Why 40-Hour Work Weeks Need to End

Imagine a world where you have a real work-life balance? What do you see? I see the end of the 40-hour work week. No more 9-5 days, working when you want, how you want. Escaping the prison of 40 hours with a work-life balance that many people dream of, but few have or experience.

Who universally decided that is how many hours everyone needs to work? How are 40 hours the optimal number get everything accomplished each week?

Why are there 40-hour work weeks?

“Eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest.”

Robert Owen, labour rights activist during the Industrial Revolution

The 40-hour work week dates back to the Industrial Revolution. Labour unions tried advocating US Congress to pass a law mandating an eight-hour workday. While it didn’t pass at the time, eventually many businesses began implementing the approach with the difference being, eight hours a day, six days a week.

In 1926, citing improved productivity amongst his workers at 40 hours per week than 48 hours, Henry Ford changed the approach. Eventually, this led to other manufacturers and businesses to start introducing 40-hour work weeks.

Times Have Changed Again

It has almost been 100 years since Henry Ford altered his approach (and changed the world). Since that time, the world has experienced tremendous innovation, new technologies, and ways of thinking. Still, the 40-hour work week remains. Recently, we have seen the rise of the gig economy and the ability to work from anywhere at any time. While some industries are experiencing and embracing these changes, others are slower to adapt.

Employee Engagement Impact

Through any 1 on 1s or employee feedback sessions I have facilitated, the topic of work-life balance always comes up. Employee engagement is tied to how people perceive they have flexibility with how they work, what they do, when and where they work. People crave flexibility and balance. Unfortunately, so few organizations deliver that desired flexibility to their employees. Many old school organizations and leaders feel that employees need to work more hours, not less too.

Productivity

Anyone else remember in school where you were able to power through a project last minute, delivering quality work meeting the deadline? With limited time available, it’s possible to prioritize and focus on the most critical tasks yielding a higher quality result. The same can hold in the working world. Many people are given too much time to accomplish tasks or projects with the ability to stretch them out over an 8-hour day or 40-hour week. Sometimes people work on low-value-added tasks to stay busy to fill up their time, as there isn’t enough highly productive work to fill the week.

Imagine

Take a moment and honestly look at the work you and your team are doing. Imagine what would happen if you removed just 1 hour from each person’s day. Do you think all the tasks and duties on someone’s plate could be accomplished? I hope you do. Let’s be honest, most people don’t work to 100% capacity every day. There are distractions, conversations, little bits of time wasted where people are not working as optimally as they can. Many people are working hard, but not smart too. I firmly believe that you can accomplish more in less time by working smarter.

Scheduling Less

Earlier on in my leadership career, I scheduled one of my teams to work 5 hours less per week, while still paying them for a full 40 hours. I did this for six months straight to measure the effects. Despite working fewer hours per week, we were able to accomplish more and have better results. Why do you think that was the case? Reducing the team’s hours improved employee engagement as there was a more work-life balance. Because the group was more engaged, customer satisfaction went through the roof. Since our employees loved it, our customers became greater fans of the business, leading to record-setting sales and profit.

What about 2 hours less per day?

In a previous post, I spoke about the importance of completing a time audit. Over the years, I have done these with a lot of different team members in various organizations. The results showed the same thing that there was on average, a minimum of 1 hour of downtime that could be perceived as waste. A couple of minutes here, a few more there, and before you know it, almost one hour of productivity unaccounted for per day; yet, all major tasks and responsibilities were tackled. Depending on the role, throw in wasted time stuck in meetings that are ineffective, guaranteed you will find another hour that can be spared, leaving you with 30 hours per week.

30 Hours or Less is Possible

Depending on the type of work you do, I firmly believe that in most organizations, a 30-hour work week is 100% possible. Given the right structure and environment, 30 hours per week will yield the same or better results than a 40-hour work week.

Chris Hanna

With less time to waste, most people will spend time focused on priority items. This will allow everyone to feel more productive instead of feeling just busy. Employees will feel more refreshed, improving overall engagement. Add in the ability to let team members choose at when, where, and how they work, and you are guaranteed to see positive results.

For more information managing time, how to implement a more flexible schedule or anything that you think that might you as a manager improve the employee experience, reach out and let me know how I can help. Let’s see an end to 40-hour work weeks and evolve how work is managed.

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