More free time for employees and still a 25 percent increase in growth for the company in just one year? The example of Markus Wübben from Cross Engage shows how this can work with his Recharge Days. An example that should set a precedent?
What entrepreneurs want are committed employees who are hard-working and creative and who use their working hours efficiently. But the reality is often different. Overtime, shortened weekends and working from home are a burden on many employees. With dramatic consequences for the company. Instead of receiving more performance, they lose concentration and success. Many employees are dissatisfied because their work-life balance is no longer right. A problem that Markus Wübben’s approach could help with, if you dare.
The idea of Recharge Days
The entrepreneur has taken his cue from American role models such as Apple or Google and introduced a 4-day work week every other week. All meetings in his company Cross Engage now only take place from Monday to Thursday. Friday remains free. On this day, employees can relax and enjoy a long weekend. The days are used to recharge the batteries internally, but also to develop new creative ideas and give the mind a rest. In purely arithmetical terms, this results in 26 additional vacation days per year for each of its 69 employees. And that’s with the same pay. A risk, but one that pays off.
Growth increase through Recharge Days
Instead of financial losses thanks to the additional vacation days donated, Wübben is pleased to have committed employees who not only enjoy coming to work and pursuing their activities, but who also do so with a great deal of ambition and creativity on the remaining working days. If we stick to the mathematics and note that the company can be pleased about a growth of 25 percent in the one year, this is amazing and clearly shows that courage pays off. Courage to take a new path and, of course, to have the confidence that the employees will not lie down on their lazy skins, but will work much more efficiently than before in the remaining time thanks to newly recharged batteries.
New Work sends its regards
What the entrepreneur unconsciously picks up on in the process are the fundamentals of New Work. In other words, finding a new way of organizing work, not only in terms of scheduling, such as moving seminars to more convenient times and making workplaces a real oasis of well-being, but also in terms of workplace flexibility. Admittedly, having every other Friday off already sounds tempting. It would certainly be even better to disappear completely into the home office or to have every Friday off. But the entrepreneur from Berlin didn’t want to go quite that far. And he didn’t have to, because his two-week, 4-day workweek has proven to be a great success. It is not only well accepted, it also pays off. The employees seem completely satisfied with the boss’s ideas and they remain loyal to him.
When satisfaction grants one professionals
Satisfaction is a valuable commodity in times of a shortage of skilled workers. If you don’t like it in one company, you look for the next job. There are plenty of offers. That’s why it’s all the more important to use innovative ideas and new-work approaches to create a working environment in which colleagues feel comfortable, where they can come in and give free rein to their ideas. Then they also get things done, ultimately for the good of the company, of course. Efficient work not only creates joy and satisfaction, but also secure jobs. Ultimately, each employee earns his or her own salary with the success of the company. And that is likely to increase as growth increases. Simple figures that anyone can count on one hand. Success can be contagious, so it wouldn’t be surprising if many companies were to follow the same path and develop new break concepts.
Image copyright: IgorVetushko
