Four day weeks can cause a dip in customer satisfaction levels

For many businesses big and small, four day working weeks have benefits, such as reduction in overheads and a more productive and less stressed workforce. There are concerns, however, that the availability of four day working weeks will not be able to meet customer demand, especially where there is now an increasing demand for 24 hour service. For Laura Giffard, the founder of Perq Studio, introducing a four day week had many implications to consider. Although the business clients made the business sector agnostic, a general theme that cut across the client base was that Monday was the day where everyone picked up and hit the ground running, and by the end of Thursday and Friday, people were concerned about completing their deadlines and these were also days that were likely to attract more last minute enquiries. This allowed employees only two days in the middle of the week. A rota system was considered, but it was considered that this may add complexities and confusion for clients due to lack of continuity and those with specialist knowledge being absent on the day required. Although this company was able to, with the input of their clients create a four day working week, it required consideration of client needs, and a workforce full of self-starters, and a "no moonlighting clause". Other firms, such as Greenrow Communications, found that a four day week would not be feasible. This is as the firm is small, and built on the ability to react quickly to customer needs. The business model works on an around the clock service, and although flexibility is built into the working patterns, a four day weeks is not possible in small businesses built on such models. ^[1]