Cambridge Company Says 4-Day Work Week Increases Productivity
CAMBRIDGE (CBS) - In May of 2020, Dockwa did away with the dreaded Monday work day.
"I don't see a world where I could go really go back to a five-day work week," said Austin Schofield, Marina Success Manager.
"We wanted to combat employee burnout. We realized that the state of the world was changing, and we really wanted to make sure that our employees were present, that they remained happy," said Jessica Palmer, VP of People Operations.
The start-up company has offices in Cambridge and Newport, RI and says since switching to a four-day work week, the numbers speak for themselves.
"What we found was in the year after we implemented the change, we saw nearly 100% year over year growth in ARR, which is revenue. We were able to do that in spite of working fewer hours," said Meghan Anderson, Chief Marketing Officer.
Pay and time off were not affected for Dockwa's 50 employees, who have been noticeably happier and more productive when they're on the clock.
"Dive right into Tuesday and having that compressed week really keeps you a lot more focused and optimizes your time and just operating more efficiently," said Schofield.
Dockwa is a marina reservation app that connects boaters and marinas across the country, and while they help their customers enjoy the outdoors, it's something their employees can do more of now too with more free time.
"Being able to sort of walk that walk with its own employees and allow them to close their devices, get offline, get out into the world, I think it really bodes well for the values of the company," said Anderson.
The model has also attracted new employees to work there.
"I started with the company in February of last year and it was a major factor in why I chose the role. I'm a parent, I've got a four-year-old daughter. Having Monday off allows me to have just a little bit of time back for my own sanity," said Anderson.
"We can do life. Whether it's participating in things on a weekday that we weren't able to in the past, or really focus on our wellness so we can come back to work at 100%," said Palmer.
For more on Dockwa, visit: https://dockwa.com