To attract and retain staff, a Trois-Rivières company will pay its employees five and a half hours each week to take time for them, while keeping the same salary.
Working 32 hours a week while being paid for 37.5 hours is what Diffusion Solutions Intégitées (DSI) employees will be able to benefit from as of January 2022.
At a time when the labor shortage is hitting all sectors, the information technology company wants to focus on the well-being of its team.
“We realize that we can always try to increase salaries, give more money, but one thing that we cannot buy with that is time. This is what we offer to everyone, ”explains Chairman and CEO Louis-Philippe Poulin.
A few weeks before the start of the pilot project, the workers are rejoicing. Many will take advantage of this time to rest, to resume activities left aside due to work or to discover new passions.
“The drawing, the writing. I am very involved in the arts, so I would like to get into these things, ”says the company’s project manager, Frédéric Beaudoin.
Work reorganization
There are challenges in cutting a full day’s work each week. The biggest thing is to optimize the work to complete the tasks in less time.
Meetings will need to be rethought, shortened when possible, and very disciplined. “We mainly targeted days in the middle of the week when people have to be there. It forces us to say: do we really need an hour for this meeting, ”reveals an associate at DSI, Sébastien Labrie.
On the other hand, Mr. Poulin warns that it is important to remain available for customers, even on Friday afternoon.
Employees can report to the office or continue to work from home. A flexibility that appeals to many. For the company, it also facilitates recruitment from outside the region.
The pilot project will be tested for six months from January 3, 2022. If the method is functional, it will become the team’s new daily life. For the company, this is an investment of nearly $ 250,000 for the well-being of the employees.
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