With the Flexpool working time model, employees can largely determine their own working hours. It is therefore a flexible working time system that strongly incorporates employees’ wishes into the work schedule. It is already widely used in the care sector, but other industries should also take a look at the Flexpool model.
Self-determined working hours with Flexpool
The shortage of skilled workers has many causes. One of these is the inflexible working hours that prevail in many companies. Employees are not just looking for a job, but for a job that allows them to plan their free time as concretely as possible.
This is why flexible working time models such as flexitime are on the rise. The Flexpool model, among others, is currently gaining ground in the care sector. Shift work in the industry puts many employees off and also makes for a very inflexible working week. Most foster homes are severely understaffed. Flexpool makes the jobs more attractive and also interesting for employees who would otherwise not be able to do the job due to a lack of time. Flexpool is particularly interesting for families with more than one earner because there is plenty of scope for organizing private tasks.
Flexpool allows you to work largely independently. The employees indicate when they are available. The duty roster is then created based on this information.
For example, if a mother states that she can work between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. during the week and is available on two Saturdays a month, this is taken into account for the work schedule. Another employee without children may say that he prefers to work from 1 p.m. and then until 8 p.m.. This can be supplemented well and a roster can be created with all the information that satisfies everyone as far as possible.
Flexpool requires flexibility from employees
Flexpool also requires flexibility from employees. By creating a roster based on numerous details, employees are constantly working together with other employees and in other teams.
As an employer, it is easy to fill gaps in the roster. However, employees must be prepared to work with many different colleagues, as they are deployed wherever there is the greatest need.
Of course, certain compromises also have to be made. If ten employees indicate that they would like to work between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., they can hardly all be there at the same time. This leads to understaffing at other times. Working hours are therefore not completely self-determined in the flexpool, but the employer should take the best possible care to consider the wishes of its employees when drawing up the roster.
Discussions can be sought in order to find compromises with which all employees agree. For example, if three employees have indicated that they would like to work between noon and 6 p.m., but there is only room for two employees, a solution can certainly be found. For example, by allowing each employee to work two days a week during their preferred working hours. Everyone also takes over a Saturday so that everyone works on the same days.
For employees who are tied to certain times, it can be a little more difficult to use the flex pool. But the mother who has to take her child to school every morning can perhaps take the Saturday shift.
Creating the duty roster in the flex pool is more work than defining the normal shift work. On the other hand, the number of absences due to illness is falling and employee satisfaction is rising. The company becomes more attractive to applicants and enhances its reputation.
So everyone benefits. Employers and employees.
Conclusion
Flexpool is a working time model that allows employees to work their preferred working hours wherever possible. This increases employee satisfaction and enables many employees to enter professions that they were previously unable to pursue due to fixed working hours.
