The four-day work week

每周工作四天

On the 5th day errands

周五的差事

A pilot scheme to compress the working week holds wider lessons

壓縮一周工作日的試點(diǎn)計(jì)劃具有更廣泛的經(jīng)驗(yàn)

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1 IF LIZ TRUSS can compress a whole premiership into seven weeks, why can’t a standard working week be squashed into something more compact? A six-month pilot scheme, in which around 3,300 workers from 70 companies are testing out a four-day workweek, is due to conclude this month. Proponents say a shorter week delivers a better work-life balance without hurting overall output. Like previous such experiments, it is likely to be hailed a success. A mid-point survey by the trial’s organisers—researchers at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and Boston College, the 4 Day Week Campaign, a non-profit, and Autonomy, a British think-tank—found that the transition had worked well for 88% of surveyed companies.

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如果利茲·特拉斯可以將整個(gè)首相任期壓縮為七周，那么為什么不能把標(biāo)準(zhǔn)工作周壓縮的更為緊湊？一項(xiàng)為期六個(gè)月的試點(diǎn)計(jì)劃將于本月結(jié)束，來(lái)自70家公司約3300名員工將實(shí)驗(yàn)每周工作四天。計(jì)劃支持者表示，縮短一周的工作時(shí)間可以在不影響整體產(chǎn)出的情況下勞逸結(jié)合。與之前此類實(shí)驗(yàn)的一樣，它很可能會(huì)獲得人們的贊揚(yáng)。這項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)的組織者包括牛津大學(xué)、劍橋大學(xué)和波士頓學(xué)院的研究人員、非營(yíng)利組織“四天工作制運(yùn)動(dòng)”以及英國(guó)智庫(kù)Autonomy。調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，88%的受訪公司轉(zhuǎn)型效果良好。

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2 Sceptics might observe that the companies involved are self-selecting. Roughly one in five employers who had signed up dropped out before the pilot began, according to the 4 Day Week Campaign. Most of the participants that remain are smaller companies, many of them agencies specialising in management and technology. They also include charities.

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懷疑者觀察到參與實(shí)驗(yàn)的功公司在自我篩選。根據(jù)“四天工作制運(yùn)動(dòng)”報(bào)告，大約五分之一的雇主在試點(diǎn)開(kāi)始前就退出了。剩下中的大多數(shù)是小公司，其中許多專門從事管理和技術(shù)，還包括慈善機(jī)構(gòu)。

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3 But the scheme holds useful lessons about productivity. In particular a four-day week forces firms to think harder about time management. Most businesses in the trial have encouraged employees to leave meetings when they are not contributing, and to be more selective about accepting invitations. Daryl Hine of Stellar, an asset-management company in London, calls this a “diary detox”. This also extends to reducing commutes.

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但該計(jì)劃還是提供了有關(guān)生產(chǎn)力的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。特別是四天工作制迫使公司更加努力地思考時(shí)間管理問(wèn)題。試驗(yàn)中的大多數(shù)企業(yè)都鼓勵(lì)員工在沒(méi)有意見(jiàn)的情況下離開(kāi)會(huì)議，并在接受邀請(qǐng)時(shí)更加謹(jǐn)慎。倫敦資產(chǎn)管理公司Stellar的Daryl Hine被稱為“排毒日記”。該計(jì)劃也延伸到減少工作通勤。

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4 Of the participating organisations, 46% reported maintaining overall output at the same level, and 49% said it had improved. The trial’s largest company, Outcomes First Group, a children’s education and care provider, tracks indicators for its 1,027 participating employees. Its HR department has goals for response time to emails; IT staff are given so-called net promoter scores, which track how colleagues rate their services. On both counts, they have made “rare” leaps, says Sharon Platts, the company’s chief people officer. Participants say that their employees feel more motivated. Plenty use the extra day to get errands out of the way before the weekend.

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在參與的組織中，46%的組織總體產(chǎn)出保持在同一水平，49%的組織表示有所提高。這項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)中最大的公司Outcomes First Group專門從事兒童教育和護(hù)理，該公司為1027名參與試驗(yàn)的員工跟蹤實(shí)驗(yàn)指標(biāo)。其人力資源部有電子郵件回復(fù)時(shí)間的指標(biāo)；IT員工有所謂的凈推薦值，該分?jǐn)?shù)會(huì)跟蹤用戶對(duì)其服務(wù)的評(píng)價(jià)。公司首席人事官Sharon Platts表示，在這兩方面，他們都取得了“罕見(jiàn)”的飛躍。參與者表示，他們的員工感到更有動(dòng)力。很多人趕在周末前利用額外的一天時(shí)間完成生活中的差事。

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Becoming a four-day operation can be hard in a five-day world, however. Bookishly, an online shop, chose Wednesdays off to avoid having three days in a row when packages are not mailed out; people are warned about the new schedule before they order. But customers are not always prepared to wait, so most firms in the scheme have tried to spread staff more thinly. Platten’s, a fish-and-chip shop in Norfolk, gives its 50-or-so employees two days on and two days off to cover the week. Shifts overlap at busy periods, but organising training and team events has become trickier as a result.

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然而，在一個(gè)五天工作制的世界里，要完成一個(gè)為期四天的實(shí)驗(yàn)可能會(huì)很難。Bookingly是一家網(wǎng)上商店，它們選擇在周三休息，以避免連續(xù)三天沒(méi)有包裹寄出；人們?cè)谙聠吻皶?huì)被告知新的工作時(shí)間表。但客戶并不總是習(xí)慣等待，因此該計(jì)劃中的大多數(shù)公司都試圖將員工日程分布得更稀疏。諾福克的一家炸魚(yú)薯?xiàng)l店P(guān)latten's為其50名左右的員工提供兩天的工作時(shí)間和兩天的休息時(shí)間。在繁忙時(shí)期，班次會(huì)重疊。因此，組織訓(xùn)練和團(tuán)隊(duì)活動(dòng)將變得更加棘手。

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6 More tests are on the horizon. In January South Cambridgeshire District Council will become the first British local authority to try out a four-day week. The lessons learned are likely to be valuable even if the idea does not spread. Mr Hine says that if performance slips, “gift days” will be rolled back. In busier periods employees may need to come in more. But in one way or another, he says, a slimmer work schedule is “here to stay”.

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更多的測(cè)試即將到來(lái)。今年1月，南劍橋郡區(qū)議會(huì)將成為第一個(gè)試行四天工作制的英國(guó)地方當(dāng)局。即使這一想法沒(méi)有傳播開(kāi)來(lái)，所吸取的經(jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)也可能很有價(jià)值。Hine先生表示，如果業(yè)績(jī)下滑，“禮物日”（指周五放假）將被取消。在更繁忙的時(shí)候，員工可能需要更多的時(shí)間。但在某種程度上，他說(shuō)，一個(gè)更精簡(jiǎn)的工作日程將被“多數(shù)人接受”。