The pros and cons of a four-day week

Third Sector Podcast

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Miriam Turner, co-executive director of Friends of the Earth, and Victoria Benson, chief executive of the single-parent support charity Gingerbread, to discuss their respective organisations’ move to a four-day working week.

Miriam explains how the change is helping to strengthen the environmental justice movement by enabling a more diverse staff body to further the charity’s cause effectively and authentically.

She provides insight into the necessary preparations and adjustments, from streamlining meeting culture to ensuring effective cross-team collaboration.

Victoria describes how Gingerbread, which is in the early stages of a six-month trial of a four-day week, prepared for the change with the help of a staff working group to balance employee wellbeing and sustained productivity.

They also identify some of the challenges of reducing working days, including meeting congestion on core collaboration days and problems faced by some staff in adapting to new ways of working.

Also in the episode, Andy and Lucinda discuss the implications of the Autumn Statement for the voluntary sector.

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Read the transcript.

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