What is the 4 days a week working model? What are the advantages and disadvantages? The first Turkish company to try the new working model announced the results of the short working week. Aksa Akrilik, Turkey’s only acrylic fiber producer, set an example for the Turkish business world with its switch to the 4-day working system.
Belgium was the first country in the world to officially make it a legal right for employees to work four days a week. Following Belgium, many countries have started preparations for pilot implementation to switch to this new working model. Last year, a remarkable step was taken in this regard in Turkey. Aksa Akrilik, which has nearly 400 customers in more than 50 countries on 5 continents, shared the results of successfully implementing the four-day-a-week working system with the public via BloombergHT.
4 Days a Week Working Model Increased Employee Satisfaction
The company, which made this working order permanent as a result of the 3-month pilot application between January 1 and March 31, 2023, conducted a survey with Aksa employees to evaluate the effects of the new model. According to the survey results, the four-day working week; It has been shown to support employee engagement, productivity, motivation and work-life balance by over 85 percent.
Flexibility in Leave Usage
It was also mentioned that despite the positive result in Aksa, various difficulties were experienced during the implementation. In particular, the problems experienced in determining weekly leave days caused the company to organize the days of leave more flexibly. Some employees preferred to take their leave in hourly periods instead of all day long. In the company, which has a workforce of 1200 people, blue-collar workers who are paid on an hourly basis and receive overtime pay are not included in this new order.
Aksa Akrilik Board Member and General Manager Cengiz Taş emphasized that the four-day working week caused a visible increase in job applications. R&D and Sustainability Group Manager Aslı Ertan stated that there was a significant increase in the motivation of her colleagues.
Many Companies in the World have Switched to a 4 Days a Week Working System
While the tendency to shorten working hours is increasing in the global business world, many companies in Europe are leading the rapid spread of this trend by switching to a four-day work week system. Some companies in countries such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, the United States, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada have already begun testing this innovative working arrangement. Studies have shown that working four days a week not only increases employee productivity and overall well-being, but also provides significant savings in companies’ energy costs.
This model offers an attractive alternative for companies that question the traditional five-day work routine and aim to create a more productive, motivating work environment. The four-day working system is considered a global step towards improving work-life balance. Adopting this strategy promises to open a new page in sustainability and employee satisfaction in the business world.
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So, what is this 4 Days a Week Working Model?
The Belgian government officially approved the four-day-a-week working model on February 15, 2022, opening the doors to a new era of business culture around the world. This model covers workdays from Monday to Thursday, offering employees a three-day long weekend break. Many countries around the world have begun to experiment with this innovative working order.
This working model, proposed by labor unions since the 1950s, remains a matter of serious debate between employers and employees today. The model is expected to contribute positively to business life, increase employee productivity and improve work-private life balance. However, there are different opinions on the practical applications and potential difficulties of this system.
Advantages of the 4 Days a Week Working Model
- Increased Productivity, Reduced Sick Leave:It is predicted that sick leave will decrease as the four-day working model improves the mental and physical health of employees and increases their productivity.
- Better Rest with Extended Weekends: In the intense work pace of the globalizing world, two-day weekends are often insufficient. Three-day weekends allow employees to enrich their social lives and spend more time with their families.
- Talent Attraction and Retention:The four-day work week helps businesses attract and retain talented employees, thus increasing workforce retention.
- Reduced Business Costs:Working one less day per week helps reduce overhead costs in the workplace, such as reducing energy consumption.
- Shifting to Value Focus: This working model is based on the question “How many hours does an employee work?” the question “How much value does the employee create?” It enables changes in performance criteria by transforming the question into a question. This approach focuses on what is produced, not how much time is worked in total per week.
- Increase in Innovation:Working four days a week makes employees less tired, which helps replace outdated and inefficient business ideas with creative and innovative ones.
Disadvantages of the 4 Days a Week Working Model
- Salary and Productivity Concerns: Some employers argue that salaries will need to be cut when this system is implemented. This raises concerns among employees about their salaries and productivity.
- Sectoral Compliance Issues: It is stated that working four days a week may not be productive in some sectors such as service, production and logistics. In these sectors, there are some physical limits that require full-time work in terms of service.
- Operational Delays:It is emphasized that if other companies continue to work five or more days a week, companies implementing a four-day system will experience operational delays.
- Incompatibility with Complex Workforce Structures:For large and complex companies with many departments and business requirements, this model may pose difficulties in implementation.
- Decreased Workplace Engagement:It warns that working one less day a week will cause employees to become estranged from their teams and managers, reducing workplace engagement.
- Increase in Dismissal Rates:It is feared that working one less day a week will increase turnover rates for employees who have a busy work schedule and cannot fully establish a bond with the company.
- Lack of Collaboration and Social Interaction: Fewer working days can limit social interactions such as collaboration, camaraderie, and internal sharing. This situation may lead to the emergence of individuals who become lonely and selfish in the work environment.
It is important for each company to develop an implementation plan suitable for itself, taking into consideration the disadvantages as well as the advantages of this working model. We will see the effectiveness and efficiency of the model more clearly over time.
