This week’s episode it a little bit different. Today we are talking to Andrew Barnes, an entrepreneur from New Zealand who likes to do things a bit differently. In 2018, Andrew decided to pilot a 4-day working week in his company, Perpetual Guardian, which provides estate planning services. 

Andrew has always been an innovator. After reading an article that suggested that the typical office worker was only productive for 2.5 to 3 hours a day, he saw an opportunity. The opportunity was to both improve productivity whilst also giving time back to his team. He wanted to offer his teams the chance to earn their full salary, in return for delivering 100% productivity, but by only working for 4 days. Once his board had got their head around the idea, they began piloting a 4-day working week for all. The pilot went well and soon became the norm for the teams. 

Over time, other businesses got to hear about the success of this initiative and the 4 Day Week Global Foundation was born. Andrew has spoken all over the world about the initiative, published a white paper about the results, and in 2019 he published his book, not surprisingly called the 4-day week.

Earlier this year, a pilot programme started for companies in the UK who are interested in the 4-day week concept. As you will hear the benefits seem compelling, and during our discussion Andrew shares many insights that will certainly get you thinking. It is not what you think, so definitely worth a listen.

 

Resources

Andrew Barnes LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhbarnes/

4 Day Week Global programme website:  https://www.4dayweek.com/. 

4 Day Week White Paper 2019: https://www.4dayweek.com/download-white-paper. 

Andrew’s Book 4 Day Week: https://www.4dayweek.com/book. 

Acorn’s Children’s Hospice Business Club: https://www.acorns.org.uk/acorns-business-club/.