At Leapwise, we are driven by our commitment to do meaningful work – helping public sector organisations address complex challenges and deliver high performance. We pride ourselves on our evidence-based approach and our team’s dedication. Today, we are excited to announce a new initiative that reflects our values and our continuous pursuit of innovation: the 9-day fortnight trial.
What is the 9-day fortnight?
For a three-six month trial period, our team members will enjoy every other Friday as a non-working day. This means that over a two-week period, our employees work for nine days instead of ten. To ensure seamless client delivery, there may be exceptional circumstances where teams or individuals will need to switch their non-working day to either the previous or following day.
Why Are We Doing This?
- It’s Worked for Others. The world’s largest four-day working week trial to date, comprising 61 companies and around 2900 workers was conducted in the UK from June to December 2022. The trial was highly successful, with 92% of the participating companies continuing with the 4-days work-week after the pilot’s planned end. The trial found positive impacts on employees’ wellbeing, work-life balance and productivity with 39% of employees being less stressed, and 71% experiencing reduced levels of burnout. Additionally, companies experienced healthy revenues growth and increased staff retention. We are optimistic that our 9-day fortnight will yield similar benefits for our team.
- It Makes Sense for Our Team. We deeply value our team. By implementing this trial, we aim to enhance our flexible working policies, reduce burnout, and ensure that our employees are refreshed and more productive on their working days.
- It will provide even better Value for Clients. By billing a maximum of four days per week, we maximise value for clients through increased productivity from our consultants. This approach makes both our team and our clients happier! We can still scale up or down team sizes to meet project demands, ensuring efficient and effective service delivery.
- It Makes Sense for Our Business. We hope the change will support attraction and retention of talent in a competitive labour market, as well as a value proposition that will see us continue to win repeat work and recommendations from every client.
What Does it Mean to Our Current Clients?
Most of our clients will not notice any difference in service delivery. We already have structured processes for aligning on working patterns and expectations at the start of and throughout projects, and these will continue. Our commitment to delivering high-quality, impactful work remains unchanged. We will continue to provide the same level of excellence you have come to expect from us.
What Does It Mean for the Future?
This trial is an opportunity for us to evaluate the effectiveness of the 9-day fortnight. We believe it will provide better value, with day rates remaining the same and a well-rested and more productive team working four days a week. Should the trial prove successful, it may become a permanent change.
Why Not a Traditional Four-Day Week?
We have chosen the 9-day fortnight over a traditional four-day week to allocate one day for training, internal improvement, and business development. This approach ensures that we continue to grow and evolve as a company, while still reaping the benefits of reduced working hours. We would not rule out a Four-Day Week in future, but this was the right step for us now.
What If It Doesn’t Work?
This trial is designed to run over an extended period, allowing us to experience various seasons and scenarios. At the end of the trial, we will assess its impact and determine whether it is a sustainable model for our company. Regardless of the outcome, we will keep you informed of our findings and any future decisions.
Contact us to know more on how our initiative positively impacts the quality of our service delivery to clients.
