Striking a better work-life balance for employees, improving productivity for employers, and even helping cut unemployment were the benefits, Melbourne-based Morris Miselowski told WSBA.
For an increasing number of companies and government agencies, that movement in work arrangements is happening now while others are still grappling with the idea.
Miselowski, who regularly speaks to western Sydney business leaders and is a sought-after keynote speaker around the country, takes the push by president of the UK Faculty of Public Health Professor John Ashton for a four day week even further.
Rather than having a standard three day weekend, Miselowski says work times and location needed to be flexible.
“It is the way of the future and it is happening in many companies now,” he said.
“Working 9-5 during the week, with the weekend off due to religious considerations, came about during the Industrial Revolution but, for a start, religion is no longer the main activity for people on the weekend - shopping is.
“It is time to change, with technology no longer making it necessary for people to come together in the same place at the same time.”
Miselowski agrees with Prof Ashton that less work hours means more time for leisure, family and health but feels that even a set three day week can be restrictive.
“We need to have the discussion on how companies can achieve flexible working hours and workforce to suit their needs,” he said.
“In some businesses, workers already are working from home or hot-desking it, and are being judged on their output rather than hours.”
Without overheads of offices and equipment, businesses are seeing profits rise, and productivity from a happier workforce, Miselowski said.
After all, there are many people who prefer to break up their working day - even if it means working late at night when the family is in bed.
And then there is the benefit to traffic on congested roads and the cost of public transport infrastructure.
“Let’s evolve, let’s liberate, let’s work hard, work where and when it’s appropriate, love life and take time off when we need it,” Miselowski said.
Workforce wants conditions that suit lifestyles
MOMIN Talukder only has to look into the eyes of his six-year-old daughter to know the effect long working hours has on families.
Whenever the UWS Business School lecturer is late home, his wife and daughter are not happy.
The irony is that while Mr Talukder is caught up at university doing his Phd on flexible working hours, often his daughter is waiting for a goodnight kiss from her daddy.
“I can see the effect long working hours has on personal happiness in family life. Often work can mean you miss out on making your family happy,” Mr Talukder.
“If I get caught up with extra work at uni, when I get home, my wife and daughter are not happy and they tell me that.”
Mr Talukder is concentrating on the service industry, particularly banking, in looking how flexible work arrangements can work.
While industries with high customer contact may have less flexibility than, say, journalism and accountancy, Mr Talukder said it was still possible to work out better arrangements between employee and employer.
Job sharing, working longer hours over less days, the three day weekend - all were ways to allow better life-work balance for a wide range of industries.
He can even see how working remotely can work in his job of teaching.
“With technology, does a teacher have to be in front of his class, or do students even have to be in a classroom?” Mr Talukder ventured.
Many large companies, such as KPMG, already have flexible work arrangements.
“These work arrangements have been available for quite some time now,” Susan Ferrier, KPMG’s Head of People, Performance & Culture said.
“This includes part-time work (eg four days a week), different starting and ending hours (eg start at 7.30am and finishing at 4.00pm) and job share (a full time role could be shared by two people) just to name a few different options.”
Ms Ferrier said the way KPMG worked changed in response to clients and employees’ changing needs.
“Today’s workforce wants a working environment that reflects their lifestyles, a critical factor for organisations wanting to attract and retain the best people,” she said.
“Employee productivity, collaboration, health and well-being are all critical to an organisation’s performance.
“It’s no longer just where they work but how they work in relation to their environment – how they can be more effective, technically enabled and collaborative. And being flexible, whether at the workplace or in terms of working arrangements is integral to that change.”
Ms Ferrier said improving client and employee experiences was the key to future change.
“For us, the future is about flexibility and freedom for workers, whilst always keeping the needs of clients and customers in mind. Technology will be a key enabler, and businesses will need to embrace digital workspaces,” Ms Ferrier said.
And Penrith Council agrees, with a flexible working week for staff that suits the council’s need to serve the community.
All of council's permanent employees have access to either flexi time or a standardised nine day fortnight dependent on their particular area of work,” a council spokesman said.
“Many use this to have a three-day weekend every second week, some find it better to have a mid-week day off, and some prefer to work the slightly shorter day, five-day week every week.”
The spokesman said having flexibility in work hours meant the council was “an employer of choice” where workers were happy with morale and productivity boosted for the organisation.
