Podcasts about perpetual guardian

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 39, our guest is the brains behind the four day week, and Founder of Perpetual Guardian, Andrew Barnes. Andrew Barnes survived the hurly burly of London’s investment banking world in the 1980’s, the result of which saw him sent to Australia to manage the exposures held downunder by his banking masters in the UK. He moved to Australia for a month and stayed for twenty years. After returning briefly to the UK in the mid 2000’s, the GFC saw him head to New Zealand and a unique opportunity with the business that became Perpetual Guardian. During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Andrew Barnes speaks to Bruce Cotterill about the lessons he’s learned from a highly varied career and how re-defining risk led to his ability to make better investment decisions. Barnes came to prominence a few years back when his book, “The Four Day Week”, was launched during the covid lockdowns. Born of an article in the Economist, and time to think on a long flight, the concept of a four day working week and resultant improvements in productivity has been adopted by companies and countries around the world. His view that people can be more productive in four days than in five makes for a compelling conversation. Barnes, who these days splits his days between the UK and New Zealand also offers his thoughts on the different challenges being faced by each country. He cites the failure of politicians pursuing a change agenda to “take the people along with them” as a primary reason for the unravelling of our once cohesive culture. As for what he would do if he was Prime Minister for a day, his answer should be compulsory listening for every parliamentary MP.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show... The final show of 2024! Do you care about your money, keeping it safe and do you worry what will happen when you die? Have you got things set up properly? Tonight, your money, your wealth, and your will. Do you have one? Do you want to exclude a child? Do you want to give more to others? How do you do this without it coming back to bite you on the backside? Paddy Gamble is our expert. He is the CEO of Perpetual Guardian, a lawyer, a former weightlifter and Ukraine’s Honorary Consul in NZ. Plus I put the year 2024 on review... how has it been? Website: https://www.rova.nz/home/podcasts/duncan-garner---editor-in-chief.html Instagram: @DuncanGarnerpodcast TikTok: @DuncanGarnerpodcast

I det här avsnittet tar vi oss an en av de hetaste frågorna i dagens arbetsmarknad: fyradagarsveckan och förkortad arbetstid. Medan vissa företag och länder redan har börjat testa dessa modeller med stor framgång, kvarstår frågan – är detta verkligen framtiden för hur vi arbetar? Och hur skulle det påverka vårt arbetsliv, välmående och ekonomi? Vi tar med dig på en ”resa” där vi pratar om verkliga exempel från länder som Island, Spanien och företag som Microsoft i Japan och Perpetual Guardian på Nya Zeeland. Dessa har tagit steget mot kortare arbetsveckor och har sett både fördelar och utmaningar. Men vi stannar inte där – givetvis tar vi även en närmare titt på Sverige, där försöken med sex timmars arbetsdagar har rönt stor uppmärksamhet. Vad tycker svenska arbetsgivare, fackförbund och politiska partier om det hela? Dessutom har vi tittat över vad forskningen säger om kortare arbetsveckor och deras effekt på produktiviteten och hur teknologin kan möjliggöra för ett arbetsliv med bättre balans mellan jobb och fritid. Så, är fyradagarsveckan bara en dröm, eller håller vi på att omdefiniera framtidens arbetsliv? Trevligt lyssnande! Michael & Oliver @michaelalphov @oliverlopez Vill du samarbeta med podden är det bara att skicka ett mail på podd@alphovlopez.se ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Podcasten drivs av sälj- och marknadsexperten Oliver Lopez samt ledarskap- och effektivitetsexperten Michael Alphov. Oliver driver till vardags Structsales AB och Michael driver Effektiva Metoder AB. Kolla gärna in www.alphovlopez.se,  www.structsales.se,  www.michaelalphov.se samt www.updates.nu

In this episode, Dan Pontefract sits down with Andrew Barnes, the visionary behind the global four-day workweek movement. Andrew shares how his bold experiment at Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand redefined productivity and work-life balance, sparking a worldwide conversation. From boosting employee engagement and well-being to challenging traditional leadership thinking, Barnes reveals the secrets behind the 180-100 model that's changing the future of work. Tune in to discover how fewer hours can deliver more—and why the movement is gaining traction globally. Andrew Barnes has made a career of market-changing innovation and industry digitization. He owns and is a director of Coulthard Barnes, Perpetual Guardian, and New Zealand's largest crowdfunding website, Givealittle. Best known as co-founder of 4 Day Week Global, the international not-for-profit advocates for and supports organizations with their journey to a shorter, productivity-focused workweek. Their 100-80-100™ model has earned worldwide acclaim, with the organization being named a TIME 100 Most Influential Company for 2023. In the last five years, Andrew has worked with countless companies and advised over a dozen national and regional governments on how their populations will work in the future. He was also recently recognized on the Forbes Future Of Work 50 list as a leader in workplace innovation. His most recent achievement in June 2024 has been the recognition and award of an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for outstanding achievement and support in the community. Find out more about Andrew's work at https://www.4dayweek.com/book More about Dan Pontefract at https://www.danpontefract.com/

On the face of it the 4-day working week sounds like a good thing, but the devil is in the detail. Recently in the UK the government has indicated they may strengthen workers' rights to request this – however, it's the right to request 40 hours compressed into 4 10 hour days, rather than 5 8-hour days. Although it might sound attractive at first, I'm not sure this is sustainable in the longer term, particularly for those who have family. If you include travel time, it could be that you end up being away from home from 7am – 7pm. Which would leave you Friday to recover and could ultimately lead to burnout.  A better option could be the 100/80/100 4-day working week: 100% of pay, 80% of time, 100% of productivity. Initially pioneered by NZ firm Perpetual Guardian and taken up by hundreds of organisations around the world – although interestingly very few in NZ.  It's based on the idea that during a typical 5-day week there are only limited periods when we are productive – some estimate that it's only about 30% of time. So, if we support people to be more focused and productive at work, we reward them with having to work less than they currently do. Global results are quite staggering:  - 25% increase in revenue  - 32% reduction in staff turnover  - 66% reduction in burnout  - 94% of organisations wanted to continue  It doesn't involve everyone simply working 4 8-hour days – some people might work 5 days but shorter hours, some 3 days but longer hours. Every year the “deal” is put to workers – if we can keep productivity at 100%, we will pay you for 40 hours but you only have to work 32. If productivity drops, we go back to the 40-hour week. Great idea as it puts the solutions back into the hands of the staff who work in their own interests rather than having management dictate.     What can people do if they're interested?  - Don't buy into the idea that “it won't work for us” —everyone says that— if your business needs to provide services 5 (or more) days per week then hand this problem over to the staff to figure out.  - Be prepared to do quite a bit of work beforehand e.g., how do you define productivity in your business, are you tracking people's rates of burnout or wellbeing and if not, how will you do this?  - Likely to need some training too e.g., how to effectively run a meeting so that people's time isn't wasted.    LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the face of it the 4-day working week sounds like a good thing, but the devil is in the detail. Recently in the UK the government has indicated they may strengthen workers' rights to request this – however, it's the right to request 40 hours compressed into 4 10 hour days, rather than 5 8-hour days. Although it might sound attractive at first, I'm not sure this is sustainable in the longer term, particularly for those who have family. If you include travel time, it could be that you end up being away from home from 7am – 7pm. Which would leave you Friday to recover and could ultimately lead to burnout.  A better option could be the 100/80/100 4-day working week: 100% of pay, 80% of time, 100% of productivity. Initially pioneered by NZ firm Perpetual Guardian and taken up by hundreds of organisations around the world – although interestingly very few in NZ.  It's based on the idea that during a typical 5-day week there are only limited periods when we are productive – some estimate that it's only about 30% of time. So, if we support people to be more focused and productive at work, we reward them with having to work less than they currently do. Global results are quite staggering:  - 25% increase in revenue  - 32% reduction in staff turnover  - 66% reduction in burnout  - 94% of organisations wanted to continue  It doesn't involve everyone simply working 4 8-hour days – some people might work 5 days but shorter hours, some 3 days but longer hours. Every year the “deal” is put to workers – if we can keep productivity at 100%, we will pay you for 40 hours but you only have to work 32. If productivity drops, we go back to the 40-hour week. Great idea as it puts the solutions back into the hands of the staff who work in their own interests rather than having management dictate.     What can people do if they're interested?  - Don't buy into the idea that “it won't work for us” —everyone says that— if your business needs to provide services 5 (or more) days per week then hand this problem over to the staff to figure out.  - Be prepared to do quite a bit of work beforehand e.g., how do you define productivity in your business, are you tracking people's rates of burnout or wellbeing and if not, how will you do this?  - Likely to need some training too e.g., how to effectively run a meeting so that people's time isn't wasted.    LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.    The short week: 7/10  Who doesn't love a day off during the week? Ask the folk at Perpetual Guardian.  Shane Jones: 7/10  My political hero of the week. Read his piece in the NZ Herald over Waitangi and overreach and rewriting history. He speaks for many of us with the advantage he can actually do something about it.  In the Wings: 7/10  New documentary on Liam Lawson. Have a watch and see what hard work and dedication and talent can get you and a reminder than we have among us many a great, young talent.  The benefit modelling: 1/10  Shock of the week. I can't honestly be the only one who didn't have a clue. The average jobseeker time is 13 years. What sort of life is that and what sort of country allows it?  Crime: 7/10  Good week for regular Kiwis. Cultural reports gone and discounting of sentences limited. Any day a policy is driven by common sense is a good day.  Te Huia: 3/10  Turns out that's another misrepresentation. The new journeys are not demand driven, but merely yet more cost on a train that is haemorrhaging money and where tickets cover 3% of the actual cost and the ratepayers pony up the rest.  The Superbowl: 8/10  Forget the fact I love the NFL - the people who run rugby here should look at what the NFL do and work out why the NFL is enjoying such growth and rugby isn't.    LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Introducing Andrew Barnes, an innovator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who has revolutionized industries through market-changing innovation and digitization. As the founder of Perpetual Guardian, he sparked a transformation in fiduciary and legal services, impacting both local and global landscapes. Notably, Andrew co-founded 4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit advocating productivity-focused, reduced-hours workplaces. With a passion for sailing and an extensive business background, Andrew's expertise spans governance, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and the four-day workweek. In this episode… Are you ready to revolutionize the way we work and live? In this episode, join Andrew Barnes as he unveils the game-changing results of implementing a four-day workweek at Perpetual Guardian, addressing challenges, emphasizing leadership buy-in, and sustainability. The four-day workweek led to a 25% increase in productivity, a 15% reduction in stress levels, and a more engaged workforce with improved company culture.  He shares success stories from other companies, highlights the broader societal and economic impacts, and introduces the 4 Day Week Global campaign, promoting the widespread adoption of this innovative work model. Andrew Barnes envisions a future where the four-day week becomes a global norm, offering competitive advantages, and he passionately advocates for this transformation in our approach to work and economics. Discover the transformative power of the four-day workweek as Andrew Barnes shares his journey and compelling results, supporting the 4 Day Week Global campaign for a more productive, engaged, and sustainable work culture. In this episode of InspiredInsider, we sit down with our host Dr. Jeremy Weisz and special guest Andrew Barnes, the driving force behind the 4 Day Week Global campaign. Tune in and get ready to embrace a more productive, fulfilling, and sustainable work culture!

A promised shakeup to the law governing charities is being criticised as a missed opportunity to make real changes and has instead delivered additional layers of complication. The Charities Amendment Act was passed in late June, with most of its provisions coming into force from early October. The history to the changes sought by the sector is long and complicated, and it was taken up by Labour in 2017 when it promised to review how the 2005 Charities Act was working. The government says the just-passed Charities Amendment Act will "modernise" the sector, cut red tape - particularly for smaller charities - and help them get on with their mahi. But those working with charities say that's not what it delivers - and instead of seizing the chance to boost charities' independence, it's helping to maintain a status quo where they're treated as little more than a delivery vehicle for government social services. Susie speaks to Andrew Barnes founder of trustee company Perpetual Guardian, which operates a Foundation and also owns the Givealittle crowdfunding site. She also speaks to Sue Barker, a lawyer who specialises in charities and public tax law and who has been following the progression of this legislation extremely closely.

One of my fondest memories of living in London was how keen they were to hire Kiwis. My girlfriend and I rocked up to job interviews with minimal practical skills as university graduates, and not much ‘real world' experience under our belts. They didn't care.  New Zealanders ‘had a reputation' they told us, for being hard workers, we got snapped up at every job we went for. And it wasn't hard to figure out why, after a few weeks in.  The work culture there at the time was so laid back, so seemingly ‘pro-breaks' and anti-too-much hard slog.  I'll never forget arriving at work one morning worried about how late my train had been running, and racing in to find I was still the only person in the office by 9am. By 10.30am, coats were being donned and people were heading back out the door. “Where's everyone going?” I naively asked.  “Morning tea,” they replied. I couldn't believe it. Morning tea was a full half hour break, having only spent just under an hour and a half at work. Then they'd break again at lunch – an hour at the Pub no less, then a break again for afternoon tea - another half hour - then by 5pm coats were back on to head home.  I used to find the breaks semi-pointless given there were so many of them so I'd often work through them, only to be told by colleagues that that was setting a bad example and bosses may get the wrong idea. In other words, take the breaks with the rest of us. But you can see how it wasn't hard to figure out why Kiwis had a ‘work hard' reputation. I raise this because I see Britain's University of Cambridge is running a research project looking at the merits of a 4 day week. Much like Perpetual Guardian did here a few years back.  The argument being – it makes employees more productive.  The Cambridge study also found it boosts staff happiness and reduces burnout and “that, on average, businesses adopting a four-day working pattern increased their revenues by more than a third.”  The reason they're looking at this is because of the productivity crisis in Britain so debate is raging on whether less time at work makes you more or less productive. So, in this trial study, it was reported that, “61 British companies adopted a four day week for the second half of 2022, with almost 3,000 staff involved.. at least 56 businesses said they would continue with the four-day week, with 18 saying they will adopt the new policy permanently. Only three opted to scrap the scheme at the end of the pilot.”  Aside from productivity, employees reported less stress, more happiness, more time for life admin, better work life balance. But it's about totally rethinking work culture and how people work -  reducing meeting times, looking at how technology is used, fine tuning planning and so on.  For many companies it's a bridge too far to have that kind of upheaval, and they'd argue being flexible and socially conscious employers is just as advantageous.  But I just wonder, as more and more companies latch onto the concept, whether a four day week is the future. If it increases productivity and employee happiness, then surely it's a win-win.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author Tessa Duder began her adult life as a representative swimmer, winning a silver medal at the 1958 Cardiff Empire Games in the 110 yards butterfly. This incredible achievement would inspire the Alex Quartet, for which she is probably best known. Loved by generations of teenagers, and garnering Duder three New Zealand Children's Book of the Year awards and three Esther Glen medals, it was adapted in a 1993 movie and has just been re-published in one volume. The acclaimed author of more than 45 books for adults and children, Tessa Duder's non-fiction has covered such diverse subjects as James Cook's cartography, early Auckland settler Sarah Mathew and the first Olympics. Her many accolades include the 2020 Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement, the 2021-2022 NZ Society of Author's Presidency of Honour, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, an Artists to Antarctica Fellowship and the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal, as well as OBE and CNZM honours and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Waikato. She has been a tireless champion of other writers through her work with Storylines Children's Literature Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa, The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), and the New Zealand Society of Authors. To close the Festival, Duder joins Carole Beu on stage in a free session to celebrate her writing and the immense contribution she has made to the literary landscape. Supported by The Stout Trust, proudly managed by Perpetual Guardian. SUNDAY 28 AUGUST 2022 – 5.00-6.00PM KIRI TE KANAWA THEATRE, AOTEA CENTRE

The world's largest 4 day work week trial is currently under way. Companies are experimenting with giving employees 32 hour working weeks as opposed to 40, but retaining the same salary and benefits. Andrew Barnes, Founder of Perpetual Guardian, is here with us now.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cycleways.A topic designed to get you hot under the collar.Today we hear about a report out of Christchurch reviewing the success of their cycleway programme to find no growth in cyclist numbers over the past 6 years.That's not what the Council wants to hear because the scheme to build 13 cycleways has a budget of $300 million and it's looking like $300 million that is improving little.Now there are people who believe that all cycleways are a waste of time and there are others that believe all cycleways are awesome. That's not reality.There are good cycleways and there are bad cycleways.Good cycleways are like the former railway line from Nelson City through to Richmond and Stoke. Fast, safe, flat and lined with camellias. If I lived in Stoke I'd use it every fine day rather than battling the Coast Road.Then there are bad cycleways like Island Bay. Cycleways that make a road more dangerous and weren't needed by cyclists in the first place but dreamt up by some planner because on paper it looked like a good idea. Almost all downhill cycleways are bad. Cyclists hate them. They're more dangerous than the road.But the bad cycleways are outnumbering the good cycleways and destroying the whole idea in some people's minds.This past weekend Andrew Barnes of Perpetual Guardian and 4-day week fame wrote a magnificent piece about cycleways in the Herald.He did a LGOIMA. That's an official information request for Local Government and he asked some questions of AT, the Auckland Transport authority.Got some juicy stuff.  Turns out the agency charged with increasing cycling and public transport has 150 fleet cars and has no clue how many of their own staff use Public Transport or bike. Staff have access to 3 e-bikes and 6 pedal bikes. Looks like the cycling revolution hasn't hit AT staff.But the worst admission was on the cost-benefit analysis where he found that half the returns on the planned $1.9 billion expenditure to be spent on cycleways comes from so-called health benefits. Which have been estimated. It's $900 million worth of guesses. And if you had the choice wouldn't you rather spend $900 million on actual doctors rather than cycleways?His analysis says AT planning starts with a conclusion and then works backwards and that's not good practice.Christchurch and Auckland Council seem to think all cycleways are awesome. They're not and it's only people who use them who can really tell you what they need.Councils need to consult.  They need to ask cyclists what they want.  Engineers who are cyclists need to design them. At the moment we're building too many that are destined to be white elephants.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A different approach to filling nursing shortages.Health New Zealand is going to meet with nine nursing schools as they call for more funding.Perpetual Guardian Foundation is a charitable organisation which gives scholarships to nurses to advance their training via private donors.Foundation Philanthropy Manager Kirsten Killian-Taylor told Kate Hawkesby they want to help.She says the charity sector can do its bit as funding is tight in many government departments.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A different approach to filling nursing shortages.Health New Zealand is going to meet with nine nursing schools as they call for more funding.Perpetual Guardian Foundation is a charitable organisation which gives scholarships to nurses to advance their training via private donors.Foundation Philanthropy Manager Kirsten Killian-Taylor told Kate Hawkesby they want to help.She says the charity sector can do its bit as funding is tight in many government departments.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Asha and Non speak with Andrew Barnes, founder of New Zealand company Perpetual Guardian, on introducing a four-day work week there with great success in 2018.

The balance between work and home life has become more muddied. Technology now means we are required to always be on, stretching the workday even further. But there’s a philosophy emerging around the world. One that suggests working four days a week could improve our productivity and wellbeing. In 2018, Perpetual Guardian founder Andrew Barnes generated global headlines when he decided to run a real-time experiment on 200 staff members to see if the four-day week could be put into action. He hasn’t looked back since. Today, Barnes joins Damien to discuss a massive global trial of the four-day week, which could provide the stepping stones for it to become a permanent reality for more people. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Damien VenutoProducer/Editor: Shaun D WilsonExecutive Producer: Ethan Sills See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2018, Andrew Barnes decided to trial a four-day working week at his New Zealand-based business Perpetual Guardian. His employees work 80% of the time, while still receiving 100% of their salary. The trial was such a success, it's still in place four years on, with positive outcomes for both employees and productivity. Here he tells Conor Pope how it works and why more companies should adopt this approach. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The world's biggest trial of the four day week is underway in the UK where more than 3300 workers and 70 companies are leaving Monday-to-Friday behind. The pilot is running for six months and is organised by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College. New Zealander Andrew Barnes - a 4 Day Week Global co-founder - first trialled an extra day off at his Aotearoa company Perpetual Guardian in 2018, and has been doing it ever since, citing increased productivity and happier employees. He spoke to Corin Dann.

Since the start of the pandemic, the global take-up of the four-day work week has accelerated. We first looked into the pros and cons of the four-day work week back in 2020 when it was very much in its early days in Australia. Since then, more companies and industries in Australia and around the world have adopted the four-day work week. We get the latest on what is and isn't working in this global workplace experiment and what we can learn from the early adopters.   Guests: Andrew Barnes – Founder, Perpetual Guardian and 4 Day Week Global Alex Pang – Founder, Strategy and Rest Nikki Beaumont - Founder and CEO, Beaumont People Kath Blackham – Founder and CEO, Versa Sasha D'Arcy – Four-day-week employee at Inventium

Andrew Barnes, the Founder of Perpetual Guardian and Architect for 4 Day Week Global, shares how to pitch a four day work week to your organization!

COVID-19 presented a monumental shift in the way people work. Home offices replaced commutes and cubicles, ZOOM calls took over from conference rooms, and communication went from in person to over Slack. Some people believe now is the time to re-think other conventional work practises as well, specifically the five-day work week. Companies that have experimented with fewer workday hours showed an increase in productivity, better employee retention, higher recruitment of skilled workers, and overall happier staff. Shorter weeks, proponents of the 4-day work week argue, also promote gender equality by allowing mothers and caretakers more flexible hours to do their work. Companies do better when their staff are happier, rested, and live more balanced lifestyles. Others argue that trimming the work week without affecting the bottom line is a fantasy. Companies would require extraordinary gains in productivity to make up for lost hours, and access to services would decline. Certain public service professionals, like doctors or teachers, simply cannot do more work in less time, thereby requiring the government to hire more workers at great cost to the taxpayer. And finally, many hourly wage workers depend on the five-day work week to make ends meet. Awarding a long weekend to the laptop class while requiring everyone else to work 40 hours will deepen divisions in the labour market and exacerbate already existing inequalities.  Arguing for the motion is Andrew Barnes, founder of Perpetual Guardian and author of The 4 Day Week: How the Flexible Work Revolution Can Increase Productivity, Profitability and Well-being, and Create a Sustainable Future. Arguing against the motion is Julian Jessop, former Chief Economist at the Institute of Economic Affairs. QUOTES: ANDREW BARNES “A 4-day work week is good for business, it's good for our people, it's good for our countries, and it's good for our planet.” JULIAN JESSOP “The idea that almost everybody could expect to work four days rather than five and still get the same pay they did before is unrealistic.” Sources: Euronews, BBC, WGRZ-TV, KTLA The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg.   Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/ To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to podcast@munkdebates.com. To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/ The Munk Debates podcast is produced by Antica, Canada's largest private audio production company - https://www.anticaproductions.com/   Executive Producer: Stuart Coxe, CEO Antica Productions Senior Producer: Ricki Gurwitz Editor: Kieran Lynch Associate Producer: Abhi Raheja

No Té sen Gotas desta semana queremos afondar na idea da semana laboral de catro días a través do caso de dúas empresas privadas que tiveron moita repercusión na prensa: o da neozelandesa Perpetual Guardian e o da catalana Desigual. A primeira, que comezou a ensaiar con este modelo aló por 2018, foi un exemplo de como reducir horas de traballo sen recortar salarios, en diálogo cos traballadores e aumentando a productividade. Desigual, que aínda non puxo en funcionamento a xornada reducida, optou en cambio por rebaixar as nóminas lixeiramente, ofrecendo menos flexibilidade aos empregados que non queiran acatar a nova semana e facendo menos esforzos por chegar a un acordo cos representantes dos traballadores.

Charlotte Lockhart, Co-Founder and CEO of 4-Day Week Global joins Tony and Brian to discuss the intersection of the Great Resignation and the world-wide movement to shorten the work week. In the first part of this two-part podcast, Charlotte describes how she and Andrew Barnes successfully implemented the 4-Day Week in Perpetual Guardian and some of the critical lessons they learned. Like the Do-Be's 4-Day Work Week, the global 4-Day Week movement is not to be taken literally. It is an approach to increasing productivity and profitability while reducing work hours and has to be custom designed to fit the organization, it's clients, and its employees. A shorter work week, as envisioned by Charlotte, Andrew, Tony, and Brian is a key element in addressing the factors driving the Great Resignation.

Changing the world to a 4 day work week with Andrew Barnes   What made him How did he come up with the idea for the 4 day work week? Is it really 4 days? The science behind it His big plan   Andrew Barnes has made a career of market-changing innovation, most recently, as the founder of Perpetual Guardian, his announcement of the four-day week made headlines around the world. He has established 4 Day Week Global, enabling interested parties to connect and advance this idea as part of the future of work. He is on the advisory boards of both the US and Ireland 4 Day Week campaigns and the newly created Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University. Previously, Andrew was chairman of realestate.com.au, managing director of Australian Wealth Management Limited, and CEO of Bestinvest, a UK investment advisory company. Andrew holds an MA from Selwyn College, Cambridge.

Three years after a landmark case over the impact of gifting on subsidies for long term residential care, a legal expert says the guidelines are still unclear and confusing. The 2018 case related to then 80 year old, Gwyneth Broadbent, who over a period of time sold the family home, and holiday home, into family trusts, within the allowable limit of $27,000 a year. By the time she needed to go into a care home in 2014 nearly $330,000 worth of assets had been gifted. But the Ministry of Social Development argued that the assets' value had increased over the years, thanks to the property boom, and therefore, Mrs Broadbent had deprived herself of an income, and should contribute to the cost of her care. The Broadbents challenged and won at the High Court, but the ministry appealed the decision and a settlement was reached. So what are the current guidelines? And what do people considering gifting money to their children need to know? Theresa Donnelly is Legal Services Manager for Perpetual Guardian.

Andrew Barnes is an innovator, entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of 4 Day Week Global. Andrew has made a career of market-changing innovation and industry digitisation, most recently in 2018 in New Zealand, where he piloted the 4-day week concept in his own business, Perpetual Guardian. The astounding results made waves around the world and sparked a global movement. Andrew's staff were happier, healthier, more engaged, more focused and more productive, despite seeing a 20% reduction in working hours.Here we talk to Andrew about the modern-day work environment and the multiple and wide-reaching benefits associated with the adoption of the 4-day week concept.In this episode we discuss:• Andrew's background and motivation for piloting the 4-day work week• The history of the five-day work week and the concerning rise of the ‘gig economy'• Our typical productivity levels over a full 40hrs working week• Changing the dynamics of a workplace to maximise productivity• The numerous benefits of the 4-day week; from improved productivity and employee wellbeing, to a reduction in economic inequalities and a smaller environmental footprint• The importance of this being a staff-led initiative• Other key steps to successful implementation; which are discussed in further detail in Andrew's book, ‘The 4 Day Week'Make sure you subscribe to this podcast, leave us a review and share this episode with your friends and family.Please support our work and enable us to deliver more content by buying us a coffee.

Happier at Work expert and podcast host Aoife O'Brien joined the "Job Sharing and Beyond" podcast earlier this year. If you have missed our conversation, here is the link:  https://emilyspath.ca/job-sharing-and-beyond-episode-29-aoife-obrien/ In today's episode, Aoife and I followed up from our previous conversation, talking about the following topics: - Trust and psychological safety as a continuation to our conversation about Aoife's master thesis "Fitting in at work". -Flexible work: We talked about the 4 day work week which is how we met in the first place and the recent discussion about hybrid work.  -Aoife shared her favorite book: "Enough" by John Naish https://amz.run/4kqC   How to reach Aoife: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/happieratworkpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happieratwork.ie/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/HappierAtWorkHQ Website: https://happieratwork.ie/   If you would like to learn more about the 4 day week, here is the link to my previous conversation with Charlotte Lockhart, the co-founder of the 4 Day Week Global and partner of Andrew Barnes who introduced the concept to his company Perpetual Guardian and who wrote the book "The 4 Day Week". https://emilyspath.ca/job-sharing-and-beyond-episode-6-charlotte-lockhart/ I also spoke previously with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang who wrote the books "Rest" and "Shorter". In the book "Shorter" Alex shares his research and interviews with companies already working in a 4 day work week method around the world as well as other flexible work such as Lasse Rheingans' 5 hour work days. https://emilyspath.ca/job-sharing-and-beyond-episode-19-alex-soojung-kim-pang/   If you would like to support the podcast: Ko-fi Account: Ko-fi.com/karintischler Buy me a coffee Account: https://buymeacoffee.com/KarinTischler   How to connect with Karin Tischler, producer and podcast host of "Job Sharing and Beyond", and founder of Emily's Path Consulting (EPC): Website: https://emilyspath.ca/  LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/karin-tischler/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jobsharingandbeyond/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JobsharingByond Twitter: https://twitter.com/karin_tischler Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karintischlerbc/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emilyspathca/?viewAsMember=true Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilysPathConsulting  

Kilka następnych tygodni będzie w naszej kancelarii eksperymentem 4dniowego tygodnia pracy. W odcinku mówię o tym: czym jest idea 4dniowego tygodnia pracy jak wyglądał rozwój czasu pracy od rewolucji przemysłowej dlaczego zdecydowałem się spróbować tego rozwiązania w naszej firmie jakie założenia przyjąłem na wejściu i jakie główne ryzyka zauważałem Materiały, o których mówię w odcinku Cal Newport "Praca głęboka" - https://www.empik.com/praca-gleboka-jak-odniesc-sukces-w-swiecie-w-ktorym-ciagle-cos-nas-rozprasza-newport-cal,p1187764017,ksiazka-p Eksperyment z krótszym tygodniem pracy w Islandii - https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57724779 Eksperyment z 4dniowym tygodniem pracy w japońskim microsofcie - https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/776163853/microsoft-japan-says-4-day-workweek-boosted-workers-productivity-by-40?t=1626530879400 Case study Perpetual Guardian - https://www.4dayweek.com/access-white-paper

The business owner who championed the four-day working week says New Zealand lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to leaving Monday-to-Friday behind. Perpetual Guardian was the first company to trial an extra day off in 2018, and has been doing it ever since, citing increased productivity and happier employees. But its founder Andrew Barnes says it's been too slow to catch on here. Amy Williams filed this report.

Hello and welcome to Episode 60 of the People Powered Business Podcast! Today we discussed a concept which may seem a little strange to some of you, the 4 day work week. Taking a full time role and getting the same results achieved in just 4 days, or 80% of the time. Championed by Andrew Barnes, after successfully implementing the model during his time with Perpetual Guardian, we discussed the various models of the 4 day work week, and how this could look and work within your business. Of course before considering a change like this to your workplace there are a few key things we need. In today's episode we discussed my top tips that you may need to consider before embarking on adopting this structure in your business: Understand how to measure productivity;Build and nurture trusting teams;Trial and consult.If you're interested in learning more about the model Andrew Barnes speaks about, you can grab a copy of this book on this topic here: Get The BookIf you're considering implementing this concept or would like to further the conversation around this, I'd love for you to join us in our free Facebook Group, HR Support for Australian Businesses. Join Here.

As New Zealanders prepares for a four-day working week, more businesses and governments are getting on board with making it permanent.The Spanish Government is offering to cover the cost of four-day weeks at some businesses.It follows trials of a 32-hour working week here in New Zealand, by Perpetual Guardian and Unilever.Four-Day Week Campaign spokesman Joe Ryle told Tim Dower workers on four-day weeks are more rested, and motivated.He says companies trialling the four-day week are getting more output from their workers.LISTEN ABOVE

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "deeply sorry" about the UK's Covid-19 death toll. The Panel speaks to Chris Hall, a former Guardian journalist who now lives in New Zealand, about the Covid crisis in the UK. Andrew Barnes, founder of Perpetual Guardian and advocate of the 4-day-week, says MPs should be limited to two terms in Parliament. The Panel speaks to Andrew about why. If you're struggling to be creative and come up with ideas, you could benefit from taking your work to a cafe. The panellists share their views on working at the local coffee shop.

A trifecta of CEOs share why they introduced the four-day work week to their companies, how it has actually helped them navigate the economic downturn, and hard lessons learnt along the way. GUESTS: Andrew Barnes, CEO Perpetual Guardian, Kath Blackham CEO Versa, Nikki Beaumont CEO Beaumont People. Andrew's book: The Four Day Week: How the Flexible Work Revolution Can Increase Productivity, Profitability and Well-being, and Create a Sustainable Future. (This program first aired on ABC Radio National on August 24, 2020.)

A trifecta of CEOs share why they introduced the four-day work week to their companies, how it has actually helped them navigate the economic downturn, and hard lessons learnt along the way. GUESTS: Andrew Barnes, CEO Perpetual Guardian, Kath Blackham CEO Versa, Nikki Beaumont CEO Beaumont People. Andrew's book: The Four Day Week: How the Flexible Work Revolution Can Increase Productivity, Profitability and Well-being, and Create a Sustainable Future. (This program first aired on ABC Radio National on August 24, 2020.)

Unilever in New Zealand is the latest firm to trial a 4-day week without cutting pay. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Paddy Gamble, the CEO of Perpetual Guardian which manages trusts, wills and estate planning. A couple of years ago they put their 240 staff on a four-day week but paid them for five. He says productivity has gone up since they introduced it. Charlotte Lockhart runs a global campaign for a 4-day week and she says its easy to do and its doesn't cost very much. But Marc Effron, president of The Talent Strategy Group, a global human resource management consultancy firm says a four day week doesn't actually improve productivity. (Picture credit: Getty Creative)

A trifecta of CEOs share why they introduced the four-day work week to their companies, how it has actually helped them navigate the economic downturn, and hard lessons learnt along the way. GUESTS: Andrew Barnes, CEO Perpetual Guardian, Kath Blackham CEO Versa, Nikki Beaumont CEO Beaumont People. Andrew's book: The Four Day Week: How the Flexible Work Revolution Can Increase Productivity, Profitability and Well-being, and Create a Sustainable Future.

A trifecta of CEOs share why they introduced the four-day work week to their companies, how it has actually helped them navigate the economic downturn, and hard lessons learnt along the way. GUESTS: Andrew Barnes, CEO Perpetual Guardian, Kath Blackham CEO Versa, Nikki Beaumont CEO Beaumont People. Andrew's book: The Four Day Week: How the Flexible Work Revolution Can Increase Productivity, Profitability and Well-being, and Create a Sustainable Future.

Summary We routinely prioritise activities that have a deadline over far more important but not urgent activities. That includes our tendency to sacrifice breaks when we’re busy. But a break might be exactly what we need to boost our performance.   Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 87 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we tackle one of today’s biggest leadership challenges. This week we look at the importance of taking breaks to achieve even higher levels of performance. Researchers call it the mere urgency effect. It’s the finding that people routinely prioritise tasks with a deadline independent of their importance, over far more important tasks that don’t have a deadline. So even if another activity has much greater potential for outcomes, we will instead focus on a task with a deadline even if it isn’t really that important. The researchers found that this effect is even more pronounced in those who consider themselves to be ‘busy’.  Being busy and being effective rarely go together. We have work cultures that celebrate busy-ness above all else. I remember being cc’d on a farewell email which repeatedly spoke about the long hours this person worked, and how they had earned a rest in retirement. There was no mention of the outcomes they achieved, the difference they made to the business, or the legacy they left in others - just the long hours and the well-earned rest. Is that what you want to hear at your retirement? The science shows that we need both stress and recovery to be truly effective. Long hours without breaks are not good for productivity and performance. Taking this to the next level, a few organisations have trialled four day weeks. In these cases employees were paid the same as they would have received for a five day week but only needed to work four days. The shorter of the two studies, with Microsoft Japan over a 5 week time frame, saw significant productivity increases of 40%. Another organisation, Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand, found job performance was maintained, but other factors such as engagement, work/life balance and stress all improved markedly. People could deliver just as much if not more in 20% less time. Clearly when it comes to performance not every hour is created equal. This contrasts with recent research from the UK which showed 82% of people don’t always take breaks. This is despite breaks being legally required for shifts of over 6 hours. The research showed that some people always take breaks, some people rarely take breaks, but most people fluctuate. Even though people were aware of the health and well-being benefits, completing tasks was still prioritised over taking breaks. A break is often seen as optional, and one of the things that is first to go when we get busy. The research also demonstrated that pressure from managers made a difference both ways. The manager sets the tone as to whether breaks are normal or not. We need to be careful about what we role model to our people. If we say ‘take a break’ but routinely eat lunch at our desk, guess which behaviour your people are going to follow? Here’s the problem - If we see breaks as just an opportunity to boost an individual’s well-being at the expense of productivity, the work will always win. But the science is clear - breaks increase our productivity. Way back in episode 29 we talked about chronotypes - that our energy and attention levels fluctuate across the day, with most people favouring the morning, while some favour the afternoon and evening. But we’re not victims of our chronotype. We can recharge our energy and attention levels through frequent breaks.  Some years ago I undertook some consulting work with a power plant. The production team was focused on, not surprisingly, production. In their minds the best scenario was to run the plant continuously and never give the plant a break. Then there was the maintenance team. In their mind the best scenario was to never run the plant so everything could be maintained at peak condition. Now those are extreme perspectives and the leaders in those areas wouldn’t express it that clearly, but their actions bore it out. The pressure to run the plant at 100% collided with the risk that the entire plant could be taken out by equipment failure. But the owners and senior leaders tended to favour production over maintenance. The business made money through production, but only ever seemed to lose money through maintenance. Interestingly, even several significant unplanned outages didn’t change their perspective. Clearly well-planned maintenance together with realistic production is the best scenario.  As human beings we face the same dilemma. Time doing work is favoured over long-term productivity and performance. “Just get it done” is the norm, not “make sure you refresh and re-energise”.  Is there another way? How might we avoid the mere urgency effect? Here’s how you might make a change: Implement a trial and experiment on yourself. What works for others may not work for you, so prepare to try a few different approaches. Measure your productivity - track it with numbers. This will give you a baseline measure that you can use for comparison. Remove the choice to take breaks - schedule them in and take them. Make breaks as important as a meeting with your boss. I suggest putting them in your calendar so others can’t book meetings over the top. Use breaks to tackle those important but non-urgent activities like refuelling, exercise, connecting with people, or planning for the future. Don’t just fritter the breaks away on time wasters like social media. Measure your energy, attention and productivity across the day. Use an hourly reminder and rate each factor out of 100%. Keep experimenting. Play around with how long you work before a break, with the length of breaks, and with what you do on those breaks. Implement a new trial. As a leader, encourage your people to do the same. I trust this helps in taking you out of the world of mere urgency, and allows you to deliver even greater results while also looking after yourself and others. As always, the references used in this episode are in the show notes at the leadership.today website. And while you’re there, follow the “on demand” link to find recorded webinars and our Boost Your Assertiveness online course, all available with a free 7 day trial.    References Mike Oliver, Karen Rodham, Jennifer Taylor & Claire McIver (2020) Understanding the psychological and social influences on office workers taking breaks; a thematic analysis, Psychology & Health, DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2020.1764954   Meng Zhu, Yang Yang, Christopher K Hsee (October 2018) The Mere Urgency Effect, Journal of Consumer Research.

In this episode, I’m really excited to have as my guest, Andrew Barnes, Architect of the 4 Day Week and author of the book with the same name.  Andrew Barnes conducted an experiment in his own business, the New Zealand trust company Perpetual Guardian, and asked his staff to design a four-day week that would permit them to meet their existing productivity requirements on the same salary but with a 20% cut in work hours. The outcomes of this trial, which no business leader had previously attempted on these terms, were stunning. People were happier and healthier, more engaged in their personal lives, and more focused and productive in the office. The story of Perpetual Guardian's unprecedented work experiment has made headlines around the world and many companies all around the world are adopting variations of this idea. In our discussion, Andrew and I talked about: The increased productivity that they found from their 4-day week experiment; The relevance of the 4-day week idea to a post COVID world; Other benefits to society of the 4-day work week Listen to the podcast to learn more. Show Notes and Blog The Podcasts 

This is an exciting episode on the Future of Work series, I speak with Andrew Barnes (for the second time) and Charlotte Lockhart – first time with two guests! Andrew and Charlotte are from 4 Day Week Global. We talk about the impact of COVID-19 on how we currently work, what this means for the future of work – remote working, flexible working and the positive impacts of this global pandemic. We also cover productivity, and the time versus outcomes trap. We speak about the challenges of flexible working – no water cooler chat, inequality when it comes to access, and impacts on corporate culture over time. Innovator, entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Barnes has made a career of market-changing innovation and industry digitisation. Most recently, in New Zealand, Andrew triggered a revolution of the entire fiduciary and legal services industries, and the transformation he has led as the founder of Perpetual Guardian has positive implications both locally and globally (as evidenced by his announcement of the four-day week, which made headlines around the world). The result has seen him establish 4 Day Week Global and the 4 Day Week Global Foundation with his partner, Charlotte Lockhart. Their vision for this is to provide a community environment for companies, researchers/academics and interested parties to be able to connect and advance this idea as part of the future of work. Through this work he is on the advisory boards of both the US and Ireland 4 Day Week campaigns and the board of the newly created Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University. Charlotte Lockhart is a business advocate, investor and philanthropist with more than 25 years’ experience in multiple industries locally and overseas. As CEO for the 4 Day Week Global campaign she works promoting internationally the benefits of a productivity-focused and reduced-hour workplace. Through this, she is on the board of the newly created Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University and the advisory boards of the US campaign and the Ireland campaign for the 4 Day Week. Guest links: https://4dayweek.com The event mentioned is happening on Wednesday evening Irish time (17th June) at 10pm https://4dayweek.com/upcoming-events https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhbarnes/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottelockhartnz/ https://twitter.com/andrewhbarnes https://twitter.com/lockhart_charli My social links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien https://twitter.com/Empowerment_IE www.instagram.com/empowermentcoaching.ie

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's whether flexible working and changed work hours could be here to stay. Hosted by Frances Cook.Times of crisis also give us the opportunity for change. We’ve all drastically changed the ways we work in order to be safe during Covid-19. We’re zooming, chatting, and many of us are discovering we’re just as productive at home. For some of us, we’re actually even more productive. Now this clearly doesn’t apply to everyone, as some jobs must be done in person. But for the many who can work remotely, or with flexible hours, there’s been a taste of a different way to organise our lives. So now the question is, how much of this do we want to keep?For the latest Cooking the Books podcast I talked to Andrew Barnes, founder of Perpetual Guardian, and advocate for the four day work week. We discussed how flexible working actually increases productivity, whether offices are still needed at all, and how to have the conversation with your boss. For the episode, listen on the podcast player above.If you have a question about this podcast, or a question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCook

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's whether flexible working and changed work hours could be here to stay. Hosted by Frances Cook.Times of crisis also give us the opportunity for change. We’ve all drastically changed the ways we work in order to be safe during Covid-19. We’re zooming, chatting, and many of us are discovering we’re just as productive at home. For some of us, we’re actually even more productive. Now this clearly doesn’t apply to everyone, as some jobs must be done in person. But for the many who can work remotely, or with flexible hours, there’s been a taste of a different way to organise our lives. So now the question is, how much of this do we want to keep?For the latest Cooking the Books podcast I talked to Andrew Barnes, founder of Perpetual Guardian, and advocate for the four day work week. We discussed how flexible working actually increases productivity, whether offices are still needed at all, and how to have the conversation with your boss. For the episode, listen on the podcast player above.If you have a question about this podcast, or a question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCook

With so many of us working from home, and even at Level 3 we’re being encouraged to continue to do so,  it’ll be interesting to see how everyone adapts back to office life.Traffic, I imagine will be a major. Having to commute and sit in heavy traffic to get to and from work, will be a stark change to being able to roll out of bed and along to your kitchen table in your PJ’s.I’m sure there are many Zoom-weary workers out there who’re sick and tired of being pinned to the laptop for meetings beamed into everyone’s living rooms with extreme close ups of people’s faces.Many probably can’t wait to get back to the hustle and bustle of casual chat around the office, being able to use an industrial size printer, and conducting meetings face to face around a big shared table again.Andrew Barnes, the Perpetual Guardian founder who pioneered the 4 day week here for his company, says that businesses may well reconsider what form the workplace takes after this.Obviously it all comes down to how productive home based working is, but for many, it may actually have been more productive.He cites among the benefits, less travel time to and fro, less stress around commuting and the impact that stress has on work life.He thinks employees could be ‘fresher’ working from home.. and less time poor.He says open plan offices have too many distractions.. ‘statistically a disruption occurs every 11 minutes, with employees taking 20 or more minutes to get back to full productivity’.But ask anyone working from home right now..  juggling kids, pets, partners, and a long list of jobs hovering in the background, like a full washing basket or a dishwasher that needs emptying, and they’ll tell you that working at the office is actually easier.It’s a boundaries thing. Work and home have their own individual structure.But Barnes argues flexible working is more beneficial to long term company performance.  Not only that, he sees a potential post-Covid future of smaller workplaces, with more space allocated to meeting rooms and social areas, and more hot desks. He thinks workplaces could become places employees come to once a week for meetings.If he’s right, it changes everything we know about traditional office buildings and infrastructure.Everything we know about city design and development could change.If it changes time spent in traffic and the housing market being about proximity to town.. then maybe it’s no bad thing.

My guest today is entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Barnes. What you might know Andrew for is the person behind creating the Four Day Work Week, where as the founder of Perpetual Guardian, he trialled having his 200+ staff do a four day work week - that is, fit five days worth of work into four. Andrew now consults to companies around the world, helping them do what he did at Perpetual Guardian.Andrew also wrote a book about his experience with implementing the four day work week, called, The Four Day Week, which looks at the results the firm has achieved and how you can create a shorter week at your organisation.We cover:How Andrew sets boundaries between work and non-work lifeAndrew’s morning routineAndrews strategies for staying off email on his weekendsHow Andrew helps his staff stay off their mobile phones at workAndrew’s rules for making meetings more efficientWhy Andrew has banned people from eating lunch at their deskHow Andrew links meetings to individual productivity outcomesHow Andrew transformed his office environment to make it more conducive to productivityWhy Andrew’s down time is when he does his best creative and strategic thinkingHow Andrew’s staff are maintaining connectedness during COVIDLearn more about the Four Day Week here. Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.co See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

n 2018, CEO & Author, Andrew Barnes boarded a plane from his home in New Zealand, armed with just a laptop, some papers and a copy of The Economist. He was the most dangerous man on the plane yet, when he arrived at his final destination of London, he was not arrested and walked effortlessly through security. He had fired an email to his HR Director (who promptly deleted it, thinking it was a joke!) and what happened next transformed his working life, transformed his business (Perpetual Guardian), the lives of his employees and is now starting to change the world of work. “You only get one chance to change the world and this is mine” he smiles. Already being talked about and adopted by businesses in 83 countries (the Russian government have added it to their policy manifesto), it will be interesting to see, post Covid-19, how many more businesses adopt his 100-80-100 model, as we move into a brave new world. Inspired and shocked by an article in The Economist that revealed that the average worker in the UK is only productive for 3 hours a day. It’s 2.5 in Canada, Andrew decided to immediately put this to the test his own business, starting with his own board. "Just because someone shows up and sits in an office from 9-5, actually they’re not necessarily delivering you anything in return. Commute, coffee, emails, surfing the internet… and then you get down to work…and then someone taps you on the shoulder”. On average you get disturbed once every 11 minutes and it take you 22 minutes to get back to full productivity. Andrew explains 100-80-100. “We will pay you 100% of your salary of 80% of the time spent at work, on the condition that we still get 100% of the output”. Sound crazy? Think again. Despite the mischievous, attention grabbing title of his new book; “The 4 Day Week”, this is not really about three day weekends or improving culture and balance for people - albeit these are amazing outcomes. This is about improved productivity and a happier workforce. In Andrew’s company’s case, productivity went up 25%, revenues went up and profits went up and staff retention went through the roof. The first objection Andrew often gets is “but that won’t work in my industry because…”. Andrew has an answer for you. Prepare to hear him out and have your perspective changed in this world changing podcast. Smash The Box is a personal development business. Everything I do is with the aim of inspiring you to find your purpose so you can make your mark on the world. One way I do this is by sharing people’s stories. Inspiring stories that the world needs to hear. Stories of breakthroughs, of adversity overcome, of achievements, successes, of setbacks and turnarounds, of realisations and lightbulb moments. This audio experience is a natural and perfect complement to the existing services of Life Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Breakthrough Workshops and Inspirational Talks - all of which forms something quite unique and special. If you are looking to find your purpose in life, in work, or both, then don’t just think outside the box. It’s time to Smash The Box! Connect with us! www.smashthebox.me www.youtube.com/channel/UC7fEEvjX52qS928oyLGCtuQ www.facebook.com/SmashTheBoxMarkPitcher/ www.instagram.com/markpitcher_smashthebox/

4 Day Week Global is a not-for-profit community established by Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart to provide a platform for like-minded people who are interested in supporting the idea of the four-day week as a part of the future of work. This idea was born out of the waves of attention we received from around the world in reaction to our successful program launched at Perpetual Guardian in 2018.We encourage business, employees, researchers, and government to all play their part in creating a new way of working which will improve business productivity, worker health outcomes, stronger families and communities, challenge the gender equality issue, and work towards a more sustainable work environment. Learn more at https://4dayweek.com/

You can talk about this episode - and more - on our new forum.Second episode on the 4 day week. We go deep with someone who made the 4 day leap, Andrew Barnes' firm Perpetual Guardian made the shift to 4 days. He explains why some workers never told their partners, why others felt it transformed their experience of work and he gives the clear way to make a 4 day experiment work at your work.If you're interested in going shorter one of the best ways seems to be to try a summer experiment - maybe from May to September - so now is a good time to start the preparation. If you try it please get in touch to share your experience!Read the PDF of these episodes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Would you like a boss that wants you to work 4 days a week but still pays you for 5? Yeah! They exist! The 4-day week movement is growing worldwide and one of the pioneers is Andrew Barnes. Andrew brought his company, Perpetual Guardian, through a pilot of the 4-day week and then embedded it as the norm. Productivity improved, employee satisfaction improved and the company increased its contribution to the communities of its employees. What drives a leader to make such a revolutionary leap? In this episode of the Good Boss Bad Boss podcast we get behind the headline and talk to the man. Enjoy!

Having had a four-day week last week, I've decided I'm in love with it. It turns out I'm not alone.A new report reveals "one third of small business owners believe we don't get enough annual leave each year and they want a revision of our work culture".It said "experts believe that the culture of 'being busy' and the current 9 to 5, Monday to Friday work structure, paired with just four weeks annual leave... is negatively impacting productivity".In a nutshell, what we're learning is that the workforce is overworked - and unable to switch off.That results, as we know, in more people stressed, anxious, frazzled and burnt out.That's a bigger strain on the health system and mental health services.It's a strain on families. It's probably got a knock-on effect for sick leave too.The founder of a coaching firm called Business Changing, Zac de Silva, says "flexibility actually helps productivity".So is that what we need? How flexible should we be? And what is it we actually get from a day off during the week? The ability to recharge?Well yes, I found a day off mid-week did exactly that. I felt recharged. It meant jobs and errands that you usually have to leave until the weekend you could get done on a weekday - so then the weekend felt like a bonus.But not everyone agrees.A producer I work alongside said he didn't like it because it felt like two Mondays in one week. A day off mid-week meant the following day felt like another Monday morning in his books. He said he'd rather just push through the work days in one block, then have the days off in one block.Does an overall reduction in our work hours though, make us feel more productive generally? I certainly thought so.Obviously, it's different for each workplace and business - some lend themselves more to flexibility than others.Sometimes, hammering the job through until the end beats dragging it out in bite-sized pieces.Perpetual Guardian's founder Andrew Barnes has been advocating for this for a while – he thinks a four-day week should become the new normal. Is that bad? Or is it that the times are changing and people are seeking more balance these days?The ‘I'm-so-stressed-and-overworked’ thing is no longer a badge of honour but an albatross around your neck.People want more time with their families, more time for self-improvement, more time for reflection.Maybe it's time then that we stop pooh-poohing those concepts as flakey, New Age nonsense, and embrace the evolution of the workplace to focus on output, rather than hours worked.

The 4 day week is possible! A New Zealand company, Perpetual Guardian, introduced a 4 day week in 2018, and their experiment has quickly become a role model for organisations around the world.

The 4 day week is possible! A New Zealand company, Perpetual Guardian, introduced a 4 day week in 2018, and their experiment has quickly become a role model for organisations around the world.

Andrew Barnes wants us all working less. In late 2018, Barnes set up an experiment within his company, Perpetual Guardian, where employees could opt to work just four days as long as they were productive enough to justify them.The story went global, as countries and companies look for new ways to motivate staff and innovate productivity.Perpetual Guardian has now made a permanent switch to a shorter working week, and Barnes has detailed how it happened in his new book, The 4-Day Week.He joined Andrew Dickens to discuss what sparked the change, how they implemented it, and whether or not this will be the future.LISTEN ABOVE

In this episode of Happier at Work podcast, I speak with Andrew Barnes. Andrew’s company Perpetual Guardian sparked global media fascination with its flexible work model after it successfully trialled and implemented the four-day week, resulting in a 20% lift in employee productivity, a 27% reduction in work stress levels, and a 45% increase in employee work-life balance. The four-day week concept has proven to be extraordinarily popular around the world. Media coverage of the four-day week has reached 4.5 billion people in 70+ countries through more than 3,500 news articles and 11,500 social media posts. Andrew and I speak about the practicalities of implementing a 4-day week, input vs output, the impact on work as well as home life, which industries would benefit from a 4-day week and how healthier, happier people produce better results. You can find more details about the 4-day week here: https://4dayweek.com Access the whitepaper here: https://4dayweek.com/access-white-paper See Andrew’s announcement of the trial of the 4-day week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rA4TFMHamw Andrew’s TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjgqCgoxElw Pre-order the 4-day Week book: Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Day-Week-productivity-profitability-sustainable/dp/034942490X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+4+day+week+andrew+barnes&qid=1569487824&s=gateway&sr=8-1 Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Day-Week-productivity-profitability-sustainable/dp/034942490X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+4+day+week+andrew+barnes&qid=1569487824&s=gateway&sr=8-1

On this episode of the active CEO Podcast, Craig Johns speaks with Andrew Barnes about Perpetual Guardian's 4 Day Week, changing the way people work, improving the wellbeing and productivity of businesses, and the fourth industrial revolution. We also speak about global financial crisis, customer service, empowered workforces and the more important benefits of the 4 Day Week.

GRTV - Andrew Barnes, Perpetual Guardian by Good Returns TV

Summary Most of us have what I call infinite jobs - where we could just keep working more hours and never quite get everything done. This week we look at practical ways to manage infinite jobs, improving our productivity while also regaining control over our hours.   Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 35 of the Leadership Today Podcast where each week we tackle one of today’s biggest leadership challenges. This week we are looking at practical ways to manage infinite jobs - improving our productivity while also regaining control over our hours. There are two types of jobs - what I call finite jobs and infinite jobs. Chances are at some point in your career you’ve had a finite job - one where you had set work hours, and were paid for every hour you worked. For example, retail jobs are typically finite jobs - you start your shift at a particular time, complete as much work as you can during your shift, then walk away at the end of your shift. Whatever work was left over is either there for you the next day, or handed across to someone else. And there’s no expectation to work beyond the hours you’re given - remember those days? In this environment, leaders assess the overall workload and determine the resources needed to deliver. If more work needs to be done, more resources are allocated. Infinite jobs are quite different. These jobs have objectives to deliver - some being set up front, and some which emerge over time. Here you’re not really paid by the hour. Your contract may specify that you’re employed to work 38 or 40 hours, but you’re really employed to deliver results. Contracts might refer to ‘reasonable overtime’ or something similar. Or you might be running your own business, where you just work the hours you need to deliver results. Infinite jobs are different because there isn’t an end point. You could potentially keep working more and more hours and never ‘finish’ an infinite job. There’s always more you could do - more clients to contact, more processes to improve, more development of people to undertake. The vast majority of leadership roles are infinite jobs, so chances are you’re currently in an infinite job. And more finite jobs are either being automated or converted into infinite jobs. The reality of the modern workplace is that more and more of our work will not have a natural end point. So how do you manage an infinite job? I remember when I first took on a leadership role. I had worked as a management consultant, so was pretty familiar with having an infinite job, but was able to manage my time reasonably well despite the high demands. But nothing had prepared me for leadership. My work hours began to increase. I started with a bit over 45 hours a week, but found it quickly rose to 50 hours, then 55, then 60 plus. I was getting into work earlier and earlier to try to get something done before my team arrived, then worked later and later to catch up on things at the end of the day. Then I would log in again after dinner, finding myself swapping instant messages with the rest of the leadership team until late at night, before crawling into bed and starting it all over again the next day. I felt exhausted and dissatisfied, and there was still more to do. When the weekend rolled around I’d sleep for much of Saturday morning and try to recover in time for Monday, but would find myself gradually become more and more worn down.  Eventually it dawned on me that there actually wasn’t an end point to my job. There was never going to be a point where, as a leader, I could say “I’m finished” or “job done”. In fact, the more hours of work I completed, the more work I generated for myself and others. I wasn’t even approaching completion - even though I was hitting all my targets, I was pushing completion even further down the road. There was an ever-present level of stress and dissatisfaction - a constant worry that I was missing something or had more to do. Maybe you can relate to my experience - and maybe you’re in the middle of it right now. The key lesson for me from this experience was we can’t manage an infinite job by just adding more and more hours to our work week. We need to change the way we think about and manage our work. A framework you’re probably familiar with involves thinking about our work in terms of the Important versus Urgent - basically that every task we complete can be thought of in terms of how important it is, and how urgent it is. While he wasn’t the first to think of this framework, Steven Covey popularised it in his book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. Even 30 years on this book is still worth a read. Covey highlighted that we tend to get caught up in urgent work, and don’t prioritise important work enough. Clearly, if something is both urgent and important, then we should tackle that deadline, crisis or emergency straight away. But much of our time is spent with seemingly urgent but not important tasks which we should delegate to others. And we definitely need to get rid of the not urgent and not important distractions that soak up our time. But the other category - the not urgent but important - is what most leaders end up neglecting. This can include planning, reflection, long term development, networking and relationship building, creative thinking - all the things that so often get pushed aside in an infinite job. So how do we make sure we have time to do this important work, while also making our infinite job a little more finite? Here’s an approach you might want to try: Determine your ideal work hours. For most people you should aim to reduce what you’re doing at the moment, but why not start with around 40 hours as a target. A company called Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand experimented with people working four eight-hour days a week but being paid for five. Aside from the numerous benefits to individuals, they actually saw an overall productivity increase - people completed more in 32 hours than they used to complete in 40 hours. People came up with all sorts of creative ways to be more productive in their infinite jobs. We will fill whatever hours we set, so take this moment to reset. Use your calendar to schedule everything - and I mean everything. This includes putting things in your calendar that unexpectedly come up so you have a record at the end of the week of how you’ve actually spent your time. Identify your priorities and schedule the not urgent but important work for when you’re at your best. Each of us has a time in the day when we’re best at focused work, and that’s where the important but not urgent work should sit. Schedule in breaks - at least three if not four per day. Actual get up, go for a walk, chat with someone else - take at least 10 to 15 minutes to re-engergise and refresh. You will be amazed how much more productive you are with some well-placed breaks every 90 minutes. Leave time for the inevitable urgent and important activities - leave blank periods in your schedule. It’s tempting to schedule every minute then be disappointed when other things come up. I recommend trying to leave an hour or two per day for most people, but it could vary depending on your job.  Be ruthless when it comes to meetings - if there isn’t a clear purpose, agenda and role for you, don’t go. Sure, you might need to negotiate that, but if you’re spending more than a couple of hours per day in meetings, you’re unlikely to be performing at your best. The beauty of this approach is that you’ve set the overall number of hours, and you can’t be doing two things at once. So if you’ve filled your calendar and something else comes up, you need to get rid of or reschedule something else. You’ve effectively made your job finite by setting your work hours.  Now, you might ask, what if I can’t get everything done in those hours? Well, now your calendar is evidence of your overall workload which will help when negotiating additional resources or a change in accountabilities. Just like those employees in New Zealand, you’ll be amazed at how creative you can get when you make your job more finite. Reference: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/19/work-less-get-more-new-zealand-firms-four-day-week-an-unmitigated-success

Welcome to another episode of ‘My Pocket Psych’. This time, we look at the challenges with making new year’s resolutions given our innate preference for comfort and stability. We discuss what productivity could look like in a variety of roles and look ahead to workplace psychology themes for 2019, in the second part of our interview with Nicky Hemmings.     Resources mentioned   1. Productivity and behaviour change   Is HR neglecting its own mental health? https://hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/is-hr-neglecting-its-own-mental-health#.XBN8EkNGdOM.twitter   Productivity and the four day week? https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/wednesday-afternoons-boost-productivity/   Perpetual Guardian in NZ has permanently adopted its four-day week: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/07/working-fewer-hours-makes-you-productive-new-zealand-trial   Article on productivity and failure to change: https://www.fastcompany.com/90276565/science-explains-why-productivity-hacks-and-resolutions-are-practically-destined-to-fail   Richard’s blog post on making New Year’s changes: https://www.worklifepsych.com/looking-for-some-resolution/    2. Interview with Nicky Hemmings, Part 2   Evidence-Based HR Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12139747/    Centre for Evidence-based Management: https://www.cebma.org/    Psychological Flexibility: https://www.worklifepsych.com/psychologicalflexibility/    Nicky Hemmings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NicolaHemmings         

To mix things up from our usual magazine format we have just one long substantive interview for you today, where we really dig into the detail about how one organisation manages their communications using Slack. We’re sure you’ll find it interesting to go really in-depth into this example, and reflect on how you select and use tools within your own organisation. And a quick shout out to listener Stephan for recommending our show to someone on Twitter, and in turn we recommend an episode in the show Reasons to be Cheerful, episode 55, (https://pca.st/0IN0) where they interview the founder of Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand, where they have been experimenting with the four day week (which we mentioned in episode 179 https://virtualnotdistant.squarespace.com/podcasts/values-driven-culture but didn’t talk to them directly). Why not let us know what you think, we’re easy to reach on Twitter, either @PilarOrti or @Virtualteamw0rk Meantime, on with the great big chat: 08.25 Voice behind the blog: Jamon Holmgren Jamon is the cofounder and CTO of Infinite Red https://infinite.red/, and author of the post “5 Slack Channels Every Company Needs.” https://shift.infinite.red/5-slack-channels-every-company-needs-dd0f103e0f9d With a team of 25 fully remote colleagues, Infinite Red have been building apps since forming from a merger in 2005. (We interviewed Gant Laborde earlier this year https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/wlp174-problem-with-remote-work about a great blog post he also shared with the world).  But Jamon remains conscious that their setup is unusual, that society is still not ready for remote universally – something those of us immersed in this space can easily overlook. So they had to find their own ways of getting things done, as they created their team and found ways to collaborate effectively. Infinite Red use Slack very extensively to segment their conversations, through channels which evolve organically (and get archived after use), and also guest channels for external collaborators - in fact, they insist that their clients use Slack, as part of their terms of operation, either in shared workspaces or via guest channels. Jamon and Pilar discuss how in a larger team, Slack can evolve from being an asynchronous collaboration platform to more of a real-time communication tool, with higher expectation in terms of response time. To manage this requires some forethought and alignment of expectations, such as use of threading to control the signal to noise ratio, especially in important channels – whilst other channels can fill the need for more casual chat. For Infinite Red this led to the creation of the 5 channels which were the subject of the blog post in question: 20.56 The 5 Channels Roll call: For checking in, rather than checking up on, saying “hi” when you arrive at the office. They use it for really brief greetings and signalling - it’s a little more personal and connected than just indicating through your status when you are working or not, or popping out for lunch or into a meeting. It creates a good snapshot of where everyone is at at any given moment, particularly in a team spanning multiple timezones. Kudos: For recognising the accomplishments of co-workers, in as authentic a way as possible. A good way to make different aspects of the work visible across the organisation (though private praise matters too). They also use to reward effort and endurance as well as obviously positive outcomes, and try to keep it spontaneous and genuine. Chitchat + Funny: These are actually two channels at Infinite Red, split from the default Slack ‘Random’ channel. Separating them in this way allows all employees join in chat without needing to dive down the rabbit-hole of memes and GIFs (and some ultra-geeky stuff that is really only funny to developers anyway) - and recognises that people bond over different kinds of content and humour. Announcements: Some things need a destination of their own, things which have an impact on the company as a whole: team updates, role changes, policies etc. Responses in here should be threaded, to allow for rapid skimming and updating of these important messages, without diving into the discussion of it. They advise everyone to have visible alerts for this channel, and people can check-off that they’ve read each item with an appropriate emoji.  Scheduling: For longer term scheduling type topics, eg discussing planned absences and use of shared resources, they have this dedicated channel for “determining how we’re going to spend our time as a company”. So as well as syncing plans, they work out loud at a high altitude in here - stating what they’re working on in any given week, to create that overview of the big picture for everyone on the team to see. Jamon recognises that he is the power user and evangelist when it comes to Slack, and that perhaps every team needs one, to keep the channel usages on track and consistent (whilst also being dynamic and evolving), leading by example at all times. Of course they do have other channels - so be sure to check out the article!   42.40 Podcast Pilar and Jamon also discuss the podcast, Building Infinite Red https://building.infinite.red/ This project enables Jamon and his co-founders to work on something cool together outside of their client work, and share and reflect upon what they’re doing and how they make decisions. It lets them be quite straightforward and authentic, and develop their thinking out loud together – in the spirit of podcasting, as a conversation between people in a synergistic and fun way to evolve creativity. Season 2 launches soon (but there are already 13 to get stuck into from last time). Thanks Gant Laborde for tipping us off to this one.   47:25 Academy Finally, we also discuss their Academy.   It’s in Infinite Red’s DNA to share their learning with the world, as they’re all from an open source background. So the Academy offers online and on-site workshops and on-demand resources, and it’s all based on things they have tried and tested and used with their own clients acadmey.infinite.red  They also teach workshops at conferences  https://twitter.com/jamonholmgren (especially if you like jokes, apparently) Jamon@infinite.red            

In speaking with Andrew Barnes Managing Director of Perpetual Guardian https://www.perpetualguardian.co.nz. I discover one of life's guiding principles "not doing something is more risky than trying something" . Andrew shares his wisdom and business acumen throughout my conversation with him, I had a wonderful time just talking with him. Do you have a passion to share? Contact me at john@theonera.com

We are joined by British expat Andrew Barnes, founder of Perpetual Guardian, to talk about their innovative trial for the 4-day working week and how this may help the gender pay gap. We also chat with Andrew about his wealth of knowledge on Kiwi and British business. 

So if you were offered a four day working week, would you take it?Actually, to save time, let me rephrase that and let me be careful so I don’t make a Trumpian mistake: if you were offered a four day working week, who wouldn’t take it.Most of us would jump at it not because it’s a four day working week but because it means it’s a three day weekend. But to afford the three day weekend, we’ve got to work for four days, and in that work we have to make enough money that we can afford the luxury of the perpetual long weekend.So the Perpetual Guardian trial of the four day working week has finished and its boss Andrew Barnes told Mike Hosking this morning it’s been a huge success; in fact, he rated it 9.5 out of 10. The fear was that to get all the work done, work life would be more stressful, but staff surveys say the stress level actually reduced.The research shows the thing everyone loved was the substantial improvement in work-life balance. Andrew Barnes saw a massive increase in engagement. In other words, when people were at work, they worked. The staff were more satisfied and they intended to stay with the company longer.The important thing here is productivity, and the company reports it’s as good as it’s always been.Andrew Barnes believes it’s time to talk about our workforce and why we lag behind other countries in terms of productivity, and I don’t think anyone would disagree with him.But productivity is one of those jargon buzz words that remains an abstract concept for many people. As Andrew Barnes says, we’re paying for productivity, not for hours worked. It’s a simple point that too few don’t get.To show you how entrenched old ways of working are, just look at our employment legislation and specifically the Holidays Act, where you don’t earn your holidays for what you created and achieved but for how many hours and days you attended work.Because of that framework, you can be penalised. If you complete your assigned task quickly you can end out with fewer holidays. It’s the same if you work above and beyond expectations.Last year, I was a prime example. My work obligation was to provide a programme five day a week. No overtime. Sometimes the show took 20 hours to put together, some times it took six.But because of the payroll system being based on hours, we had to put nominal hours in there. It all came unstuck when I took holidays and we had many complex calculations of hours to see if that was possible.It all had nothing to do with productivity and was in no way efficient.We see it in collective pay negotiations. We see it in arcane and archaic arguments about meeting times, smoko breaks and toilet time.Grant Robertson has banged on for a long time about productivity. Perpetual Guardian is looking at the real issues. I hope the Finance Minister is watching closely so we stop talking about it and start lifting it. 

Andrew Barnes chats about various topics including innovation, change management, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, the military, leadership, and team engagement and the 4 day week initiative. Andrew graduated with a MA in law and archaeology from the University of Cambridge, completed banking and Harvard qualifications and then, deserting the traditional, built a career in financial services in Australia and New Zealand. As an entrepreneur, and also a philanthropist, he has challenged the norms and provoked innovatio and new thinking in the ways we work in a generation of digital communication. An entrepreneur, philanthropist and innovator in business and fiduciary services, he is a director of Coulthard Barnes and the founder of Perpetual Guardian, which formed under his leadership and direction through the coming together of Perpetual Trust and Guardian Trust, two trustee companies with more than 130 years’ history between them. Andrew followed these acquisitions with a series of others, including My Bucket List, Covenant Trustee Services, Foundation Corporate Trust and New Zealand Trustee Services. In recent years he has challenged the status quo of global fiduciary services by leading a sea-change in digital estate planning services through Kowhiri, New Zealand’s largest digital provider of online wills and will management.  As a business leader with a 240-strong staff at Perpetual Guardian, Andrew’s vision is to change the future of work by challenging old structures and establishing inventive measures to help people be their best at work and at home. His conception of the 4 Day Week, a 2018 eight-week trial which gave all Perpetual Guardian staff a full day off at full pay every week, was a global first that sparked widespread conversation about flexible working arrangements, productivity and employee engagement.  Andrew Barnes on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Barnes_(businessman) www.4dayweek.co.nz/