The Town of Sackville, N.B., is about to embark on a trial period of a condensed work week, where municipal employees will work longer hours for four days in order to have a three-day weekend.
Jamie Burke, the town’s chief administrative officer said in an interview Friday that he was looking for a way to boost employee morale.
“I particularly noticed after Christmas that employee morale seem to be hitting the low point, and I know – January blues, post-Christmas rush, the pandemic – and then on top of that we’re undergoing a restructuring that’s part of the local government reform process,” he said.
He said employees came to him with the idea after seeing news coverage of a similar program in Guysborough, N.S.
While not everyone chose to opt-in to the trial taking place from May to Labour Day weekend this September, he said the town is trying out other perks, like occasionally letting employees bring their dogs to the office.
Sylvie Desjardins, a Moncton-based career counselor, says employers need to offer more perks as employees increasingly value personal fulfillment and work-life balance.
“Now more than ever, they want to feel happy, they want to feel fulfilled. Professional development is something that they’re also looking for. So we’re looking for a schedule, or being able to work remotely, to being able to grow within the company,” she said Friday.
She said a one-size-fits-all approach to certain perks like remote work or four-day work weeks doesn’t work, as everyone has different needs.
A pandemic-induced shift in priorities has workers interested in non-traditional perks, Desjardins said, like student loan payment assistance.
Desjardins also helps small businesses recruit talent, and says some employers are very surprised to hear of the demand for flexible schedules or work perks.
“Some of them, when we bring them these ideas, they’re like ‘huh, that’s a thing now?’ But more and more they’re open to the possibility of something more flexible,” she said,
For Burke, the bottom line is about keeping the staff happy in a bid to be proactive, as many industries are seeing widespread staffing shortages.
“If we can be proactive and implement some of these things to keep people happy, hopefully, we won’t need to worry about backfilling them as often,” he said.