If you haven’t heard about Microsoft in Japan and its 4-day week this week, you’re staying far from the HR planet. But you can remedy this situation now. If you haven’t read it, here is one of the articles which recounts his prowess:https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1375827/microsoft-japan-fin-de-week-3-jours-test-experience-experimentation
In our community, the news makes the headlines, but most are content to share the article with their network saying that it is inspiring or interesting. But what really happens to this 4-day week? Is this feasible? I think about our customers and I systematically see several constraints. What if we took the old, well-known adage from André Gide which says:“There are no problems; there are only solutions”. But few people know the rest of his thoughts:“The mind of man then invents the problem. He sees problems everywhere.”. I find this thought very powerful. What if we were the problem?
When thinking about implementing the 4-day week, I immediately think of customer service issues. But who will serve customers if the business is closed? The competitors? Impossible to resign yourself to it. However, are opening hours the pillar of your customer loyalty? Is it because of your opening hours that customers place their trust in you? No, I do not think so. But it is certainly thanks to its opening hours that a company can be in operation and receive orders from customers. But can’t customers place orders online?
You see where I’m going with this… there are solutions to every problem. You just need to be creative, invest the money, set a goal in line with our values, etc.
Before leaving you with your next thoughts this weekend, whether this 4-day week would be good for you, I share with you my interpretation of Microsoft’s prowess:
- She innovates.And inevitably a company that innovates is criticized. But isn’t innovation what everyone is looking for?
- She dares.A company that applies a new standard to 2,300 employees is daring indeed.
- She is human.We cannot say that Microsoft carried out the test for economic reasons. She prioritized people. And yet the economic results are there. This means that sometimes we need to stop doubting the ROI of HR initiatives.
Ultimately my community of HR experts was right. This article is interesting and inspiring. I hope I made you want to think about it ;)
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Sales Director, Co-founder & Partner
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Human resources consultant
