A Practical Guide to Building a Business Case for a Shorter Work Week

The five-day, 40-hour workweek has been the standard for over a century. But today’s workforce has the motivation, tools, and momentum to change that for good.

Businesses are under pressure to boost productivity, retain top talent, and prevent burnout, all while staying competitive in an evolving market. Employees are overwhelmed with work, engagement is dropping, and the turnover rate is expensive. 

Something has to give.

What if we could encourage the culture of doing more with less, foster a better work-life balance, and cultivate sustainable productivity within organizations? That’s basically the idea behind shorter workweek programs.

In this guide, I’ll share how to create a compelling business case for a shorter workweek with practical tips to increase the chance of success, just as we’ve helped companies worldwide across industries to transform with satisfaction.

Why Businesses Are Implementing a Shorter Work Week

The momentum for the four-day workweek continues to grow, as companies that adopted it early and government-supported trials report more positive results than drawbacks. And most companies tend to stick with this model after their trials.

Here are some key reasons why a shorter workweek makes business sense:

Employee Well-Being and Productivity Go Hand in Hand

Long hours don’t guarantee better results. In fact, research shows the opposite: overworked employees experience higher stress, lower engagement, and declining productivity.

Companies that have adopted shorter workweeks report sharper focus, greater efficiency, and a noticeable boost in job satisfaction. That’s because making fewer hours work requires more than just cutting a day. They had to go through a thorough process of rethinking workflows, redesigning systems, and adopting a new mindset that prioritizes both wellbeing and performance.

Employees are on board, too: 78.5% of employees said they are highly motivated to improve efficiency in order to work fewer hours, according to our Rethinking Work Week study.

When your teams are healthier and happier, productivity follows. And that should be the goal for any business looking to improve performance.

A Competitive Edge in Talent Attraction and Retention

In a competitive labor market, organizations must offer more than just competitive salaries. 

Flexible work arrangements, including shorter workweeks, have become a major differentiator. In fact, a 2023 Drive Research study revealed that 66% of employees consider a shorter work week an attractive perk when considering a job offer.

Employees value time just as much as compensation, and companies that prioritize work-life balance gain an edge in attracting and retaining top talent.

Environmental and Economic Benefits

Shorter workweeks don’t just benefit employees; they can also reduce business costs and support sustainability. Studies link reduced work hours to lower energy consumption, fewer commuting emissions, and more time for employees to engage in eco-friendly activities.

Forward-thinking organizations recognize that reducing work hours can align with corporate sustainability goals while also improving operational efficiency.

For more, check out our blog on 9 Surprising Pros and Cons of the Shorter Work Week.

Getting Company Stakeholders Onboard

Shifting to a shorter workweek is more than a scheduling change. It requires a fundamental rethink of how work gets done across the organization. 

You might need to reframe the conversation from ‘working less’ to working better to bring leadership, managers, and employees on this meaningful journey.

Break the Conventional Norms of Productivity

Leadership buy-in is essential, but one of the biggest challenges in adopting a shorter workweek is breaking the long-held belief that productivity is tied to hours worked. Many organizations hesitate to embrace a four-day workweek because they fear it will lead to unfinished tasks, delayed responsiveness, and lower output.

That’s why it is fundamentally important to redefine productivity and alter the measurements from hours worked to outcomes and value. 

Moreover, data consistently shows that well-rested, engaged employees perform better, innovate more, and stay longer with their companies. 

The best way to convince leadership is with concrete data from companies that have already made the shift. A well-planned pilot program can generate internal evidence that supports long-term adoption. Executives are more likely to support change when they see it as a strategic advantage, not just a cultural experiment.

Empower Managers to Lead the Transition

Managers play a crucial role in making a shorter workweek successful. They are the bridge between leadership vision and daily execution to ensure that teams maintain the expected outcomes while transitioning to a shortened schedule.

Research indicates that some managers appreciate the four-day workweek as it offers a structured approach to flexibility. But not every team functions the same way. You might want to consider giving managers more control over adaptation by having the flexibility to select the most suitable reduced-hours model for their team.

Moreover, many teams already spend too much time in unnecessary meetings, dealing with communication overload, or navigating outdated processes. Therefore, collaborate closely with team leaders to pinpoint bottlenecks and enhance workflows.

Engaging Employees as Active Participants

A common pitfall is assuming employees will automatically embrace a shorter workweek. In reality, they need clarity on how it will work, what’s expected of them, and how their workload will be managed in the new schedules.

A shorter workweek must feel like a collaborative effort to optimize workflows and work smarter in fewer hours. Otherwise, you risk productivity stagnation. 

While there is a positive signal of employee motivation to improve efficiency, workplace norms around “busyness” and presenteeism must first be addressed in every company to make the four-day workweek a success.

The other best practice is to involve employees in identifying inefficiencies for improvement. However, this is only possible in a workplace culture that fosters open communication, psychological safety, and trust. When employees feel safe to challenge outdated processes and propose better ways of working, the transition to a shorter workweek becomes a shared goal to achieve. 

Starting with a Structured Pilot Program

As mentioned, a well-executed pilot program is the best way to reduce leadership skepticism, give managers confidence, and ensure employees adjust smoothly. It also provides real data to measure success before scaling the initiative. 

For a pilot to succeed:

• Set clear metrics to track performance: Align on success indicators such as KPIs, customer satisfaction rate, and employee engagement rate to measure the results of shorter workweek trials.
• Gather ongoing feedback: Employees and managers should have a platform and are encouraged to provide feedback during the experiment. You may find many helpful insights to refine the approach beyond the scores.
• Refine the program before broader implementation to more departments.

Addressing Common Concerns and Objections

In every conversation about the shorter workweek, the same concerns come up. Leaders worry about lost productivity, unhappy customers, and disruptions to teamwork. 

These are fair questions, as any significant shift in workplace arrangements challenges long-standing norms. But in practice, these concerns for a shorter workweek rarely turn out to be deal breakers. 

Here are the most common objections and how they can be addressed:

Ensuring Productivity and Accountability in Fewer Hours

A shorter workweek forces a fundamental question: What really drives productivity? The fear of unfinished tasks, missed deadlines, or declining efficiency often holds organizations back from making the shift. 

Besides a reassessment of what truly drives business performance as mentioned earlier, channel your efforts into maximizing employees’ energy, motivation, and efficiency instead of monitoring their activities.

There’s the elephant in the room we haven’t discussed enough about: how to prioritize tasks when time becomes more precious. Without structural changes, teams risk falling into the trap of cramming five days’ worth of work into four, leading to stress rather than efficiency gains.

Sometimes, the biggest gains come from eliminating low-value activities such as pointless meetings, fragmented communication, and unnecessary approval steps.

Maintaining Customer Satisfaction in a Shorter Workweek

Unlike the remote work shift during COVID, which happened universally, companies adopting shorter workweeks are still early adopters. Companies with customer-facing roles often found it more challenging to implement a four-day week due to fixed opening hours and performance metrics set by the board. 

However, many organizations have implemented staggered schedules to ensure customer support remains uninterrupted. Others rely on automation, asynchronous communication, and clearly defined service agreements to maintain responsiveness. 

That said, we need to structure schedules well and manage client expectations to maintain service levels. Customers care more about responsiveness and quality than whether someone is available at every hour of the traditional workweek.

Preserving Team Collaboration and Engagement

Fewer hours might mean fewer meetings, but that isn’t necessarily a drawback. Many teams already struggle with a “busyness culture” where constant availability is mistaken for productivity.

Collaboration doesn’t suffer when passive availability is replaced with intentional engagement. Instead of expecting employees to be perpetually online, you can establish structured collaboration windows, such as dedicated time scheduled for team alignment, brainstorming, and problem-solving. This creates space for deep work while ensuring essential discussions still happen.

The shift also requires trust. Employees need to feel empowered to make decisions and work autonomously without unnecessary check-ins. This is where leadership plays a crucial role in reinforcing that results, not visibility, define success. 

Case Studies of Successful Implementation

The transition to a four-day workweek is happening across industries. Here are some great examples to demonstrate how organizations, from high-growth tech firms to manufacturing plants and global enterprises, have navigated this transition:

Example 1: Workflow Redesign

A Canadian software company I worked with initially feared that a four-day workweek would lead to rushed deadlines and unfinished projects. But as we analyzed their operations, it became clear that work was being diluted across unnecessary meetings, fragmented communication, and inefficient workflows. 

Instead of merely reducing hours, we guided the company through a structured redesign: eliminating redundancies, tightening project cycles, and adopting asynchronous collaboration tools. 

The results were striking: productivity stabilized, employees reported feeling more focused, and the company saw a measurable improvement in talent retention. 

What started as a time reduction initiative evolved into a complete recalibration of how work was structured, proving that when done right, a shorter workweek could turn into a business advantage.

Example 2: Smarter Use of Resources

For an Ohio-based custom motorhome manufacturer, traditional thinking suggested that reducing hours would mean cutting output. Yet the company’s leadership identified a different approach: reworking how labor and machinery were utilized. 

Instead of operating on rigid shifts, they introduced new scheduling models where employees could oversee multiple machines in staggered rotations. The shift in structure allowed them to maintain production levels while reducing hours, creating a better work-life balance without sacrificing operational efficiency. 

What was once seen as an industry limitation turned into a competitive advantage: turnover decreased, job satisfaction climbed, and talent attraction improved in an industry often struggling with retention.

Example 3: Large-Scale Work Time Reduction

One of the most compelling large-scale examples comes from Unilever’s work-time reduction trials in New Zealand and Australia. 

Unlike smaller firms that can pivot quickly, Unilever had to tailor its approach to fit multiple operational models across supply chain, logistics, and office-based roles. 

Rather than enforcing a rigid structure, leadership focused on working smarter, not just less. Teams cut back on non-essential projects, streamlined meetings, and adopted centralized collaboration tools to stay efficient. The shift wasn’t about squeezing the same work into fewer days but about eliminating inefficiencies that had been slowing teams down.

The results spoke for themselves: stress levels dropped 33%, absenteeism fell by 34%, and employees reported feeling more energized. Business performance stayed strong, and 100% of stakeholders confirmed that work quality and deadlines remained intact.

Creating Your Business Case for a Shorter Work Week

The question isn’t whether a shorter workweek can work but how to make it work for your business. I hope this guide provides you with practical tips and best practices to make a good business case, gain leadership buy-in, and take the first step toward work time reduction.And you don’t have to do it all alone. We have helped hundreds of companies from various industries improve their working processes, design shorter working week trials, and train teams for successful four-day workweek pilots. Ready to explore what’s possible? Book a free consultation with one of our experts here.