Jennifer Stewart: Why I implemented a four-day work week at my business

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I never viewed this as a money-saving measure, but rather a values-based decision to help my team be better mothers, partners and, hopefully, happier and more balanced people

As a female businesswoman, mother and the president of an all-female communications, marketing and advocacy firm, I’ve always taken a bit of a different approach. I bought an office building less than two kilometres from my house, but have an open work-from-home policy for my team. I don’t count hours “in a chair.” I value and trust my employees and would never want to take away their opportunity to see their children’s Christmas concert or take part in a class trip.

Since March, work-life balanced has morphed into a constant juggle of ongoing deadlines, virtual meetings with clients, online learning for the kids, housework, trying to be a somewhat active partner and hopefully squeezing in a minute or two of self-care. We are balancing things in ways we never expected. On one call, I muted myself to help my child go to the bathroom. The executives on the other end of the line were none the wiser.

I knew then that my business needed to change, or I would lose women who felt like they were being tugged in too many directions and weren’t prepared to let their children’s mental and physical health suffer as a result of the pandemic. I’d bet that many other organizations are facing similar challenges and, unfortunately, many women are being forced to choose between childcare and their professions.

Knowing the calibre of my team as I do, I am confident that our quality of work and productivity won’t suffer because of this. In fact, I suspect it will increase. It will take a level of organization to ensure that deadlines are met and proper handovers are being done. It will mean investing in, and making use of, our roster of associates to pick up some of the tasks, which will potentially cost the company more money than it saves as a result of this policy change.

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