Four-day work week proponent restructures

Thursday, 19 July 2018

Andrew Barnes says productivity is more important than hours worked.

A New Zealand firm that has heralded the success of its four-day working week trial is restructuring.

The company claimed productivity had increased by 20 per cent while its staff were only required to put in 80 per cent of a normal workload's hours, and were more engaged and enthusiastic.

Perpetual Guardian managing director Andrew Barnes said productivity was the key determinant of pay, not hours - and women should stop negotiating on hours but productivity instead.

'Women generally are paid less because they work fewer hours after returning to work from maternity leave, even though they might be delivering the same level of productivity as someone working five days a week,' Barnes said.

He said studies had shown that the longer people worked, the less productive they would be.

Barnes said Complectus, which operates Perpetual Guardian, was going through more changes and some roles were changing.

'Complectus has been focused on transformation and continuous improvement since 2014.

'Our most recent change this year has seen the creation of two new businesses within the group that will specialise in improving investment and digital customer solutions,' he said.

'As a result, the company will create approximately 12-15 new roles across the group and disestablish six to ten existing roles. This is across a business of more than 240 staff.'

He said the restructuring was not influenced by the impact of the four-day week.

'Absolutely not, the review of our business strategy and the plans to set up two new businesses predated the four-day week trial by a considerable period, and the trial had no impact on these separate business developments.

'The establishment of the investment business and the digital sales business has been in the pipeline for more than two years. Staff numbers in the company are growing and will continue to grow as the company expands.'