Potential benefits of going from a 5 day work week to a 4 day work week

The paper “Potential Benefits of Going from a 5 Day Work Week to a 4 Day Work Week” is a persuading example of a research proposal on management. This is a request for permission to research the potential benefits of going from a 5 day work week to a 4 day work week. The increasing need for companies to find innovative ways of improving the firm’s efficiency has brought about this research idea. Smart Technologies Ltd is no exception and it is also faced with the problem of motivating their employees, getting the best out of them by allowing them to work for 10 hours for 4 days in a week and having a 3 day weekend.

CHALLENGE
The declining efficiency of employees of Smart Technologies Ltd has brought about a huge problem for the management of the firm. The company has over the years had its efficiency in producing its commodities decline steadily. Producing a unit of the company’s products now takes longer than it used to a couple of years ago and this has led to an increase in the cost of production. Due to tougher economic times, many employees have part-time jobs and working for five days in a week in one job limits the amount of time allocated to the other job. The costs of commuting to work have also increased due to the stringent economic circumstances.

POTENTIAL SOLUTION
The change from a five day work week to a four day week offers an answer since it reduces the workload on employees and by so doing motivates them to work even harder. Most employees dislike working for long periods in a week and by reducing the days that they should work, a manager can increase their efficiency on the four days that they actually work in a week. Therefore, employees work for 10 hours for each of the 4 working days in a week and then they can have a 3 day weekend.

This structure would be most appealing to those employees who have other duties to attend to such that the 3 days off days would be beneficial to them. Employees with children especially below the age of five also need extra time to cater to their children and a 3 day weekend would prove to be very attractive to them. The proposed solution would also attract employees who are close to retirement who cannot handle the pressure of a five day week; therefore a four day week would not be too much for them hence motivating them and getting the best out of them for those four days. The proposed solution also reduces the commuter costs incurred by the organization’s employees on their way to work every day. Since the employees would only work for four days in a week the costs they would have incurred for the fifth day are saved.

RESEARCH REQUEST
In order to effectively illustrate how the company would benefit from a four-day working week rather than a five day week, I would have to conduct research. We can apply to our case the numerous companies which I have gathered information on that has switched to a four day week from the usual five day week.

PRELIMINARY RESEARCH
The preliminary research I have conducted indicates that there is available data to support this proposal idea and to give the company the required information it needs for it to make a correct decision. A number of companies have actually initiated this method of using a four day week rather than a five-day working week, and this information could be of help in our case.

CONCLUSION
Having worked in this organization for a number of years now, it has come to my knowledge that employees dislike the long weeks they have to work each and every year. This reduces morale and hence affects the efficiency and productivity of such employees. This proposal aims to benefit the whole organization by addressing the problem that affects employees, which is long working weeks and the problem facing the organization’s management, which is low efficiency and productivity.

I am looking forward to submitting and discuss this proposal with you within the next few weeks. Before the fiscal year begins, I would like to begin my research, prepare the required information on finances and the pros and cons of going from a five day week to four a day week. Thank you, your time was highly appreciated.