This woman CEO gave employees Wednesdays off and it made them happier and more productive

Contrary to popular belief, Wednesday might be in the running with Tuesday as the worst day of the work week, and this Chief Executive Director couldn't agree more. 

Employees at Melbourne digital agency Versa, a company which specialises in apps, augmented reality products and websites, trialled a four-day working week for a year and they are not looking back, reports The Telegraph.

Employees work 37.5 hours a week, but between Tuesday evening and Wednesday the office is closed and they're not obliged to respond to emails, have client meetings or pitch for new business. 

READ MORE: New study reveals that women are at higher risk of depression than men from working long hours

The agency revealed to ABC Australia that revenues have since grown 30 to 40 percent and profits tripled during the year-long experiment, which resulted in a happier, healthier and more productive team.

They acknowledge they are working 20 percent less than most competitors, so how did they pull these figures?

Versa CEO Kathryn Blackham says she has always been looking for ways to increase staff flexibility in order to boost productivity. She tried the strategy of setting random days off but the need for collaboration across teams made it difficult.

READ MORE: The rise in the popularity of flexi working hours

She says with the new experiment, by the time they get to Thursday it's like a Monday again. "You get a new feeling of enthusiasm and cracking on with work," she explains.

According to ABC News, the managing director Jonny Clow confessed that he was initially concerned that 20 per cent of revenues would disappear by getting rid of one of the five working days, but now sees the positive change the experiment has brought. 

"I'm very used to, as an Englishman, going in with the doom and gloom you have on Monday, and 'suicide Tuesday'... all that kind of stuff just goes away," he said.

The agency has also noticed that a Friday is now kept as a "proper working day" because employees ensure that personal admin is taken care of on Wednesday.

The Guardian reports, in 2018 Perpetual Guardian, a financial services company, noticed increased productivity after they cut their working week from five days to four while keeping the same pay. 

READ MORE: CHEAT SHEET: the average South African sacrifices over R500 000 worth of unused lunch breaks over their career

A study of the experiment by researchers from the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology indicated that this improved the mental health of employees. 

The results also revealed that staff stress levels were down from 45 percent to 38 percent, and work-life balance scores increased, supporting the miraculous figures seen at Versa.

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