 57
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Destination: Tennessee
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 59
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 60
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 61
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 62
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Destination: New England
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 64
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 65
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 66
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 67
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Destination: California's Central Coast
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 69
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 70
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - 71
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Site Inspection: Louisville, Kentucky
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Site Inspection: Birmingham, Alabama
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Site Inspection: Reno, Nevada
Smart Meetings October 2022 Digital Issue - Smart Space
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com