TIO Markets

There are lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on corporate culture, and Cyprus is no exception. With both private and governmental entities announcing formalised working-from-home policies as well as hybrid office-home solutions, those who are privileged enough to be able to complete their workload outside of their offices are finally getting the chance to do so. Meanwhile, other management teams are entirely evaluating staff efficiency and motivation levels both inside and outside the office. TIOmarkets, for instance, has made an industry-first announcement that it will offer the 4-day working week to all of its full-time employees.

What’s the catch?

No catch. Our employees will start to benefit from a four-day working week from September 2021 onwards, with no reduction in wage, annual leave or pension funds. By giving so many days back to our team, we believe that we can be a positive case study for greater productivity, increased performance, as well as improved professional care that is given to the company’s clientele. At the time of writing this article, we know of no other company in Cyprus who have trialled the shorter working week.

Why not choose another way to motivate staff?

There is no shortage of successful case studies in Northern Europe and elsewhere of companies who have trialled the shorter working week. A motivated staff-base is what enables our company to grow. And whilst it may seem counter-intuitive, actually by motivating our team and by helping to encourage a healthy work-life balance, we believe that the benefits will ultimately feed into our overall company performance and trajectory.

How will you manage the business when the industry will be open for an extra day?

In the short term, Our Senior management have been hiring additional resources and adopting the technology needed over the past 2 months without letting the cat out of the bag before the big announcement. To ensure that there is no slow-down in productivity or deliverables at company level our management are

more than happy to invest in additional resources and to increase payroll to make this work. We already operate a 24/5 customer support service from 3 different time-zones which will not be impacted and which are more than adequately staffed, on rotation.

Many big tech companies and even countries are considering implementing a 4-day work week, but hardly any brokerage companies have come out with such plans. Why? And do you think TIOmarkets is kick-starting a trend?

It’s a little difficult to say whether we are setting a trend. The industry in Cyprus is very competitive in attracting experienced employees especially as the demand is so great however we aren’t looking to compete with the current trends or create new ones. We just wish to create our own identity and give back to our own employees for their sacrifices. People only see the tip of the iceberg and not the 6 & 7 day weeks many of our loyal employees gave to get us where we are now.

Great companies are made of great people

We feel that this is absolutely the best way to say thank you to our skilled long standing team, many of whom have been with us since inception and who all made their own personal sacrifices as well as put their faith in the company, its leadership and its direction. We want our employees to enjoy their lives outside the company just as much as their time working in the company and we believe the most efficient and effective employees are those who love where they work rather than work for the highest bidder.