| 63 Prestige Roofing CONTRACTING Productivity on rise from nine-day fortnight Prestige Roofing now employs gardener/chef , who has planted a full veggie garden at its Matamata site. Kelly Deeks Matamata’s Prestige Roofing has quickly adapted to post-Covid workplace strategies and is leading the charge in the trade industry with its introduction of a nine-day fortnight, or as company founder Eifion (Avy) Roberts calls it, the 5/4/3 workweek. “Work five days and have two days off, then work four days and have three days off,” he says. “If you can get in here and get productive, you can have a paid day off every second week and live a pretty good life.” Avy’s decision comes off the back of some pretty serious post-Covid burnout that was impacting his whole workforce. He was tired, his team was tired, and a lack of productivity was the result. “There aren’t enough tradespeople around, people are being poached or what we now call in the industry ‘approached’, and the only way to compete with that is money. I thought I would see if I could trade productivity for time off. If the guys can be 10% more productive for nine days then we’re on to a winner.” Fridays are well known to be the least productive day of the workweek, so the loss of that day’s work is less for Prestige Roofing to bear. The management team alternate their Fridays off with the tradespeople, giving them a full day every fortnight to really get things done with no one else on the floor. Likewise on the trades’ Friday on, the foreman is in charge and all they have to focus on is getting the job done. Avy says this ‘experiment’ is three months in the making and is working well, with the team well rested, productivity on the rise, and everyone looking forward to their paid day off. But he has already taken another step forward on the path to improved productivity. Prestige Roofing now employs gardener/ chef Mason, who has planted a full veggie garden at its Matamata site so that Avy can feed his team. “People can’t be truly productive unless they’re getting the right foods into them. Our tradies drink two energy drinks a day and eat pies, and if they are productive on that, imagine what they’ll be like with good food inside them.” Avy calculated a cost to Prestige Roofing of up to $1800 a week on bakery trips, and figured he could save that amount and improve productivity, as well as nutrition levels and even brain function amongst his team. “Once the garden starts growing, he will bring in a portable kitchen where Mason will prepare lunch for the team each day. “Pick up your lunch, pick up your bottle of water, and shoot off to site and get it done.” Mason knows he is going to be dealing with some potentially unsophisticated tastebuds and is planning his menu accordingly. Avy is slightly nervous and hoping the guys aren’t going to throw all their veg out the window on the way to the job site. “Like anything new, someone has to be the guinea pig. If it works, we’re on to a winner.” Corporate roofing companies have caught wind of Prestige Roofing’s initiative and have contacted Avy to find out how to achieve the same in their own businesses. Avy says he is taking it back to that simple business value of ‘looking after your people’. “These guys are being very productive. They are well-rested, well-fed, and well-paid. They are feeling better, and looking forward to their day off.” “If you can get in here and get productive, you can have a paid day off every second week and live a pretty good life.”
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