NEWS & INSIGHT
Only four of 41 companies in Portugal chose to return to a five-day week after taking part in a trial that shortened regular working hours. In the trial, 51 per cent of participating companies took one day off per week, while 49 per cent opted instead for a nine-day fortnight. The result was that more than 1,000 employees reduced their allotted working time by an average of 13.7 per cent for approximately six months. At its end, the number of employees who reported difficulty in achieving a work-life balance fell dramatically, from 50 per cent to only 16 per cent. In addition, 93 per cent of workers said they would like reduced working hours to continue and valued this benefit at an average of 28 per cent of their salary, highlighting the measure’s uniform popularity. The government-funded trial and ensuing study was co-ordinated by Rita Fontinha, director of flexible work at Henley Business School’s World of Work Institute, in partnership with the international non-profit organisation 4 Day Week Global and Birkbeck, University of London. “As in other international trials, a work-time reduction in the format of a four-day week has a tremendous effect on workers’ wellbeing and work‑life balance,” said Fontinha. Female employees, as well as those with children, lower qualifications or lower salaries, were found to attach greater value to the changes introduced than other workers. “As expected, women attribute a higher value to the four-day week. Perhaps the most surprising finding is that the four-day week is more valued by low earners and workers without a higher degree, who have less flexibility in managing their working hours and fewer resources to buy services to free up their time,” Fontinha reasoned. EB BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEE WELLBEING AND WORK‑LIFE BALANCE FOUND IN FOUR‑DAY-WEEK TRIAL SCHOOL : Henley Business School, University of Reading COUNTRY : UK
Ahead of its new academic year, Copenhagen Business School (CBS) president Peter Møllgaard spoke about the Nordic Nine, a set of values that has been integrated into every programme at the school. “The role of business has changed,” he explained. “It is not only about gaining profits but also about taking responsibility for societal development. Our students will learn how to assume this role.” The Nordic Nine is defined by the school as “an extra dimension” in its education that goes beyond professional knowledge and qualification. Woven into the school’s strategy in 2020, its subsequent development has come in collaboration with 3,000 members of the business community and higher education sector. Associate dean of the full-time MBA and professor of sustainability at CBS Andreas Rasche outlined the Nordic Nine’s significance in an interview for Business Because : “It is an internal quality control for us. Participants study different programmes but work towards the same capabilities.” Those capabilities include Nordic Nine number three: “You recognise humanity’s challenges and have the entrepreneurial knowledge to help resolve them” and number nine: “You create value from global connections for local communities”. Deputy president at CBS Inger Askehave explained that the overriding aim of the Nordic Nine is to “enable all CBS graduates to assume responsibility for the development and sustainability of our companies and society and to address some of the big challenges and possibilities we face in a complex future”. In this sense, the capabilities are as much about preparing students adequately for their careers as they are about helping them fulfil their responsibility to society, as Møllgaard alluded to: “We strive to instil a set of values in our students that gives them a distinct profile.” TBD NORDIC NINE TO ACT AS ‘INTERNAL QUALITY CONTROL’ AT CBS SCHOOL : Copenhagen Business School COUNTRY : Denmark
Ambition | SEPTEMBER 2024 | 9
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