This week The Times reported that KPMG is asking its 11,000 British staff to take unpaid leave or face an extensive redundancy programme. The global accountancy firm wrote to all of its employees asking them to volunteer for sabbaticals of between four and twelve weeks on 30 per cent pay or move to a four-day week. The rationale for the proposal, which it referred to as a contingency plan, was designed to help KPMG avoid a company-wide redundancy programme in the future.
The assumption in the article is that most people would respond negatively to this offer, but how would you respond? I asked a male employee in his thirties in my own University spin-off company and he said he would definitely take up KPMG’s offer – he told me that 30% pay would cover his mortgage payments and he would then be able to go travelling for three months using savings from better financial times. He explained that he has been waiting for years to take a break of this sort from work– but could never find a way to do it that left both his job and house secure. Unfortunately, for him (but fortunately for the company) we won’t be offering this option in the foreseeable future!
However, this kind of reaction reinforces the view that the financial crisis presents opportunities as well as challenges to the UK’s working population. Ok, if you’re mortgaged up to the hilt and have a family to support the proposal would be less than attractive, but not everyone is in that situation.
Clearly, KPMG’s offer is borne out of financial necessity, but you could also argue that it shows humanity and forward thinking on their part. They are giving their staff choices before it’s too late – contrast this with the fate of Woolworths’ and Lehman Bothers’ employees for whom there was no choice at all. I dare say a KPMG-like offer would have been accepted by many of them if it was put forward six months before it all went wrong for those businesses! From a strategic perspective this may also prove to be a smart move: I’m not claiming that the ‘green shoots of recovery’ are yet visible, but KPMG are thinking beyond the recession here. By making several large scale redundancies now, companies are building in sizeable recruitment, induction and training costs that will impede recovery the future.
Finally, at the foot of the article in the online edition where I read this news I noticed a comment by ‘Farrukh of Woking’ a Times reader. He said:
“We should have four day weeks anyway, and subsidised sporting facilities for all. Let us make our nation healthy and happy!”
The first part of his statement, a four-day week, is radical. There will be those who say that the shorter week hasn’t worked in France, and in an economic sense this may be true, but now is a good time to examine and revisit radical ideas of this sort. I’m not necessarily suggesting that the UK should adopt Farrukh’s suggestion, but as the second part of his comment indicates, ideas like this reflect the need for a paradigm shift in terms how we see the relationship between work, wealth and quality of life. I’ll finish with a challenge – visualise a situation where you learn to manage financially with one less day’s pay a week in return for one more day to do with as you please. Your life could be very different – but would it be better or worse overall – and in what respects? Answers on a postcard!
This is an interesting notion and one that I am a little surprised has not come up often before. For many years now as a HR professional I have been frustrated by how little attention is payed in the workplace (and by the CIPD) to psychology. Can you imagine a CEO ignoring his engineering directors thoughts on all thing mechanical or her corporate lawyers input on current case law?
More recently the likes of John Medina have put a strong case for applying what he calls “brain rules” in the workplace and the 4 day week might just be right up our brains street. More time for family, friends and yourself? Fantastic!
My husband and I have, for years, worked 2-3 days a week each. This has meant that there was always someone there for our four boys. Recently they had to go to out of school club one day a week when we both worked 3 days. They were delighted with there always being someone at home and, as one of my boys suffered from migraine, he frequently had to be sent home from school. When they asked why they couldn’t go family holidays to Florida and the like, we explained that would mean both of us working full time and them having childcare 5 days a week. They agreed with us that being able to come home from school each day and play with their friends was much better than having two weeks holiday somewhere exotic.
Now we have actually taken a year out with our family to help project manage the building of an orphanage in Burundi, Africa. This has actually meant more family time and has taught the boys a lot about what poverty really is and how 90% of the world’s population really live.
I believe anyone can do these things. It is just a case of really examining priorities and being willing to be different.
It is great that more innovative ways are being suggested to deal with the economic hardship.
My philosophy is that an organisation has a clear purpose and that this is subscribed to by all who work there, and consequently it is ultimately a team. With that premise it always amazes me that it is so readily accepted that some team members should be made to bear the brunt of what is a team problem. Logic would suggest that the organisation had recruite dto teh extent it has because it needed all those people and therefore the likelihood is that it will need them again when business improves, so why not rather apply a universal pay cut? That would share the pain more equitably, reduce resentment and fear and reinforce the sense of being a team. I suspect the psychological benefits would also be profound.
The company I work for has actually implemented 4 day week. Staff were consulted first, because it constituted a change in our contracts of employment we all had to agree to the change. But the management impetus was that this was a measure to get us through the recession without making redundancies.
I have to say I absolutely love it! As a mother of two school age children for the first time since going back to work full time, I am able to have time for myself.
I must admit I was all in favour of the four day week from the first time it was mentioned. However, now that it is underway even colleagues that were at first unhappy are telling me that they have mangaged to cut their expenses and are really enjoying the time off.
I think the problem my employer faces is that a lot of staff are going to want to stay on the four day week!!
I for one definately will be.