Employees at hosting firm UKFast have officially had their hours reduced after a pilot聽scheme proved that doing so improved energy levels and the quality of service to customers.
The Manchester-based company cut working hours from 40 hours a week to 37.5 without reducing pay, effectively giving every employee an extra 3.5 weeks holiday.
The time bonus comes on top of a five per cent annual pay increase which has been in existence since the company started trading in 1999.
“On the face of it, it looks like it directly impacts our profitability considering we had to聽recruit a further 32 team-mates to cover the lost hours,聽but there is no聽substitute for a happy, motivated and energised workforce,鈥� said entrepreneur and UKFast co-founder Lawrence Jones, who is known for designing quirky office spaces with slides, ponds and pool tables.
The move is part of the firm鈥檚 ongoing mission to become the best workplace in the UK, after it was named the top tech workplace by the Great Place to Work Institute.
The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For ranks聽UKFast as the top employer in Manchester.
鈥淩educing the working day is something I have wanted to do for years; it’s a scary thought when you are聽small and that fear grows in direct聽proportion as you get bigger,鈥� added Jones.
鈥淲e just had to bite the bullet and run the test. I am glad it worked as I聽wouldn’t have been popular rolling back聽the scheme if it had not proved successful! I聽think聽they’d have lynched me!
鈥淲e simply did the maths and realised we鈥檇 need around 30 extra聽people聽to ensure we continue to deliver the same聽exemplary聽service.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fair and聽sensible聽way to distribute the company’s profits to ensure that teammates as well as shareholders benefit from UKFast’s success.
鈥淯ltimately, this is about giving back and saying thank you to our incredible team. We want to see people clocking off on time and having a proper work-life balance.
鈥淧eople work a third of their lives, sleep a third, and hopefully get to spend a third with their loved ones.
鈥淲e have already invested in the most amazing office聽environment and we are seeing the benefits of this, it鈥檚 important we back this up with the best working practices too. Reducing聽the working day is a positive thing for everyone.
鈥淚鈥檓 completely convinced that removing that half hour strengthens the team by giving them more quality time and rest.
鈥淧roductivity rose immediately on putting the measures into place. If this continues to work, which I fully expect it to, then there鈥檚 no reason we won鈥檛 cut hours further in the future.鈥�
Customer satisfaction spiked during the period, with the firm registering a record in-month score of 86 during October, measured by the customer satisfaction metric Net Promoter Score (NPS), compared with 80 during the same period last year.
Gail Jones, co-founder and newly appointed managing director, said: “The biggest concern putting something like this in place is to ensure we continue to deliver excellence to our clients.
鈥淪o to see our NPS score increase whilst also seeing improvements in the speed of response to support queries from customers only fills us with confidence that we are doing the right thing.”
UKFast is on track to achieve 拢46m turnover with EBITDA of 拢21m this year.
Lawrence Jones continued: 鈥淲e鈥檙e only able to do this because we鈥檙e a profitable business that relies heavily on technology to simplify the mundane business processes that waste colleagues鈥� time.
鈥淲e are automating more and more, and ultimately wouldn’t it be amazing if one day in the future UKFast colleagues, and other businesses with similar focus, only work a four-day week?
鈥淭his will happen in my lifetime.鈥�