Companies across the U.S. strive to find the right work model for their employees. Some organizations have landed on a four-day workweek, hybrid work or fully remote work as employees seek flexible work schedules. At least one has found success with another approach: A 4.5-day workweek.
The finding comes from Insigniam, a management consulting firm that participated in Fortune's annual Most Powerful Women Summit earlier this month.
Insigniam's 4.5-day workweek consists of employees working in the office the first three days of the workweek and working from home Thursday and Friday. On Friday, the workday ends at 12:30 p.m.
It's an approach the firm instituted after an experiment where one group of employees worked fully remotely, one had a hybrid schedule and one worked a four-day workweek, Shideh Sedgh Bina, a founding partner at Insigniam, said, according to Fortune.
"The people on the four-day work week said, 'The amount of stress that has been taken off from me [comes from] having that Friday [off],'" Ms. Bina told the publication's Ellie Austin during a panel at the summit.
Overall, many Americans are supportive of a four-day workweek, according to an Aug. 23 survey from Bankrate. Eighty-nine percent of the full-time workforce in the survey support a four-day workweek.
Based on employee feedback, Insigniam instituted a four-day workweek. However, the firm's clients still had five-day workweeks, the firm told Fortune. That resulted in a 4.5-day workweek, where Insigniam employees end their workday at 12:30 p.m. Friday, if they don't have pressing client responsibilities. Ms. Bina told Fortune that employees don't have the full day off, but they have still reported satisfaction with the half day off.