By Will Maddox, Dallas Business Journal

Why Republic Property Group Shifted to a Four-Day Work Week – D CEO Magazine

After the pandemic subsided, companies had to reconsider many aspects of how business was conducted. Remote work, hybrid work, and a reevaluation of priorities changed how people thought about their time at work. And competition for talent meant organizations had to get creative about attracting employees while maintaining productivity.

Republic Property Group, a Dallas-based real estate developer led by co-CEOs Tony Ruggeri and Jake Wagner, responded by implementing a four-day work week.

Like many companies, RPG—the developer behind master-planned communities like Walsh, west of Fort Worth, and Record Street Residential—moved to remote work during the pandemic and made a push to get everyone back in the office in 2022.

Although there was an excitement to be together again, the firm experienced a problem: The company, which moved to downtown Dallas just prior to the pandemic, lacked a standard in-office schedule and missed out on collaborations that can only come from in-person interactions. With most employees working one or two days at home and many starting and ending their days at different times, RPG leadership felt something was missing.

“When you have a great team but are not physically together, you lose that collaboration, innovation, and what made you great in the first place,” said Cheryl Turner, the company’s COO.

RPG employees had grown accustomed to the flexibility of the past few years, so leadership knew that taking it all away could hurt the company’s culture. So, a task force at the company dove into research about the work week, reading white papers to figure out the best way to balance in-person collaboration with worker-friendly flexibility. A four-day work week popped up in their research time and time again.

Leadership was not immediately on board with the idea of permanent three-day weekends. They also worried that the work needed to do the job wouldn’t be possible with Fridays off. “What if a closing needed to happen on a Friday? What if a contract deadline needed to be finished? If Thursday was the new Friday, would employees start taking off early on Thursday, as often happens on Friday?” These were all questions that needed to be considered.

According to a Joblist survey of Americans seeking jobs, 94 percent are looking for a four-day work week, which is the most desirable benefit listed in the study. Another report from Eagle Hill Consulting found that 83 percent of respondents said a four-day work week would alleviate burnout. Other research found that 33 percent of companies offer a 40-hour, four-day work week, and 85 percent of businesses found an increase in productivity with a four-day work week.

The task force met for eight weeks, drawing up plans for implementing the four-day work week and convincing leadership to get on board. The plan: Beginning in January 2023, employees would be required to work nine-and-a-half-hour days in the office Monday through Thursday, ensuring everyone would be in the office for most of the workday. The set schedule allowed for in-person meetings, though they would be limited to a portion of the day to provide for heads-down work time, while afternoons were reserved for collaboration and socializing.

With the office closed on Fridays, RPG had to work backward on a timeline to ensure all obligations and deadlines were met. As for after-hours work, everyone knew there may be an occasional duty to finish on a Friday or a weekend. However, there would be no company business scheduled for Friday, and if employees sorted out their schedules, they’d have the day entirely off.

“Depending on personality, the four-day work week was a good motivator to get people working harder throughout the week because they didn’t want to do anything on a Friday,” Turner said. “It gives you the opportunity to structure yourself to make Fridays what you want of them.”

RPG launched with a 90-day pilot last year and found that employees overwhelmingly enjoyed the new schedule, Turner said. After working out a few kinks, it is now a permanent policy at RPG. Productivity hasn’t dropped, and the schedule has become a key recruiting and retention tool. Many employees include the four-day work week in their email signatures.

“Once you have been in it, it is hard to do something else,” Turner said. “It appeals to those who work and play hard and want an extra day for travel or a long bike ride. The beauty of Fridays is they never cease to feel like a stolen day.”

Link to Dallas Business Journal here.