Jean-Philippe Dauphinais, co-founder of the digital marketing agency Rablab, is the first to admit it: he had to “do violence” to reduce his workload and adopt – with his entire team – a summer schedule of four days a week without any reduction in salary. He has no regrets, seeing all the benefits that result, both for him and for his team. Here’s a look back at an experience that may well be repeated next year.
The idea of testing the famous 4-day work week – the one everyone talks about, with no reduction in salary – emerged when the Montreal-based company specialized in digital marketing was taking steps to obtain B Corp certification with the help of the firm Boite Pac.
In terms of governance and social responsibility, we wanted to lead a project that challenged the status quo while seeking to improve and adapt,” explains the co-founder. We wanted to position ourselves as a forward-thinking employer that does things differently.”
Of the HR projects considered, the 4-day work week was the one that garnered the most support from the 30 or so employees who work at Rablab. The proposed formula: reduce the work week from 35 to 32 hours, done from Monday to Thursday, without any reduction in salary, for the summer period from June 1 to September 1. Fridays are off for everyone except for a designated “on-call” person on rotation for emergencies.
A vote for next year
September, October, November and December are very busy months for us, so we’ll go back to normal weeks,” says the co-founder. However, at the fall postmortem, we will have the opportunity to vote to extend the four-day week over a longer period next year.”
So far, Jean-Philippe Dauphinais is already seeing a first beneficial effect of this HR project: acuity. People come back from their weekend much more rested and focused on the task at hand. And therefore, ultimately, more productive. By the end of June, some employees had even managed to get ahead on their scheduled tasks.
However, the co-founder acknowledges that the concept poses some coordination challenges within a “service” agency like Rablab.
Scheduling a project kick-off meeting with 11 people from both the internal and client sides in a condensed week can be a nightmare,” he says. That’s why we set up time slots for focus work and other slots for collaborative meetings. I have to say that the wheels were spinning a bit at first, people didn’t always respect the time slots. But in the last two weeks, it’s been much more fluid.”
The other pitfall in sight: the culture shift that needs to occur to slow down and finally disconnect for three long weekend days.
I’m a person who works a lot in life; I’ll admit I had to beat myself up to disconnect on Fridays – which I managed to do, I’d say, 80% of the time. As a business leader, it’s important to set an example and show that you embody the values you propose. On a personal note, my wife and I are expecting a child and it will be nice to have a reduced schedule in the next year.”
Since the project began, a survey has been sent out every week to measure employees’ stress levels, to see if they are staying on top of their files and also to find out if they are “cheating” on Fridays to complete a task or respond to an email. So far, the schedule is being followed 90% to 95% of the time. Which is a good sign, notes Rablab’s co-founder.
The myth of customer perception
Before starting the project, Jean-Philippe Dauphinais was afraid that cutting a day of availability would annoy or inconvenience the agency’s clients. He now realizes that this is a myth. In reality, the opposite was true. When the news was announced in Rablab’s newsletter, no one complained or stopped doing business with the company, and some even praised the initiative.
When you arrive well-prepared and explain the new operation – including an email address for emergencies – the project is likely to be well received. At least, that’s our experience.”
Let’s keep it to ourselves!
