Cardiff media planning and buying agency Hello Starling has now worked a 28-hour, four-day week for seven years, and says it has no intention of returning to a five-day week.
The agency introduced the permanent four-day week in 2019, with no reduction in pay. It is recognised as a Gold Standard four-day week employer by the 4 Day Week Foundation, an accreditation that applies to organisations operating a permanent four-day week of 32 hours or less with no loss of pay.
“When we introduced the four-day week in 2019, we couldn’t have predicted how much it would change us,” said Managing Director James Robinson. “We wanted to build an agency where talented people could do exceptional work without feeling that work had to dominate their lives.”
Rather than asking how five days’ work could be fitted into four, the agency says it changed how it worked, reviewing processes, challenging unnecessary administration, improving campaign management and making responsibilities and priorities clearer.
Meetings now only take place when they genuinely need to, internal conversations are more focused and more emphasis is placed on protecting uninterrupted time for meaningful work.
“As cliché as it sounds, we weren’t looking for people to work harder, we were looking for smarter ways of working,” said Robinson.
On whether clients notice a difference, he said: “The reality is that clients don’t ask how many days we work. They ask whether campaigns are delivered on time, whether they receive good advice and whether we’re helping them achieve their objectives. In essence, are we delivering the results?”
The agency says it has continued to grow, win new clients, attract new people and deliver award-winning work while keeping the four-day model. At the time of its seven-year review, average employee tenure stood at more than five years.
“Without hesitation,” Robinson said when asked whether he would recommend the four-day week. “But we’d also say that a four-day week isn’t a shortcut.”
“If a business has unclear processes, poor communication or an unhealthy culture, moving to four days won’t solve those problems. If anything, it’ll expose them more quickly.”
“The four-day week isn’t really about working fewer days. It’s about designing work differently,” he said.
