After almost two years of teleworking, Spanish companies seem to be beginning to realize that the salary they pay their employees is linked to productivity, not the number of hours or location they work. Inside period technologyconcepts such as face-to-face or the threat of the five-day work week becoming obsolete.
Instead, there are companies that are starting to bet. Flexible office model where repositioned and employees have more control over time They spend it working: “It took decades before we stopped seeing Saturday as a workday. It’s Friday’s turn”, they affirm to El Periódico de España.
The terms of the proposed new working framework are clear: four days a week, eight hours a day, and the same salary. However, not all companies that dare to try this today are alike and, as almost always, it is SMEs who find it easier to innovate in their production models because of their size and flexibility.
There are some who have managed to implement this with 100% success, like the marketing agency Good Rebels or the technological DELSOL Software. There are others, such as Bravent, which is now a consulting firm. intermediate formula and concentrates his weekly shifts on 36 hours. And some of the latter, like the larger and therefore more difficult to replace Telefónica, offered their employees to take advantage of a four-working-week model for a fee. paid salary reduction.
The case of Telefónica, one of the largest Spanish companies most daring to explore new labor formulas, illustrates the importance of listening to what workers want.
According to UGT, almost no 200 teleoperator workers accepted a reduction in the weekly employment of five and a half hours for four hours less salary. However, this does not mean that there is no clear demand from its employees. moving towards flexibilitybut they don’t want it to make their situation worse. For example, in May, 81% of the workforce, or more than 13,000 workers, demanded that 40% of their working day be conducted remotely.
“Each company has its own terms, that’s clear, but personally I think If you pay your employees less, it goes against the spirit of all this.. The important thing is not to touch the salary. Call it reduced working hours if you want, which is something that already exists, but don’t say you’re betting on the four-day model. If you lower salaries, you’re just sneaking an older model.”, Fernando Polo, CEO of marketing company Good Rebels, tells El Periódico de España.
Since returning to a four-day week a year ago, the company has Increase your productivity by 7% and its sales increased by 18%. In addition, the management team, based on their internal satisfaction surveys, the work quality of its employees was not harmed He also stated that he did not perceive a negative impact on the service received by his customers.
But if their workers were able to show the same performance in less time, wouldn’t that mean they could be demanded more and work 40 hours? “This is a question I get asked a lot in Spain, yes,” laughs Fernando, who now works in Brighton (England). “The key to these results is we trust the worker, we give him autonomy so he can come to terms with his personal life better and surrender more that way”.
There, in the UK, a world-leading pilot program has just been launched to test the possible implementation of the four-day work week. 3,300 workers from 70 different companies over six months reduce their workday to 80% in exchange for a commitment to maintain 100% of their productivity pre. Salary will be the same.
While the results of the British experiment are awaited, the experiment carried out by Iceland between 2015 and 2019 has already come to an end. During this time, 2,500 officers participated in a program that showed productivity was unaffected, but helpful. significantly improve well-being from their employees.
Flexibility attracts talent
All companies that El Periódico de España consulted and more or less accept the four-day model, the decision was made with the worker in mindalthough this is not exclusive to the fact that it only has a positive impact on the company.
For example, at Good Rebels, 93% of their 130+ employees think change has helped them increase their productivity, their ability to manage their time (89%), and their energy (85%) throughout the workday. And at Software DELSOL, one of the pioneers in Spain in the implementation of the four-day week, Absenteeism decreased by 28% and the working environment rose to 8.9 out of 10 among employees.
“It is very important to focus on people. we have the industry very high rotation speedIn other words, people change jobs a lot because they have high-demand profiles. We have to take care of them because they are valuing the fact that they don’t live to workbut on the contrary”, he explains Ana Arroyo, Human Resources Director, Software DELSOL.
According to 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit think tank dedicated to advocating this business model, 78% of employees who try it are happier and less stressed. And in terms of companies, 63% say they have easier to attract and retain talent thanks to him.
This has been confirmed by a recent study by ManpowerGroup in Spain. 89% of professionals expect their work to be partially remote after the coronavirus crisis. “This is one of the aspects that employees value most when deciding on a new business project,” Pablo Gómez, Director of Corporate Services at Adecco Group, tells this newspaper.
“Reconstructing our working day decisive when it comes to attracting talentEveryone we interviewed had a happy face when we mentioned it,” says Lía Radovic, head of Marketing and Business Development at technology consulting firm Bravent.
rethink the model
While at Good Rebels, they always run Monday through Thursday at Software DELSOL. day off rotates between different teams Guaranteeing activity until Friday. Thus, after five weeks, the worker manages to collect Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday as paid days.
In addition, although both companies maintain their physical offices, employee ability to choose telecommunications if you consider it necessary.
They went a step further in this regard at Bravent, an official Microsoft partner and a technology consultancy that has reached 10 million euros a year since the pandemic doubled its turnover. While you have the freedom of choice, 100% of your staff work remotely. There, however, they have not yet reached a 32-hour weekly shift, concentrating 36 into four nine-hour days.
“We had to weigh in whether we would prefer happier employees with more flexibility or to bill four more hours. And we were clear about that,” Radovic says.Salaries not touched. If you cut workers’ wages, you get a workday reduction, and it’s not a groundbreaking model, it’s just a covert model.”