I championed the four-day week at work and we made it happen

This is the story of how I became that person: the persistent (some might say annoying) person who can’t stop talking about how amazing a four-day week could be, at every possible opportunity. “Classic Chiara,” my team would say with a knowing smile, “still going on about it.” And they were right. I was ready to keep ‘going on about it’ until it became a reality.

I’ve been at Heard - a narrative change charity based in London - since 2019, back when working life meant being in the office five days a week, 9 to 5, every week - no questions asked. That was just how it was. Then came the pandemic, and like many people, we experienced a complete shift in how time, work, and life were organised. The boundaries blurred. Technology accelerated. And suddenly, we were all rethinking how - and why - we work.

In the years that followed, conversations about the importance of rest began to take root, leading to progress in our wellbeing policies and practices. Our executive team and staff worked together to introduce more generous annual leave, flexible working hours and regular development days. These changes mattered - they signalled a sincere commitment to creating a more caring and sustainable workplace. Still, we stopped short of making a bold, lasting structural shift for lack of operational capacity.

But I knew that if we were serious about our progressive values, then we couldn’t just imagine better ways of working. We had to try them. Enter: the four-day week.

On a national level, with one trial completed and another underway, momentum was clearly growing for the four-day week, which at its heart, is about rebalancing work and life to improve wellbeing, productivity, and fairness in how we value people’s time. I felt strongly that as a progressive organisation we needed to be at the forefront of this change.

At first, I started mentioning it playfully, dropping it into any relevant (and sometimes not-so-relevant) meetings, raising it in informal chats with our CEO and sending the occasional cheeky message on Slack. But then I was told that to help make this a reality, I’d need to bring the research to the exec team and the board myself.

So I signed up for training with the 4 Day Week Foundation and tapped into their ongoing mentorship. I used my development days to start shaping a business case and dove deeper into the research. Then I began bringing people along with me, as campaigners do.

First, our CEO who had always been in favour and supportive - joined my scoping calls with organisations that had already made the leap, like STOPAIDS, Friends of the Earth, and the Autonomy Institute. These conversations were crucial - not just in reaffirming the principle, but in showing how it could work in practice. From there, I started having real conversations with the wider team - not just floating the idea, but sharing the evidence, the case studies, and why it mattered. Gradually, people began to pay attention and buy into the vision.

By Autumn 2024, the stars aligned. As part of the organisation’s commitment to developing senior leadership, I was invited to join the exec team and present the four-day week case I’d been shaping, bringing to life the practical steps we could take to make it operationally possible for Heard.

At the same time, changes in the team, alongside a recognition of the intensity and pressures of our work as a charity, led us to bring in support from the people & culture consultancy TING. We wanted to dig deep into what was working, what wasn’t, and what needed to change - so we could not only keep going, but keep caring. It became fertile ground for team-wide conversations about the four-day week to take root and grow.

Our team voted unanimously to make the four-day week our ‘People & Culture’ priority for 2025. And the exec team pledged to make it happen. The tide had turned. We’d gone from informal conversations and wishful thinking to a shared, strategic commitment.

Since then, our exec team, board, and wider staff have come together at key stages to build a robust business case for trialling a four-day week at Heard, including working with an external consultancy to evaluate the trial. It’s been a collective effort, shaped by thoughtful - and sometimes challenging - conversations and a rigorous approach. What’s carried us through is the strength of our shared why: to support wellbeing and work-life balance, boost productivity and efficiency, strengthen connectivity and collaboration, and improve our ability to attract and retain great people.

Here’s what I’ve personally learnt:

Organisations are made and shaped by people. You need a champion - someone with time (ideally built into their role) to do the heavy lifting and keep up the momentum.
You need extensive buy-in at every level of your organisation - not just bold ideas, but honest conversations, deep listening, and collective shaping.
The cultural readiness of the organisation makes a big difference - for us, the challenge wasn’t the why, it was the how.
You need support from organisations and people who’ve been there before – allies who can share learning, offer encouragement, and help you stay the course.
Mostly, you need patience - with systems, with people, and with yourself.

Living your values as an organisation isn’t always easy. We’re still a small charity, and this kind of change is no small feat. Our salaries are often tied to restricted funding, capacity is stretched, and nothing is ever as simple as we’d like.

But there’s a real sense of excitement and purpose behind this radical change. And I’m not talking about the four-day week itself - but believing that wellbeing and balance truly matters, and trusting that when you prioritise people, organisational benefits will follow: stronger focus, greater efficiency, better work.

To my utmost joy, Heard began a four-day week trial, with no loss of pay for employees, last month.

Sometimes change doesn’t come with fanfare, but with someone refusing to let go of the idea. Holding the vision long enough to shape it into something actionable.

Be that champion.

Want to organise for a four-day week in your workplace? Reach out to 4 Day Week Foundation Organiser, Phil Lindsey, for support: phil [@] 4dayweek.co.uk

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