Four-day work week win as major Aussie company expands trial: 'More will follow'

One of Australia's largest private health insurers has decided to expand its four-day work week trial. Medibank has been looking at how the progressive policy could improve staff morale and productivity.

It appears many Aussies are keen to jump on the trend, with a poll of more than 1,600 Yahoo Finance readers showing 89 per cent would love a four-day work week. Only 250 Medibank workers have been involved in this initial trial and they've been operating under a "100 per cent of the pay for 80 per cent of the time" model.

"People are happier, healthier and more productive, which is great," Medibank's chief customer officer Milosh Milisavljevic said.

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What have Medibank staff said about the 4-day work week?

It seems like the new policy has been a massive win for the hundreds of staff who have been involved so far.

The trial is now being doubled to include 500 workers.

Medibank head of people and sustainability Kylie Bishop said it has helped cut down unnecessary meetings and workloads as staff were committed to getting everything done in the new timeframe.

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“We’ve seen significant and sustained improvements in employee engagement, job satisfaction and the health and wellbeing of participants, while maintaining business performance and customer outcomes,” she said.

“The shortened week prompted a concentrated effort on planning and clearer alignment and agreement on outcomes and how the work is performed.”

Nathan Crothers has been a part of the six-month trial and he said the extra day off has been a game-changer.

"When you walk in on a Monday, you actually feel really refreshed, really engaged and set up for a really successful week," he revealed.

More companies could follow in Medibank's footsteps

Medibank partnered with Macquarie University for the four-day work week trial to monitor how it was impacting the business and its staff.

After the six months, staff reported being 4.5 per cent more satisfied with their job and 6.7 per cent were more engaged with their day-to-day tasks.

The shortened week also helped these employees be more willing to go "above and beyond" their normal duties.

Overall health improved by 16 per cent, work-life balance and sleep jumped 30 per cent each, and unhealthy eating plunged 17.5 per cent.

Macquarie University Business School Professor Rebecca Mitchell said Medibank has laid down the groundwork for others to follow.

"They came up with all these really cool ideas on how they could work more efficiently and more effectively," she said.

"If Medibank in its complexity can do this then surely all organisations can try and do this.

“Medibank is applying a robust process to identify these next participants, working together with Four Day Week Global and Macquarie University about the ideal characteristics of these teams."

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