Three-day weekends feel like a treat when holidays fall on a Friday, but employees at several companies regularly say “TGIT” because four-day workweeks are their norm.

According to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, 43% of companies offer four-day workweeks to some employees, and 10% make it available to all or most employees. The reason? It positively impacts the bottomline.

“Since we implemented flexible workweeks in 2008, all the metrics a CEO cares about have gone in the right direction,” says Delta Emerson, president of global shared services for the tax services firm Ryan. The company turnover rate dropped from 30% to 11%, revenue and profits almost doubled, client satisfaction scores reached an all-time high, and the firm has received multiple “best place to work” awards.

Global audit, tax, and advisory firm KPMG has also seen big results from short weeks: “We look at flexibility as strategic business tool,” says Barbara Wankoff, director of workplace solutions. “This isn’t an accommodation or something out of the norm. This is a method that allows us to accomplish our business goals and become more successful.”

While the benefits outweigh the issues, compressed workweeks can bring challenges. Here are six things leaders say have to happen to make it work:





A little extra effort and planning goes a long way when you offer employees untraditional hours, says Wankoff. Workflow and communication schedules need to be worked out with managers ahead of time.

“It comes down to the individual and their leader,” she says. “Thought has to be put into things like scheduling meetings and planning where key deadline and milestones are going to fall. Because we’re a flexible culture with a virtual workforce all over the globe, we’re used to engagement that requires off hours.”