Employees spend a notable portion of their life sitting in an office to complete their daily shift. Earlier, the incentives were more critical than the benefits that made long working hours a possibility. However, the millennials want a work-life balance more than some increase in their paycheque.
The promise of shorter workdays doesn’t involve less productivity each day. You need to work on the same number of tasks within a reduced time frame. The focus is now on intensity to give more time to your personal life.
Thus, the output from an average day will remain the same only the hours will be less. You will find the benefits to the employees and your small business in the points mentioned below.
Talent Acquisition
The job market is competitive with influential organizations ready to hire the best talent at an attractive package. Small businesses cannot afford the money from industry leaders. Therefore, they end up with the second in line talent willing to start their career at a comparatively lower package.
Nevertheless, you can still use some of the benefits to attract some great talents in the industry. Shorter workdays are very rare for businesses as almost every business follows the 9-5 schedule. You can also offer flexible working hours and remote workplaces to make the offer hard to ignore.
Reduced Operational Cost
Reduced hours in the office will limit the use of essential supplies. You will save money on utility bills and pantry expenses. These small expenses make a considerable impact on the budget of a small business.
You can reduce the cost of infrastructure as well by dividing the shift. It will be easier to allocate the same system and space to two employees working in various shifts. If not, apply for 24-hour loans in Ireland to cover the cost of personal systems.
Employee Retention
Employees happy with their job doesn’t switch in a year or two. They remain loyal to the organization for years, and some even spend decades in the same workplace. The benefits are endless, from increased productivity to future leaders from within the organization.
The shorter workdays will improve the work-life balance of the employees, and they will remain happy. It makes no sense for them to switch to a job with 2 hours more to spend each day. Therefore, the big corporates can no longer poach the outstanding talents from your small organization.
Increased Focus
It is never easy to keep the focus consistent for 8 hours straight. The day is divided between the different intensity of focus, productivity, and quality of work. The shorter days will keep them engaged with the excitement to go home early.
Nobody wants to spend the extra hours in the office after everyone has left. Many experts suggest the positive impact of a tight deadline on the creative process. You can leverage it to get the most amount of work in a shorter shift.
Improved Quality
Again, the long shift makes the employees lose motivation, interest and focus. At the end of the day, they are mentally drained to perform even the most straightforward task. Thus, a reduction in working hours will mean increased motivation and interest, which means improved quality.
The sense of urgency increases the quality of work as the distractions are eliminated. The improved quality will rise your client satisfaction and brand image. You can expect an increase in profit and client retention.
Healthy for Employees
Employee health is paramount for the management in any line of work. The long shifts can be intimidating for the workforce giving their 100% to the organization. It takes a severe toll on their mental and physical health in the long run.
Shorter hours will give them more time to re-energize after a stressful day at work. It will help the employees to maintain the same level of energy throughout the day. You will experience improvement in their performance metrics.
Conclusion To sum up, shorter work hours is indeed a practical and intuitive measure to improve productivity and motivation at work. You can give it a trial to measure the benefits and drawbacks in your industry. There is always an option to roll back the changes if the outcome is way below the expectation.
Vikas Sudan is the SEO Manager at whisskers marketing, an United States digital marketing agency. An expert in Digital Marketing and Blogging, He never misses an opportunity to spread the knowledge and share the industry’s best practices. Vikas Sudan is present on social media like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest & Twitter also.