I own a small online based business with 14 employees. Because we handle credit card information, we don't allow work from home due to possible PCI compliance network insecurities
Business hours are were Mon-Fri from 9am-6pm.
I've been hearing so many good things about this 4 day work week thing, that I thought to myself, “you know what? Fuck it. Sales have gone up because of the pandemic and we're doing good. Why not?”
So I setup a company meeting and I announced that we would be trialing a 4 day work week with NO ADDITIONAL HOURS and THE SAME PAY FOR EVERYONE for 3 months.
Everyone was fucking over the moon like I was handing out end of year bonuses. I told them all we'd be working the same hours, but only Mon-FriThurs.
The following month was one of the best, performance wise I've ever had. I thought it was a fluke. It was not. The next month was just as good.
I thought it was maybe a coincidence, so when the third month's performance was on the same level of a “good” month on the old schedule, I knew I was on to something with this 4 day work week.
So I called another meeting and told them I was trialing it for 6 more months. Everyone was so ecstatic you'd think they were kids being told they were going to Disney Land for the first time.
The vibe in the office changed. Suddenly everyone was in a good mood like they just got laid the night before. Everyday. People were planning short 4 day vacations whenever a national holiday lined up with the days off. And they were coming back to the office as energized as a new employee trying to prove themself.
Those 6 months showed NO DECREASE whatsoever in productivity. When I thought back to how things were, I felt like I was wasting everybody's time having them work 5 days a week before I implemented this new schedule.
From time to time I'd get pulled aside by some employees and they'd ask me if I was planning on extending the trial a little longer, but I kept them in the dark. I already made up my mind. This shit was going to permanent. I didn't want to tell them though. I wanted it to be a surprise.
When that 6th month was almost ending, I could feel the collective mood in the office slightly dissipate. I overheard some of the workers say that this last month felt like a long case of the Sunday blues. I could tell that they were dreading going back to a 5 day work week. Even Stevie Wonder could see it.
That last day came and I called a meeting at the end of the shift. I had on a poker face and didn't want to give it away yet.
I congratulated everyone on their performance and how great things were in a way which made it seem like a huge “but” was about to come up. And that's what I did.
I said verbatim…
“But… we're ending the trial…. I'm making it permanent.”
MFers were acting like they hit the lottery. And I would never go back.