Blount Partnership educates on possibility of a four-day workweek

What if employees only worked four days a week?

That’s the question speakers addressed in an early-morning discussion hosted by Blount Partnership Wednesday morning, April 24. “Unlocking the Four-Day Workweek: A One-Hour Workshop” presented guests with a panel of speakers representing businesses in the area that have already switched to four-day weeks, allowing them to ask questions and contemplate the move for their own employees.

The workshop was part of Blount Partnership’s ongoing Success in 90 series, which educates local businesses on a range of HR topics. The goal, Blount Partnership Vice-President Tammi Ford said, is to help employers gain and keep employees in today’s difficult market.

A four-day workweek doesn’t necessarily mean reducing employee hours. Shelly Strickland of Malibu Boats told guests Wednesday that workers at her company usually work 10-hour shifts Monday through Thursday.

Mary Thompson of Shults Pediatrics said employees at her firm are paid based on a 40-hour workweek but are scheduled for 30-32 hours.

“It gives the employee back their time to be able to do what they need to do,” she said. “So when we need someone to fill in, my providers are more willing to be able to step into that role and see patients. Because they’re not working the full 40, they’re not burned out.”

Besides helping their employees with work/life balance, speakers said they also found they had improved hiring ability. A four-day workweek, Amanda Hurley of the Y-12 National Security Complex said, makes her positions appealing to potential hires and raises the likelihood of old employees staying.

Changing the work schedule isn’t without its issues. Stickland said a common problem she’s encountered with employees is that many doctor’s offices aren’t open on Fridays. Combined with the longer workdays, that means workers at the boat manufacturer often have to take time off to get health care.

Another challenge presented by the longer hours in a shorter time frame is access to child care.

“If you have a young workforce and they have children in day care, and their shift starts at 6:30, does the day care open before 6:30 for them to be able to drop off their children?” Strickland said. “You do run the risk of potentially losing those employees because they don’t have the ability to flex with that type of schedule.”

Since most other businesses are open at least five days a week, Strickland said her company keeps departments like human resources, accounting, engineering and customer service on a five-day schedule so they can better interact with customers.

The biggest challenge to the swap, all three agreed, was coordinating the change. Communicating with employees and customers can make or break switching to a four-day workweek, and Thompson said it took her company about a year to make the switch.

“We started small, analyzed what worked with that process, tweaked it a little bit and then moved forward,” she said.

Blount Partnership presents a new Success in 90 workshop every month, with topics ranging from hiring processes to conflict management. Some, Ford said, come with continuing education credits.