Me-time Fridays? Here’s what HR professionals and employees have to say about four-day work week

"As a primary caregiver to my parents, I take care of them when I get an extra day off. I have also learnt to ride a bullet and started taking trips; something that I always wanted to do," says Janani Narasimhan, customer success director at Beroe Inc, one of the earliest Indian companies to successfully implement the four-day work week policy, even before the provision gained attention in the country.

"It's a great feeling to have an extra day in a week as one can plan things and enjoy the weekend. Your morale is boosted and work-life balance is maintained. It also helps many people to pursue their hobbies in real time," Janani adds.

At a time when over 3,000 workers from 70 companies in the UK are undergoing trials for one of the biggest pilot schemes of working four days a week, concerns about employees' well-being, work-life balance and reducing working days have reignited the debate in India too. While Indian companies like Beroe Inc and TAC Security have already introduced the policy, a number of start-ups experimented with it during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic for a month. Though it was a temporary provision, in any case, there has been an increasing push to shifting towards a more flexible work culture rather than focusing on rigid working hours.

Swati Nagpal, who manages diversity inclusion at Cimpress India, was able to pursue Masters in Business Administration (MBA) when the company rolled out a 4.5 working rule as a pilot programme in 2021 for specific departments. The extra hours at hand along with the work-from-home provision left her with enough time to work towards her personal goals alongside professional objectives.

"It mattered more to be in a place where you are more relaxed. I picked up personal hobbies such as painting and creating distil artwork at home. Moreover, there was no rigidity in terms of login and logout time. All that mattered was whether one has completed the work," she adds.

While the four-day work week rule evidently means more time for the employees to invest for themselves, does it end up affecting the company goals? The team leaders and workforce management professionals have a different perspective.

‘Our employee and customer satisfaction scores shot up'

Inspired by the Scandinavian working-style, Beroe Inc, a procurement intelligence company, implemented the four-day work week policy in 2017, at a time when the company was undertaking multiple transitional processes in order to cater to employees' well-being, without compromising on the organisation's requirements.

Anand Narayanan, head of human resources and marketing at the company, who also led the process, says the organisation wanted to shift from the work-hour-led workforce approach to a flexible pattern, where employees could come back relaxed and rejuvenated from an extended weekend. This, he says actually worked and the numbers proved it.

"Attrition rate has been negligible in the past five years. Employee satisfaction score went up to four on five. Productivity went up by 145 percent over those three months. Customer satisfaction has also been at four on five," Narayanan states.

As someone who has been associated with the company for 12 years and has experienced the transition first-hand, Narasimhan recalls initially there were apprehensions about leniency taking over employees' minds, but there wasn't a single instance where the company had to take any counter measures. And the policy has continued for four years now. Surely, there can be Fridays, where something needs to be done. To tackle such situations, different teams have devised methods to effectively complete the work.

"We understand that this is a privilege that we have and we need to work harder to retain it. Our pay and leaves were not at all affected. So, it's a win-win situation for all," she notes.

For Ameya Sane too, ‘Recharge Fridays' at Cimpress India or working for half day on a Friday, was about facilitating a break from mundane work for employees and helping them de-stress. Additionally, the flexible nature of their work enabled them to plan their schedule as per their suitability. "Also, it's not really about the number of hours, anyway. Especially for the kind of work that requires a lot of your cognitive ability. We wanted to further add on to the autonomy that give to our people to select their place of work, select hours, and even flexibility to plan a non-linear work day," explains the human resources director.

Nagpal has been able to save a lot of time by not travelling to office. The four-and-a half working days provision has additionally helped her to fix a schedule and not spread the work for the entire day.

"When you go to office, you might procrastinate. So, I knew my timings and I stuck to it. I think it's a personal call also. If you do not plan, it might create a problem. So, a bit of discipline is also necessary with all the flexibility at hand," she adds.

Is it yet feasible for all Indian companies?

In February 2021, the debate on implementing four-day work week policy in India gained momentum with the Centre proposing new labour codes, which provisioned companies to have a four-day work week. But, this comes with the condition of total 48-hours weekly work being sacrosanct. While experts have flagged concerns related to the legality of working 12 hours a day, workforce management professionals highlight why it may not be a feasible option for all businesses in India.

According to Narayan Bhargava, managing director at Calibehr, a business solutions provider company, it is important to note that the countries which have adopted four-day working policy are already developed one, whereas India still needs to catch up at many levels. Given the need and requirement of different sectors in India, the policy might work only for select companies.

"With limited commuting options with the employees, extending work hours per day can add to the imbalance in their lives, especially for those travelling from remote areas to the office. This will in-fact have a counter effect on the productivity of the employee," he adds.

While Narayanan agrees that the policy may not be the most attractive option for every sector, especially those involving a large number of employees working on-ground for delivering different face-to-face services, he believes that it can be implemented in the IT and tech services' companies and can be experimented without large scale changes in other companies too.

In a country where working for five to six days is a normalised working culture, Hemant Sethi, India head at British Safety Council, says introducing a four-day week won't be an option for all employers or workplaces, that even operate up to seven days a week. However, as there is some evidence to suggest that working fewer hours should not result in lower productivity, there is no reason for it to not to be impactful in Indian companies.

"In some ways India has a longer road to travel with relatively modern work practices. In a way, potential positive findings from such initiatives and trials might normalise at least five-day working week in India," Sethi adds.