What’s Your Take on a 5-Hour Workday Strategy?

Hey HR Pros!

In an era where burnout is real and expectations around work are shifting fast, two very different organizations—a tech finance firm and a global banking giant—are redefining what it means to support employees.

One slashed the workday to five hours without losing momentum. The other built a benefits strategy around tens of thousands of employee comments—launching programs like sabbaticals that are changing lives.

Here’s how bold HR thinking is driving real results—and what your team can learn from it.

Upcoming In This Issue:

• 🧠 New Report | HR Leaders Say They’re Ready for Change—But Is Everyone Else?

• Latest in AI | The Pros and Cons In The Rise of AI Agents

• ⏳ Case Study | 10 Years Later, This Company’s 5-Hour Workday Is Still Going Strong

• 📑 Kate Phillips, Global Head of Benefits | How Bank of America Designs Benefits 200,000 Employees Actually Want

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 📰 Latest in HR News

• TD to require execs in office 4 days a week in October

• Government’s H.R. Arm Shedding a Third of Staff

• Rise of AI deepfakes and fraudulent candidates are changing how TA recruits

• 3 sticky AI situations that will soon crop up at work, per an attorney

🧠 New Report | HR Leaders Say They’re Ready for Change—But Is Everyone Else?

From AI disrupting roles to shifting employee expectations, HR is now at the center of every major business changes. The challenge now is whether organizations are equipped to lead it with clarity, resilience, and trust.

The latest research by The Conference Board reveals what’s really holding companies back, and how HR leaders can close the gap between optimism and execution.

Key Data Points

• 73% of HR leaders and 60% of workers feel confident in their ability to manage future change.

• Only 23% of transformation projects succeed, underscoring the need for proactive change strategies.

• 2 in 5 CEOs say they would rather quit than lead a major workforce transformation due to fatigue.

• 170 HR leaders and 538 workers report that resistance, fear of loss, and burnout are the top reasons change fails.

• Nearly half of HR leaders and workers say employee engagement during past change efforts was lacking.

🤖 Latest in AI | The Pros and Cons In The Rise of AI Agents

From finance teams handling seasonal spikes to HR leaders evaluating talent, AI agents are designed to not only perform tasks but also understand the processes behind them.

But as with any emerging technology, the potential of AI agents comes with both promise and pitfalls, according to Orby’s co-founder Will Lu.

Pros and Cons of AI Agents (According to Orby’s Founder)

Read the full article

😄 Comic Relief (HR Edition)

⏳ Case Study | 10 Years Later, This Company’s 5-Hour Workday Is Still Going Strong

read the full 868-word article here

Challenge: In 2016, Blue Street Capital was reeling—revenue was dropping, key employees were quitting, and the CEO was burning out. Traditional logic said hustle harder. Instead, Rhoads wondered: What if less time at work could actually mean better work?

Solution: The company introduced a 5 hour workday without cutting pay. The experiment aimed to eliminate wasted time, increase focus, and boost team well-being—without sacrificing results.

Strategy & Implementation

• Reduced workday to 5 hours while maintaining full pay to test impact on productivity and morale

• Let go of poor-fit employees, including both disengaged staff and overworkers misaligned with the new structure

• Invested in tech tools to streamline workflows and remove low-value, repetitive tasks

• Focused on culture resets, including reading books like Deep Work and Shorter to retrain thinking on time and productivity

• Allowed schedule flexibility, especially for sales teams handling inbound requests and end-of-month pushes

Results

• Revenue per employee rose 50%, driven by better focus and time use

• Overall company revenue grew 150% over the 10-year period

• Recruiting improved, especially among working parents drawn to the humane hours

• Burnout decreased across the board, with more time for family, passion projects, and health

The five-hour workday didn’t just stick, it flourished. Blue Street Capital proved that what looks like a radical reduction can actually be a radical optimization. Subtracting hours uncovered focus, drive, and joy. And it might just be the future of work.

📑 Kate Phillips, Global Head of Benefits | How Bank of America Designs Benefits 200,000 Employees Actually Want

Understanding what employees actually want is a listening strategy. And at Bank of America, that strategy is built into the infrastructure.

From large-scale feedback loops to hyper-personalized experiences, the bank’s approach to benefits design is less about trends and more about long-term trust. Here’s how their global head of benefits, Kate Phillips, is shaping total rewards for over 200,000 employees—and what HR teams can take away from it.

Lessons from an HR Pro

• 🧭 Don’t design in a vacuum—listen at scale
  Phillips builds strategy from 40,000+ employee survey comments, proving real feedback is more valuable than trend reports.

• 🏖️ Celebrate tenure with time, not just trophies
  The sabbatical program (4–6 weeks off after 15 years) turned into a beloved benefit—and a powerful retention tool.

• 🛠️ Personalization isn’t optional anymore
  Employees expect consumer-like UX from their benefits—relevance, simplicity, and style all matter more than ever.

• 🤝 HR belongs at the strategy table, not on the sidelines
  Phillips emphasizes being embedded across teams to keep benefits aligned with both culture and business priorities.

read the full 751-word article here