Business Gives Every Employee Wednesdays Off - And Productivity Goes Up

In news you'll want to show your boss immediately, one business has dropped Wednesdays from the working week - and productivity among employees has gone up.

Melbourne-based digital agency Versa shuts up shop on 'Hump Day' but has seen super positive results from staff, making another strong case for the working week to be cut down to four days instead of five.

Employees still do their usual hours (37.5 hours per week) but are only in on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. This works out at around nine and a bit hours a day.

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The Wednesday-less initiative has been in place for around a year now, but the results are in to decipher whether the scheme actually works, and it's looking good.

"We are three times more profitable than we were last year, we have grown by 30 or 40 per cent in the last year in terms of revenue, and we have got happier staff and who are much more productive," chief executive Kathryn Blackham told ABC Australia.

Prior to ditching Wednesdays, Kathryn tried out a number of ideas to allow her staff a more flexible working week, such as giving people random or fixed days.

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However, these proved to be less successful as her team needs to work collaboratively so Kathryn decided to close on Wednesdays instead, offering two two day-long mini-weeks.

The CEO says she saw renewed focus and intensity among employees.

"I know a lot of workplaces have that kind of those Monday morning 'feels', where there's a bit of a vibe in the office, people are bantering back and forward. And in the end you get that kind-of 'hump day' [on Wednesday], which is a little bit harder to do," she said.

"By the time we get to Thursday it's like a Monday again. You get a new feeling of enthusiasm and cracking on with work, collaboration."

MD Jonny Clow said he was originally concerned 20 per cent of revenue would disappear by getting rid of one of the five working days. But this proved not be the case.

The initiative has also meant that Friday is kept as a "proper working day" as employees do their life admin, like doctor's appointments, on Wednesdays.

Emailing this to my boss as we speak...

Topics: Life News

Rachel Andrews

Rachel Andrews is an NCTJ trained Journalist at PRETTY52. She specialises in Fashion and Beauty Journalism, and has experience at a range of online and print publications and joined the team in 2017. Contact her - [email protected]

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