Separation of work and personal life or integration of work and personal life? Separate professional life from personal life or integrate it so that everything becomes more fluid and less interrupted? These are two mental patterns inherited from Covid that have characterized the daily lives of many workers in recent years, driven to leave their company in search of better conditions. This was the well-known phenomenon of the Great Retreats, born of a great desire for change. The same thing that prompted many countries, from the UK to Japan, to successfully experiment with short work week. After forced remote work, an interim period of smart work, and a return to presence, companies decided to promote the reduction of the working day from five to four.
A short week in France was a success
The last (successful) experiment was carried out in France., where a small Lyon company specializing in energy management offered its employees a four-day week for six months, for a total of thirty-two hours for office workers and thirty-five for managers. Result? Positive, according to what the Elmy newspaper quoted by Aghi said. “OUR daily breaks have been reduced from almost 40 minutes to 34, and the lunch break was reduced by half an hour”, but the overall productivity increased, and we managed to achieve better work optimization. more than halved, the average meeting length was reduced from 63 to 54 minutes, and the share of employees increased from 23% to 48%.
After satisfactory results obtained in England, confirmation also came from France. time has become the most valuable asset. Time to devote to yourself, sports, hobbies, family, as well as personal growth and health, which has been so neglected during the dramatic period of Covid. Knowing that you can count on one day off a week to be able to handle bureaucratic tasks, get a health check we’ve been putting off for too long, or just get closer to what makes us feel good is a great way to have more well-rested, motivated and well-trained staff. In fact, employees often lack the time needed to learn and improve their skills, which inevitably affects personal satisfaction and productivity.
However, the short week model still does not convince everyone. In Picardy, Ursaf’s agents complained about the nine-hour workday, which resulted in only three of the 200 agents deciding to join the experiment. An explanation can also be found in the fact that, according to Le Monde, for some employees, the desire for flexibility may be sacrificed for higher remuneration (66%), job security (40%) and job satisfaction (37%).. In short, the model does not convince everyone, but out of the approximately 10,000 employees who participated in the experiment, the level of satisfaction was very high. A sign that working four days a week is no longer a pipe dream, even for our cousins across the Alps. And what are we waiting for?
Source: Elle