Riverina Lift Trucks are early adopters of the four-day work week, pushing to increase productivity and employee happiness by condensing 38 hours of work into four days, and enjoying three day weekends.
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The structure means long work days, but is shown to increase happiness long-term and leads to increased productivity.
Matt Cappello, the director at Riverina Lift Trucks, said that it was a long process to get to this point, taking six months to fully switch to four-day weeks.
"The idea came to me when I was with some friends, in China actually. We were discussing workplaces and how we can make them better."
"It took six months to plan it, and it was one-in, all-in. We wanted to have a discussion with the whole team, not just a 'this is how it is now'," Mr Cappello said.
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The system has it's problems, but Mr Cappello says there's more benefits than costs to the new roster.
"If there's a fault to mention, it's that sometimes you do get caught out if there's a very busy day, but there's more pros than cons. It's just, if our salesperson is on their day off and someone comes in wanting to order something, we still need a salesperson at the desk."
To get the most out of anyone, they have to be happy...
- Matt Cappello
Mr Cappello said that having a large workforce was crucial to making it work.
"We're fortunate in that we have enough staff to have a roster, so we can stay open Monday to Friday. It would only work with a business that has enough people to cover it."
Mr Cappello closed by saying that if nothing else, the benefits to employees would bring better results in the long term.
"I've found that to get the most out of anyone, they have to be happy. This helps that."
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