The role of human resources and technology in adopting the four-day week

Written by Paulo Oliveira, Marketing Director at Apdata.

The four-day work week will be tested in Brazil from November. The project, led by Reconnect Happiness at Work, in partnership with 4 Day Week Global and Boston College, has selected 20 companies that will reduce work hours to 32 hours by May 2024. The idea is to use “100-80-100 logic.” Which means 100% of the salary, 80% of the time, and 100% of the productivity.

Companies participating in the initiative have been receiving guidance and training since June. It is worth noting that it is not implemented immediately, but rather planning is needed to restructure processes, communications, time management and metrics. Therefore, HR is a key player in making the four-day trip a success in the company. To achieve this, the sector needs solutions that automate routine procedures and provide indicators and reports easily.

The project has already been tested in several countries such as Belgium, Iceland, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom. According to Reconnect Happiness at Work, many companies report lower rates of absenteeism. But for this to be evaluated effectively, having an HR management system makes a big difference, as it is possible to easily access this data and create reports to measure it.

The project puts people at the center of the decision-making process, which is why HR must monitor and analyze the effects of the new journey on employees. Assessing levels of productivity and participation in the four-day week testing is crucial. For this to be possible, it is essential that routine and manual tasks are automated, and HR professionals can focus on these assessments and strategies.

To better understand how the new paradigm will impact employees’ daily lives, HR can apply research. In this sense, questionnaires must be well structured so that the results show conclusively how the experiment is going. In other words, technology here is also essential, as such a survey would never be possible manually.

It is also true that there will be a lot of doubts among employees, and assertive communication will make a huge difference. Having a portal that allows you to share information with employees provides more security and clarity during this process. Moreover, it encourages greater autonomy for contractors, who can submit orders, consult and update data, and even generate data automatically.

As the world continues to evolve rapidly, the traditional work model is losing ground, whether to remote, hybrid, and now four-day workweeks. HR is at the heart of these changes, and to ensure their successful implementation, productivity and good employee experience, it is essential to rely on technology.