Life at Spinutech - Half Day Fridays

Published by Spinutech on June 28, 2016

I’m not going to lie to you and say we have the best job in the world. Let’s be honest, the ice cream taste tester at Blue Bunny probably has that one covered. But ours has got to be up there on the list.

There are lots of reasons why we love being on the Spinutech team. Catered team luncheons, scavenger hunts, egg toss tournaments, and the bottomless snack pantry are some of our favorites to name a few. You can see that there’s a common theme between these – having fun. Now that it’s summer, we have another favorite to add to the list: Half-day Fridays.

Half-day Fridays are exactly what they sound like; working half the day on Friday but for a full day’s pay. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, we put everyone on one of two teams. Then, every other Friday one of those teams gets to leave at noon. Most years this equates to roughly an additional 3.5 days of vacation. Pretty awesome, right?

Obviously, if there is an impending deadline we have to make a few adjustments. But throughout the year we all work hard and often put in a few extra hours here and there to get the job done. There are no guidelines or rules for what we have to do with that free time. Some start their weekend vacations early, others spend time with kids or family members, and some, like me, take an epic afternoon nap.

I know what you’re thinking, that’s lost time. Less time to finish projects and get work done during the week. For most workplaces, Fridays are already tough for people’s motivation. Employees have their minds on the weekend and procrastination seems to build as the day goes on, especially in the summer. Half-day Fridays eliminate that slump. It’s an investment in each team member, and it shows in the work we do. In fact, since starting the half-days in 2008, we’ve seen equal levels of productivity, despite being in the office for less time. 

“For other businesses hoping to spark some life in their employees, it might be worth a look,” says Jim Offner of the Waterloo Courier in an interview with Marc on the half-day Friday perk. 

That’s just the magic behind it. The half-day boosts morale and encourages team members to get work done before heading into PTO. Having a good work/life balance is important to us and we feel it's good for overall productivity and creativity.

See what I mean? Our job has got to be pretty high on the “Best Jobs in the World” list. It’s just another reason why we love what we do. We’d highly recommend it to others, too. So go ahead, forward this post to your boss and cross your fingers!