It is a business like no other, with a boss like no other. Seven years ago, Olivier Sales decided to try a new organization. He has established the 4 -day week … Until now, nothing revolutionary. But only from June to August, it is more original.
Your company, Love Radius, produces and markets doors for babies in Toulon. “The activity is not seasonal, even if it is a bit lighter in August,” said BFM Business manager.
Behind this idea, there is the will to question the relationship with work, even if Olivier Sales does not use these words, “Marketing too much bull” for him. “The idea is simply to say that there may be different temporalities at work, which is necessarily a linear tunnel, and that one can have your hand,” he develops.
“We are not always obliged to be legal at least, sometimes we can offer employees a little more and also goes,” summarizes Olivier’s sales. Every year, Love Radius employees experience this change in rhythm, which also allows rethinking the way they work.
Do satisfied employees work better?
“When you enter four days, you are more attentive and concentrated. It is a little more work, but it still manages not to be overloaded, it is also exciting and stimulating intellectually,” he says.
We can easily see the benefits that such an organization can contribute to employees, but can a lightening of the working time be painless for the profitability of the company?
According to Olivier’s sales, the impact on billing is very difficult to evaluate, but that does not endanger the economic health of the company. “I think it is not at the time of the presence that employees issue work, but for participation,” explains the one calling to question a certain number of indicators.
However, certain trades, such as sellers, mechanically make less visits to potential future clients with one work day. “I know and it is absorbable for us,” the commercial manager replied.
He also points out the advantage of having fulfilled employees. “My vendors have been there for 17 years and, therefore, when they talk about the product, there is an additional quality. And then it is less rotation, recruiting is exhausting, it takes time, how do we take it into account?”
“They are more rested, more motivated”
The owner of Love Radius is not the only one who has had this idea. In his documentary about the future of work, Samuel Durand, a commercial strategy consultant, questioned many leaders around the world, some of whom have established this reorganization in “summer schedules” or summer schedules.
“Among the companies I have seen, some have a purely seasonal activity and, therefore, employees got bored in summer, but there are also others for which the months of July and August are simply a little quieter,” he testified.
He cited the example of the American company Basecamp that, in 2021, adopted the 32 -hour week in 4 days during the summer months. “It is an organization that remains limited in time, so employees take advantage of it. And at the beginning of the school year, they are more rested, more motivated,” he said.
“It is simple and free. It is a measure that shows that the company is concerned about everyone’s rest and it can also be a lever so you want to join the box or stay there,” concludes Samuel Durand.
“Beware of ads”
On the other side of the Atlantic, in Montreal, the turbulent video game study understood this. In a LinkedIn publication, the company highlights its “summer hours” system. From the end of June to September 1 (Labor Day in Canada), employees work in the “Compressed Week” and El Debatery Friday at noon to “take advantage of the beautiful days.”
“Whether” player “a little more, go to a spontaneous road or simply relax to the sun, everyone finds their own rhythm. Some spend time with the family, others get involved in personal or volunteer projects,” he has society.
“But be careful with the effects of the ads, which are only destined to improve the employer’s brand,” says Jean-Christophe Villette, work psychologist and director of the Ekilibre Cabinet.
“Obviously, it is not about blocking any new flexibility initiative,” he continues. But the specialist points to several surveillance points. It insists on the importance of involving the representatives of the personnel and the employees upstream of said reorganization.
“It is a good measure from the moment it is the issue of a consultation and an experiment to measure its effects,” he adds. “Because in reality, perhaps things get stuck or the workload will refer to other services.”
In front of heat, the Spanish “intensive day”
However, the psychologist sees all the interest of this summer adaptation. “We work throughout the year, fatigue has accumulated, if we add to that the heat and heat waves that will multiply, the idea of a reduced working time is welcome,” he says.
It is not a coincidence that summer schedules are widespread in Spain. Originally, this mode of operation was adopted because it was too hot to work in the afternoon, as reported by The Welcome to the Jungle Media.
And if since then, the air conditioning has been installed in many offices, the tradition has continued. Therefore, from June to September, a certain number of companies still operate in reduced hours or more precisely with the “intensive day” system.
Then, Spanish employees start around 8 am to leave work at 3 pm, either every day of the week or only on Friday. The lunch break, which usually lasts between one and two hours, is reduced to 15 or 30 minutes here.
But if employees seem to appreciate, what about the fateful moment when you have to resume normal rhythm? Not only the summer is over, and you must also return to the office 5 days of the week …
For Olivier Salles, nothing to depress. “We change your rhythm, so we have to readjust, it is also pleasant because we suddenly have one more day to do the same job, so we have a little air, it is a bit unarmed.”
Source: BFM TV
