From December 2020 to June 2022, Unilever NZ conducted one of the world’s longest trials of the 4 Day Work Week (4DWW). A comprehensive set of KPIs were agreed, and then independently evaluated over the course of a 12 month period. All 80 staff participated.
Results were encouraging:
- Showed strong delivery against business targets, including revenue growth
- Saw absenteeism fall 34%
- Decreased work stress by 33%, and increased strength and vigour at work by 15%
- Saw work/life conflict fall by 67%
- Maintained stakeholder satisfaction with 100% agreeing that the NZ team completed work on time and to high quality
- Reduced meetings by 3.5 hours per week
Now, we’re extending the trial in NZ and trialling the 4DWW across our Australian operations
Beginning on 14 November, the Australian trial will run for an initial 12 month period. It will incorporate the early learnings and recommendations from New Zealand whilst also recognising the unique nuances of the Australian landscape.
We will empower our employees to determine how they are going to work by aligning plans with their managers that work best for them, their team and their customers/external stakeholders.
Unilever ANZ's 4DWW uses the 100:80:100 principle: Unilever staff retain 100% of salaries and while still committing to delivering 100% of business outcomes and working 80% of the time. All leave and public holiday balances remain the same. There is no mandated day or time. It is up to the individual assuming it also works for the broader team and the business.
Everything we do is part of our vision to be a leader in sustainable business: we’re proud to be trialling this initiative to develop insights for the Future of Work
We want to contribute to a fairer, more socially inclusive world by pioneering new models and ways of working, such as the 4DWW, to ensure we meet the evolving needs and expectations of our team members while delivering high standards of triple bottom line performance (profit, planet and society) and competitiveness.
