INTRODUCTION
In modern times, the professional institutions are modifying their organizational ideologies and principles. The Companies and employees have been lately realizing that traditional organizational methods do not fit in modern times, are not functioning well and also lead to stress related issues due to work load on employees. Therefore, they have been looking for new and better methods of organization that provide their employee for friendly workplace and lessen their stress. New workplace principles should ideally be more flexible, technologically and socially advanced and more productive.
Therefore, companies and employees are experimenting with ideas like teleworking, walking to work, napping at work, work from home etc. They are also advancing new ways of organizing the working time, such as increasing break times or taking regular leaves.
Moreover, the largest companies in the world are also emerging with the idea of reducing the daily work load of an employee. It can be done by shortening the work time in a day which will also have a positive impact on the productivity of the companies.
BACKGROUND
Normally, people do their professional work from 9 am to 5 or 7 pm, including the time of meal break. The norm of 8 hours work a day has been quite obvious in today’s world but it has been inherited from a slogan that is about 200 years old.
The 8-hours work per day pattern has its roots from the workers during the 20th century. It began with the rise of Industrial Revolution. The industries were flourishing and new set ups were also coming up. The increased work required more labour power. The industries pushed their workers to work for longer hours that even extended to 12 to 15 hours a day and 6 days a week. Longer work hours were brutal towards the workers and became unsustainable.
Owing to the condition of the workers, many leaders and activists raised their voice demanding shorter work hours. Robert Owen, a British textile manufacturer, presented his ideology that the workers will be more productive if they are happy and healthy rather than stressed and exhausted workers who would be less attentive towards work and it may also lead to accidents.
With the motive of improving the health and productivity of his employees, he came up with a social program. In 1817, he created a slogan “Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation and eight hours rest”. It was aimed to balance the hours between work and rest for a day.
Later, Henry Ford, an American automobile manufacturer laid down that working days should be decreased from 6 days a week to 5 days. The idea behind it was that longer weekend would increase productivity among the workers. The employees would get more leisure time with their families. It would help lessen their work stress and have positive impact on their mental health.
IDEAL WORKING TIME
The nations toping the highest average working hours in the world are the same having the lowest productivity. Similarly, the countries having shortest work hours are showing most productivity. Studies also show that the companies that force their employees with longer working hours tend to have lesser output. It may be hard to believe but short work hours tend to increase the productivity of the employees as they become more concentrated and focused for their work.
Some studies suggest that an average employee is productive for about 2 hours and 53 minutes out of his 8 hours worktime. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average American works for 8.8 hours per day. Moreover, a research study of about 2,000 full-time office employees showed that most workers do note concentrate on their work for most of the time during the office timings.
The most unproductive activities among the employees were listed as:
1. Reading news websites—1 hour, 5 minutes
2. Checking social media—44 minutes
3. Discussing non-work-related things with co-workers—40 minutes
4. Searching for new jobs—26 minutes
5. Taking smoke breaks—23 minutes
6. Making calls to partners or friends—18 minutes
7. Making hot drinks—17 minutes
8. Texting or instant messaging—14 minutes
9. Eating snacks—8 minutes
10. Making food in office—7 minutes
CONCLUSION
At the end, scientists generally agree that the ideal working hours are around 6 hours a day and the employees tend to be more concentrated in the morning hours. It is currently being practiced in the most productive countries like Sweden. The proper balance of work and rest provide the employees sufficient break and happiness. Shorter working hours have a detrimental impact on the health and ultimately the productivity of the employees. Working for an hour a day with all the attention and dedication can be more productive as the employees would be more focused and concentrated than working for 8 hours per day where workers would be less attentive. So if the companies want their employees to be more productive, happier and healthier, they should adopt different organizational principles. And it may be started by making their employees spend less time at work!
REFERENCES
1. https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/in-an-8-hour-day-the-average-worker-is-productivefor-this-many-hours.html visited on 25th of October, 2021 at 10.47 pm
2. https://youmatter.world/en/schedules-working-days-productivity/ visited on 25th of October, 2021 at 11.03pm
3. https://www.wired.com/story/eight-hour-workday-is-a-lie/ visited on 25th of October, 2021 at 11.28 pm
4. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/stanford-study-longer-hours-doesnt-make-you-moreproductive-heres-how-to-get-more-done-by-doing-less.html visited on 26th of October, 2021 at 12.02 am