Habanero introduces rest and flow Fridays

This summer, we’re conducting an experiment called “rest and flow Fridays.” Beginning May 28, half of Habanero employees will have Friday off to rest; the following Friday, they’ll enjoy a flow day – a quiet day with no meetings and more focus time. The other half of our company will have the opposite rest and flow Fridays, which will ensure that we’ll still be providing great service when you expect and need us.

Why we’re doing this

We've been having a lot of conversations with organizations about the challenges they are experiencing, and we know burnout is at the top of everyone’s list. With the stress in our day-to-day lives, blurred boundaries between work and rest and the mental and physiological effects of digital-mediated interactions, many are struggling. And the truth is we’re feeling it too. We recently discovered that over half our company was showing signs of being at risk for burnout. We also heard from our team that the deluge of meetings made it challenging to focus on work.

A co-created solution

Many organizations reduce their hours in the summer or are experimenting with “no meeting” days. We brought the Habanero team together in a mini-hackathon to determine what would be the best approach for Habanero. A lot of great ideas were created, but the clear priority was to create more space for rest and flow across the organization.

Test and learn

We’re excited to try this experiment to see if we can improve the health of our employees, while also improving our productivity. Research shows that focus and flow are key ingredients for creative design and problem solving – exactly what we thrive on, and what our clients have come to expect from us.

So we’ll be moving a few things around (including Friday meetings) to accommodate our experiment and we’ll be sharing our findings to support other organizations who are seeking innovative solutions to their employee experience challenges. We’re all in this together.

If you’d like to learn more about burnout and our rest and flow experiment, read our post on evolving our beliefs about productivity and creativity in response to burnout.