Can a 6-Hour Workday Schedule Boost Employee Well-Being, Productivity & Work-life Balance?

It's well known that most employees work 8 - 9 hours daily. However, a section of employers is experimenting with the 6-hour workday concept. Why? Word is that the average employee only remains productive for 2 to 3 hours daily.

So, the leaders are brainstorming how to offer their staff free time and grow their companies. This shows they are slowly beginning to grasp that longer work hours don't mean employees getting more work done. Hence, leaders are inclined towards shorter working hours while offering the usual salary package.

Are you also wondering how shorter working hours can help a business or the employees grow? Here is a snippet of a study that will shed some light on it.

Intrigued with the six-hour workday concept, the Swedish Government funded a Svartedalens retirement home in Gothenburg to run a study. Here, 68 staff members of the retirement home worked 6 hours daily for an 8-hour workday salary package for a year. The results showed happier and more energetic employees who took fewer sick leave.

Read on to learn more about this.

So, in this blog, you will learn the potential of the 6-hour workday, its pros and cons, practical implementation strategies, and more.

6-Hour Workday - A Quick Overview

Gone are the days when employees could give undivided attention to their work tasks. The rise in social media and internet use has led to decreased focus and concentration, affecting almost all age groups.

In times like this, offering the current generation of employees a work schedule like 9 to 5 may not deliver the desired results for employers.

In this case, the 6-hour workday may be an ideal solution.

The 6-hour workday schedule may allow employees to work productively within a short time.

Shorter work hours are believed to allow employees to remain more focused and energetic at work and deliver quality work. This is because the condensed work hours offer employees ample time to focus on their personal goals.

So, they find the boost to work dedicatedly and fulfilling their targets.

Adam Grant, author of Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, says that:

The more complex and creative jobs are, the less it makes sense to pay attention to hours at all.

Also in 2014, Stanford University published a study demonstrating the “nonlinear” relationship between hours worked and output. It found out that results start slipping after people worked for 50 hours or more. This study essentially confirmed that long weekly hours and long daily hours do not necessarily yield high output.

Simply put, the 6-hour workday may be a win-win situation for employees seeking work-life balance and employers. Yet, like anything else, this work model comes with both cons and pros. Let's have a look at them.

Pros

1. Increased Productivity:

A shorter workday may mean less time for employees to feel burnt out. Also, having more time after work boosts them to work harder and faster.

2. Improved Well-Being:

As employees spend fewer hours working, they will also spend less time being sedentary and worrying about work. Instead, they will have more time to hit their personal goals, whether a hobby or a relaxing activity.

This can lead to a happy and healthy workspace with lower stress levels.

3. Enhanced Work-Life Balance:

The usual employees barely get time to unwind after a long day at work. And before they realize it, a new day starts. This instills the feeling of annoyance and disappointment, which affects their work performance.

In the 6-hour workday concept, employees will have enough time to spend on their own after work; they won't feel burnt out.

4. Reduced Absenteeism:

A study found that employees with a 6-hour workday tend to take fewer leaves than those who work a regular number of hours. Simply put, enforcing this work model can possibly minimize absenteeism.

5. Boost in Employee Morale:

Given the fact employees will be working for only 6 hours a day, they will feel morally boosted at work. They will feel valued as the organization values the importance of employees' work-life balance.

6. Potential for Talent Acquisition:

Organizations offering such perks build a positive image for working toward employee wellness. This increases the employer's visibility among the top talents in the market.

Cons

1. Logistical Challenges:

The 6-hour work schedule is a compressed timeline of the standard work hour. This means employees may feel pressured to meet deadlines quickly. Now, this is something that not every employee can achieve.

So, to reach the goals, management may have to hire additional staff to restructure the workflow. Otherwise, they will feel more work pressure to complete the tasks.

2. Industry Specificity:

The 6-hour schedule is a luxury that only specific industries can implement. It may not be a practical work model for organizations that require continuous operations and support. However, management can probably create a 6-hour work slot for employees to take shifts.

3. Potential for Reduced Output (if not managed well):

Smart planning is necessary if you want to implement the 6-hour workday successfully. Without it, employees will fail to meet the goals or deliver work as expected.

Now, let's see what can be done to embrace the pros and avoid the cons of this working model.

Related Article: The Four Day Work Week May Be The Future

Strategies for a Successful Implementation of a 6-hour workday schedule

Here are four pointers to successfully implement a 6-hour workday schedule in your organization.

1. Prioritize and Streamline Tasks:

You must streamline the tasks employees should carry out to reach the organizational goals easily. Eliminate allotting tasks that have minimal influence in building the business. To do so, monitor and categorize all your employees' office tasks. The categories can be urgent, somewhat urgent, or not urgent at all.

2. Embrace Technology:

Thanks to the latest technological advancements, there are now different tools for project management and seamless communication that can make your work easier. Do a survey of all the tools and platforms that have the potential to maximize your employees' efficiency.

3. Results-Oriented Management:

Follow the SMART goal principle to get the most out of this work model. Set measurable key metrics to track employees' progress. Track and focus on the goals to achieve at the end of every cycle rather than the duration employees have spent working.

4. Employee Communication and Training:

Educate employees about why you want to implement this work model and focus on how it benefits them. Open up about how their contribution matters to the organization's growth. Offer time management courses and task prioritization to make the process a success.

Global Examples of Shorter Work Weeks Execution

Sweden Leads "Six-Hour Workday" Movement

Car manufacturer Toyota adopted a 6-hour workday in its Swedish production plants almost 13 years ago.

And they haven't looked back since then.

The Guardian reported that the employees said they felt better than before. Also, they were able to balance work better. The change also increased efficiency and productivity, and the companies found it easier to recruit top-tier staff.

Svartedalens: The Nursing Home Experiment

A survey released in 2016 followed an experiment in which nurses worked six-hour shifts at the Svartedalens retirement center in Sweden.

After comparing the 68 nurses at Svartedalens, researchers found that the nurses were sick less often and took less time off. That study inspired many businesses in Sweden to adopt a more liberal six-hour workday.

After six months of the six-hour workday (versus the usual eight hours), the nurses at the home felt relatively less stressed and more energized.

What were the benefits observed?

• Increased the quality of care that the nurses provided
• Telltale signs show that productivity improved by almost 64%
• Staff turnover decreased
• The nurses who worked the six-hour workday took half as much sick leave
• Increased happiness quota by as much as 20%

In the UK, 6 out of 10 bosses noted that cutting hours boosted overall productivity.

However, there was one significant financial drawback. Fourteen new employees had to be hired to accommodate the extra shifts.

Other than Sweden, Australia, Finland, and other European countries like Paris, Norway, and Italy are seen to show interest in reducing work hours per week.

Future Prospects Associated With the 6-Hour Workday

The future is uncertain for sure. However, the rise in the population's interest in wellness and lifestyle, shorter work weeks, and shorter workdays are on the cards.

Final Words

The 6-hour workday is still a workplace concept that we employees believe exists only in a utopian society. However, today's employers are becoming aware of workplace wellness. With it, most of them are actively offering wellness perks and benefits (something like Vantage Fit) with the dream of creating a healthy work environment.

Many companies already offer flexible working hours and remote working perks. This gives employees enough free time to tend to their personal errands or focus on their growth. Additionally, such action shows the positive aspects of organizations leaning towards employee wellness.

But will a 6-hour workday become the new 8-hour workday for all? Now, for that, researchers must study this concept more to draw rigid conclusions. Until then, let's work on our well-being and contribute towards our organizational goals.