Medibank expands 4-day work week trial to 500 employees
Medibank has announced it is doubling the number of employees taking part in its four-day work week experiment, after a six-month trial showed employees are happier, healthier and more efficient.
A further 250 Medibank employees will soon start experimenting with a four-day work week, taking the total number of participants in the trial to 500 employees.
The landmark experiment is one of the biggest of its kind in Australia and will continue to be independently monitored and evaluated by the Health and Wellbeing Research Unit (HoWRU) of Macquarie University’s Business School.
Medibank Group Lead – People, Spaces & Sustainability Kylie Bishop, said the trial has continued to deliver positive results.
“We’ve seen significant and sustained improvements in employee engagement, job satisfaction and the health and wellbeing of participants, while maintaining business performance and customer outcomes,” she said.
Key outcomes from the six-month trial showed:
Productivity remained stable and perceptions of performance and behaviours improved. Compared to the start of the trial, participants are feeling more satisfied (+4.5%) and more engaged (+6.7%). Notable enhancements were observed in participant performance (+3.6%) and willingness to go above and beyond (+6.7%), as reported by people leaders.
Less time spent on low value work. Teams have reduced time spent on unproductive and low value work (e.g. unnecessary meetings, double handling and duplication of reporting) and invested in more efficient processes (e.g. asynchronous work and communications, templates and purposeful workflows), creating capacity to access the gift day and maintain performance outcomes.
Psychological wellbeing and work-life balance has improved. Improvements were noted across psychological detachment and people feeling like they can switch off from work (+10.4%), resilience (+9.2%) and work-to-family conflict (the juggle of family and work responsibilities) also significantly decreasing (-31.4%).
Positive shifts in health and wellbeing. Sustained positive shifts towards healthier lifestyles were reported with decreases in frequency of unhealthy eating (-17.5%), sleep disturbances (-29.9%) and an increase in overall health (+16.3%).
Increased feelings of confidence to challenge entrenched processes and behaviours. Team members felt more energised and responsible to challenge process gaps.
Clearer focus on shared objectives. The shortened week prompted a concentrated effort on planning and clearer alignment and agreement on outcomes and how the work is performed.
As the trial is expanded and extended, Ms Bishop emphasised Medibank’s commitment to leading workplace transformation.
“Our four-day work week experiment is just one of the ways we’re innovating to drive greater autonomy in the workplace and support better decision making for customers.
“Australia is undergoing a health transition and Medibank has an enormous role to play. Our health system needs innovation, and we all need to move faster to respond. The key to this is transforming how we work,” she said.
The four-day work week experiment is one part of Medibank’s larger culture change program called 'work. reinvented', which seeks to challenge conventional workplace norms and increase flexibility for employees while maintaining performance and customer satisfaction. It is based on the 100:80:100 model, whereby employees maintain 100% of their pay, reduce their working hours to 80%, and maintain 100% productivity.
Medibank remains dedicated to refining its approach and leveraging insights to create a more resilient and adaptive workplace for the future.
Work is underway to determine which teams will join this next phase of the experiment. Medibank is applying a robust process to identify these next participants, working together with Four Day Week Global and Macquarie University about the ideal characteristics of these teams.
