Alternative Work Week Series: Why AWW at ReadySet?

Introducing the Alternative Work Week Pilot

We believe organizational wellness & innovation go hand in hand. Beginning April 1, ReadySet is piloting a variation on the 4-day-work week: an alternative work week schedule that is designed to work with our unique workplace. Specifically, two designated Fridays a month for the remainder of 2022, ReadySet will be closed in order to provide our team members with time off to recharge or focus on internal facing innovation and enrichment time. Our hope is that this pilot will tell us what we already know, that we can effectively balance business efficiency and a holistic team wellness approach through innovation. Learn more about our approach and how you can follow our pilot case study.

Why We’re Experimenting with an Alternative Work Week at ReadySet

It’s 8:25am on a Friday and I’ve just dropped my older kid off at preschool hoping we don’t have another COVID exposure which will leave us (yet again) without childcare. I’ve triaged my email and sit down to write this blog post. I realize I haven’t checked the news yet today and decide to do a quick peruse. The nuclear plant the Russian government has been shelling and set on fire doesn’t seem to have increased levels of radiation. Good? 

The world is hard. The pandemic, social and economic inequality, new wars (and the same non-white ones that Western media pays less attention to)...it’s a lot. And it’s affecting all of us, in our personal lives and at work. 

The Great Resignation, where roughly 33 million people quit their jobs since the spring of 2021, has rocked every sector. It’s affected us at ReadySet as well. As diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practitioners we are engaging with all of the hardness of the world in our paid work and at home. 

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The last six months have been an exploration for us: how do we do right by our clients (who need our support), while minimizing burnout and maintaining engagement? Organizations have experimented with many different approaches: building in "no meeting" days, making remote work policies indefinite, or improving mental and physical health benefits. These are great tactics and we’ve put a number of these initiatives into place for our DEI practitioners, but we aren’t sure they’re enough. 

It’s for these reasons that we’re implementing a variation on the 4-day work week – an alternative work week pilot schedule. One Friday a month, ReadySet will be closed in order to provide our team members with time off to recharge and a second Friday a month, we’ll focus on internal organizational innovation and be closed to “client-facing” activities. 

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Those of you in client service know that taking two days a month without client communication is unprecedented in our industry.  But we think it’s worth it –  in order for us to continue to deliver our work at the standards that our clients and leadership expect, it’s imperative that we address the growing impact that the accepted “standard” work model is having on our team (and organizations across the world). 

The non-profit organization, 4 Day Week Global, finds that 63% of businesses have an easier time attracting and retaining talent with a four day work week. More importantly they find that 78% of employees are happier and less stressed. Beyond this guidance we also know that the four day work week model is gaining momentum globally. Companies in countries such as Spain, Iceland, and Japan report notable success in their programs. In 2019, Microsoft Japan experimented with a four day work week model and found a 40% gain in productivity. 

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Simply put, ReadySet believes that it’s time to challenge the status quo.

In our mission to change the way the world works, there’s an exciting opportunity to rethink how we as an organization approach productivity. We believe that we can be as productive if not more productive, when our team has the time needed to more adequately recharge, and that we are better equipped to be present for all of the complex aspects of our lives both in and outside of work. 

Throughout this pilot, we will be conducting an impact analysis which will allow us to determine expansion opportunities and/or identify adjustments needed based on real-time data on productivity and mental health. Our hope is that this pilot will tell us what we already know, that we can effectively balance efficiency, approach, and employee support through innovation and that this pilot can be a meaningful – and inspirational – change to how we build the future of work that benefits our employees and our clients. While I know that this new model may be an adjustment, I am excited about its impact on improving our client service through ensuring that our team members have the focus, energy, and enthusiasm to meet and exceed our clients' needs. 

We’ll be reporting out on this impact analysis and our team’s experience in a series of blog posts. Next month, the blog post will be written by one of our consultants, Zoe King, on her experience so far with the pilot. 

We hope you’ll join us on this experiment!

– Rachel Marcuse, ReadySet COO/Managing Partner

Stay updated on the next post for our Alternative Work Week Series through our quarterly newsletter!