Last July, digital marketing company Versa implemented a four-day working week across its business, and it appears the initiative has royally paid off.
While Versa’s employees still complete a 37.5 hour working week, they are allowed to take every Wednesday off, providing they get all of their work done.
Versa’s CEO Kath Blackham revealed Versa is now three times more profitable, up 46 per cent in revenue and staff retention is 20 per cent better than last year.
Blackham told news.com.au: “We already offered a lot of flexibility, so everyone at Versa was working under different arrangements.
“But it got to the point where you couldn’t book a meeting because you couldn’t get everybody together at the same time.
“I wanted to give people the flexibility but allowing everyone to have their own didn’t work for us.”
While some people might see condensing five days of work into just four, it isn’t too far from the norm, with Blackham arguing most Australians work longer days.
She said: “Working an 8-6 day is not that far out from the realms of what most people are doing anyway.
“I wanted to create an environment that almost made it difficult for our employees to do a 60-hour work week because it was too hard for them to fit it into four days. But fitting 37.5 hours into four days isn’t really that hard.”
While Versa’s office is still open on a Wednesday, it is up to employees whether they come in or not.
