Flexible working at CPR

At Climate Policy Radar, we want to create the best possible work culture. Our four day work week is an important part of that.

We thought we’d write about it to show what it’s like to work at Climate Policy Radar, and as inspiration for other organisations thinking about taking the plunge. 

The team loves it

We’re now almost two years into this work pattern, which sees our entire team working four days a week at full pay (this is different from condensed hours; we do not expect people to do 5 days of work into 4 days). In a recent staff survey (September 2024) 96% of our team say the four-day work week “is a great idea”, an increase of 3% from the year before. One person said: "I am more productive than I've ever been."

Based on a six month pilot programme 

We didn't just jump on a four-day work week trend. As a mission-driven organisation, we were especially careful to make sure a 4-day work week was in line with our mission. We ran a 6-month pilot in the second half of 2023. Callie, our Head of People, tracked multiple variables including energy levels, concentration and focus, work satisfaction, mental and physical wellbeing.

There were improvements across the board. Our colleagues are driven, hardworking people, working on highly complex subjects. They’ve told us the four-day work week helps them re-set and re-focus. We were aiming for a healthier, happier team and higher retention rates, and we’re achieving that. 

When we began the pilot, we were strict about not working on Fridays. No tasks set, no meetings scheduled. Callie notes that this thinking has evolved. She says, “I probably work one or two hours a Friday once a month. And that’s usually because I’ve finished early or had a longer lunch break earlier in the week.” It feels like a natural progression to take a flexible approach to how people spend their Fridays.

The great thing about doing the pilot when we were a smaller organisation, was that we were able to have open conversations with the whole team. More flexibility, not less. That’s the ethos, and it has served us well as we’ve doubled in size in 2024. 

But it wasn't *just* about productivity.

More than productivity 

Fewer working days haven’t meant less output. Instead, our four day week is inspiring more intentional, efficient work. Our colleagues have been focused on prioritising, collaborating more effectively, and maintaining high standards. It’s great that people are getting the same amount of work done. It’s even better that they feel rested, recharged and more energetic while doing so. By acknowledging that people have lives and responsibilities outside of work, we're cultivating an environment of trust, respect, and mutual support. 

Trust and mutual respect are the most important aspects of our flexible policies. These go beyond the four-day week, and include flexible hours and unlimited leave. We also ask that people set their own boundaries: nobody is expected to have Slack or email on their phones. This allows colleagues to manage their own workload and collective duties with their personal responsibilities (including those that tend to fall disproportionately on women, like caring for children or relatives).

Conscious about commutes  

Environmental concerns were part of our decision to have a four-day work week. Many of our colleagues currently come into our shared office at Sustainable Ventures in London twice a week. By reducing office time and commutes, we're helping reduce our environmental footprint, which aligns with our climate-focused mission.

Where we go from here

We're showing that meaningful work doesn’t need to be a trade-off with employee wellbeing. When you invest in your team's health, everyone wins. 

It’s also worth adding that we're always iterating our working habits and culture. Most of our colleagues see each other in-person a couple of times a week, while others are fully remote. We’re working on strengthening our shared team culture, especially for new starters, with regular in-person visits, book clubs and the beautifully named “Corporate Mandated Fun”. We’re always interested in hearing about how other organisations are finding ways to be flexible, inclusive and productive.

We believe the future of work is flexible, empathetic, and human-centred. Message us with your best ideas, and we’ll share more of ours.