Why? A spokesperson explained: "This is to help our colleagues focus on combining work and life outside the office."
The award-winning tech consultancy is taking the decision to place the happiness of its employees above productivity by insisting they take time off on Fridays.
Laduma, which uses cutting edge tech like VR, AR and MR to create stunning, premier content for some of the world’s top brands, makes certain its offices around the world close for business at 1230pm every Friday.
Not only that, they give staff the entire last Friday of the month off!
But there is a deliberate strategy behind this idea. Bosses at Laduma hope the innovative policy will go some way to ensuring all colleagues will be able to find a better balance between work and life.
Wayne Scholes, Laduma's executive chairman, explained his thinking behind what Laduma calls 'Fri-Yay.'
“It’s extremely important to me that the people who work for Laduma are happy and enjoy the work they do,” he said. “Our people are at the core of what we do, we want to create an environment where they feel protected from the pressures of balancing the work they do, with their time away from work.”
The issue of work-life balance is a key topic of discussion among occupational psychologists and mental health professionals, with latest studies showing that work-related stress increases as people work longer hours. A recent report by You Gov indicates one in five (21%) 25-34s in the UK feel they are failing to find that elusive work/life balance.
Scholes went on to say: “It makes perfect sense that we look after our staff and ensure they feel supported. Fri-Yay is just one of a number of policies we have in place to achieve that.
"In return, we see productivity is increasing, and, as a result, revenue is on the rise.”
What do Employees of Laduma use the extra time off for? They do anything from spending time with family, catching up on household chores or even taking part in hobbies. The company shares images of their staff enjoying time off and spending time with loved ones to encourage others to truly switch off.
And Scholes believes other companies can only benefit if they follow Laduma’s lead on Fri-Yay. “It’s important for any organisation to ensure they appreciate that employees may have young children, or other responsibilities outside of work,” he said.
“A little flexibility can go a long way. An extra half day could mean the difference between someone coming into work tired and stressed or rested and motivated. Fri-Yay means our team can have that time, switch off and we lose less people on sick days, for medical appointments and that we have a team that feels ready to pull together and get the job done.”
Laduma is an award-winning consultancy that uses innovative tech to do some very cool things. They create award-winning virtual, augmented and mixed reality experiences and events that their clients and their customers never, ever forget.
With offices in the UK, US and South Africa, Laduma delivers creative concepts, content, software and events that help their clients become the heroes.
To learn more about what Laduma can do for you please check them out at:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/laduma
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LadumaHQ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Laduma
You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/ladumahq
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LadumaHQ/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/110618015330960627780
