SEOMG! talk everything four day week

Founded in 2020 (of all years) by Dan Adam and Luke Smith, the goal of SEOMG! was simple: to utilise a background spent working in the SEO departments at leading digital agencies, combined with in-house and consultancy experience, to provide a better service for clients.

Since then, SEOMG! have experienced rapid growth – working with a diverse range of clients and winning ‘Best Small SEO Agency’ in the 2021 UK Search Awards. One of the things that made this possible is their four-day work week, affording the team flexible working hours and allowing for a working culture of mutual respect and communication. We spoke to Dan and Luke to find out everything four-day-week.

1. You’ve always been a four day week company since your inception in 2020. This was quite early in the four day week ‘movement’. How come you decided to go for it?

Having worked in different agencies for a long time, and seen how staff often get burned out with multiple workstreams going on, we wanted to do something to alleviate that.

A few years back, one of our co-founders picked up a copy of Idler — a magazine with its core message focused on promoting better work-life balance. There was an article that quoted studies where workers were happier and more productive as a result of working 4 days a week.

SEOMG! initially started out just as the two co-founders and early on we made a conscious decision to set our capacity to 4 days — and we quickly saw the positive impact it had on our personal lives. We felt more productive than we’d ever been, and the company was growing at a good pace, so it felt like a no-brainer to hire our staff on the same basis.

2. Would you say being a four day week company has allowed SEOMG! to be a more economic/greener company?

Absolutely. Many of our staff take the bus into work so the shorter weeks make for 20% less carbonised journeys. Not to mention our reduced energy usage too – again, 20% less. 

3. What are the main benefits of a four day week to your staff?

“Happier. Better for the environment — especially with my gas guzzling car. More time to spend with family as well as get admin done.”

“More time to rest. A day to get chores out of the way so that the weekend is actually free for fun and quality time with loved ones. Also, it’s nice to have a day to dedicate to other things like doing a course. etc. Stuff you really don’t want to do on the weekend you know?”

“It helps you focus better knowing that you have that extra rest: you feel as if you have earned it! It’s great for me personally to get out and do big bike rides in the summer months, head over to see my Mum or just to get some life admin done.”

4. And similarly, what makes a four day week worthwhile for your company as a whole?

Overall, we can see that the team are refreshed when they come into work in the morning. Staff happiness is the main benefit, but this comes with better productivity, and great work for our clients.

5. Do you think SEOMG! is more productive and profitable as a result of working a four day week?

ln a word, yes. Our experience from previous agencies was that staff were susceptible to being overworked and burning out, and that there would be a mad rush to get work finished on time — often to the detriment of quality!

A five day week can sometimes give you complacency that there’s more time in the week than there actually is, whereas working for four days focuses the mind on the tasks at hand.

6. You mention that your business is ‘always on’. Can you explain how this works for you, as one concern we’ve noticed from companies is the potential loss of business on ‘off’ days.

When we say ‘always on’ we mean there’s always staff resource available for each day of the working week. This is due to the fact that everybody has a different day off, which ensures that we always have staff available to clients Monday to Friday.

7. What would you say to any other bosses, CEOs, MD’s that are considering trialling a four day week for their staff?

Do it! Since the pandemic, people have really started to question what’s most important to them. That means a job that they are happy in, that they feel productive doing, and that gives them the time to do their own thing as well. With a 4-day week, your staff will stay with you for longer, and you’ll lose less time to sick days — it’s a win-win all round.

8. Do you do anything specific with your extra day off?

We spend time with family and friends, find more time for our hobbies, catch up on chores, and go for bike rides and country walks!

We’re always more than happy to talk about our experiences as a four-day work week company, so feel free to get in touch if you’d like to get to know us and what we do a little better. Head over to our website for more information. You can also connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

For other great 4 day week guest blogs, check out our blog page, here.