Why Demme Learning is Piloting a 4-Day Workweek Schedule

We’re excited to announce that Demme Learning is piloting a company-wide 4-day workweek schedule in 2024! Beginning March 1st, we’ll be closed on Fridays. This is the next chapter in our legacy of leadership in family-friendly business practices.

Motivated by our values to continuously improve our positive and effective work environment, our team was curious to see how a policy like this could have a positive impact. We evaluated recent studies and launched an internal pilot program to test for ourselves. The results were encouraging and led us to take the next step.

Demonstrating Our Core Values

Families are the building blocks of a strong civil society and a successful business. Flexible schedules, the opportunity for remote work, paid family leave, and a variety of benefit options help support our employees and their diverse family structures and lifestyles. The implementation of these policies takes our value of families and makes it practical for our employees. 

Embracing a 4-day workweek policy goes even beyond our motivation to be family-focused, it underscores our commitment to each of our core values. Shortening the workweek reflects the trust we have in our team to maintain output and meet deadlines even with fewer working hours. The shortened schedule limits the amount of time available to complete tasks and requires simplifying our processes to improve efficiency. While decreasing the number of working hours will present challenges, we have confidence that our team will rise to meet them. 

The benefits of a shorter workweek are also representative of our values. An extra weekend day means employees can spend more time with their families, pursue hobbies or other interests, and become more involved in their local communities. This means more time to thrive personally and professionally. We see this as a win-win. Our commitment to shared success means that when we encourage our employees to thrive in their personal lives, they’re better equipped to succeed at work too. In turn, our employees grow and the company grows; providing even more value to our customers. 

Why Transition to a 4-Day Work Week Schedule?

Companies all over the world have started exploring or implementing shorter workweeks. Large corporations like Amazon and Microsoft may be the ones turning heads, but research suggests that companies of many sizes and various industries can benefit. 4-day workweek policies are an economical way to recruit and retain talent and small businesses are in a better place to experiment and find the strategies that work best for their teams. While the transition can take some time to get used to, 92% of the 61 businesses that participated in a recent UK pilot decided to adopt the policy permanently.

Here are just a few of the promising statistics from 4-dayweek.com that caused us to consider making the change:

• 74% of employees were more satisfied with their time
• Revenue rose an average of 35%
• 55% of employees feel more engaged at work

Intrigued by these results and desiring to implement evidence-based practices that support a successful working environment, we decided to move forward with a small pilot in our Fulfillment department. 

Starting in January, the team adjusted their schedules and filled orders on Monday through Thursday. With no adverse effects on shipping times or other internal processes, we announced that the entire company will be participating in an extended pilot as of March 1, 2024.

Improved Work-Life Balance and Increased Productivity

The results at Demme Learning are already evident. Our Fulfillment Manager, Dan Knor, says the change has opened up new possibilities for him and his family.

“Each week I have more time, energy, and focus to give to my family, home projects, and self-health. I wake up at 5 AM each Friday to attend a Bible Study before spending the day living life with my family. Ultimately, this gives me more energy and creates space to tackle my to-do list.”

The positive indicators also include updated processes in the warehouse that increase productivity. 

“The mid-week, ‘lull’ is gone. We continue to tweak our systems and procedures to streamline movement and cut down on wasted time. The reward has really motivated the team to adapt and look for new ideas.”

While the change has brought a certain pressure, the team has experienced overall improvement and is enjoying increased focus and energy during working hours. 

Looking to the Future

As we prepare to implement the new schedule with the rest of the team, we are optimistic about the improvements a 4-day week will make. We expect our employees to feel more satisfied with their work, and we hope the change infuses added creativity and renewed capacity for problem-solving into our company culture. Our pilot is scheduled to run through 2024, with regular evaluation periods to measure our results. However, we have many reasons to believe that this will become a permanent change with lasting positive outcomes. 

About Demme Learning

Demme Learning is an independent family-owned and operated publishing company. Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Demme Learning has been providing innovative learning solutions for homeschoolers, parents, and small group learning environments since 1990.