Flexible workforce
The term flexible workforce stands for a human resource concept, according to which individual workers take on various tasks and functions in one or more companies . This should create advantages for employers and employees : Companies become more agile through the flexible use of workers, the employees receive new freedoms through the flexibility and can adapt their work to their lifestyle.
The Swiss software and service company Coople coined the term in German-speaking countries and enables various forms of flexible collaboration with its online marketplace.
Types of flexibility
The term flexibilization can be applied on both a macro and a micro level. Governments act at the macro level, adapting the labor market to the requirements of a changing economy with appropriate programs and legal regulations. On the micro level, companies operate that adapt employment models to their own flexibility interests. A distinction is made between the following dimensions of flexibility.
| dimension | description | example |
|---|---|---|
| Numerically | Varying the number of employees according to the needs of the employer | Fixed-term employment contracts , temporary work |
| Functional | More efficient allocation of work through optimized use of personnel | Flexibility with regard to roles, tasks and functions of employees |
| Temporally | Better match between service or production times and the deployment of employees | Overtime , shift work |
| Spatially | All forms of work outside of the normal workplace | Home office |
| Financially | Adjustment of wage costs and benefits to the economic situation and business success | Profit sharing , performance wages |
Employment models
According to the flexible workforce concept, companies are dependent on the flexibilization of staff deployment and employment relationships in order to be able to cope with the increasing competitive pressure in the course of globalization. According to the model, the following groups of employees are distinguished:
- Core team
The core team includes the management team and specialists who contribute to safeguarding the know-how . These key employees are closely tied to the company and have permanent contracts with mostly fixed working time models and a high level of employment of 80 to 100 percent.
- Internal flex workforce
Internal Flex Workforce employees have a permanent contract of employment. However, they are increasingly using instruments to increase flexibility, which create the possibility of absorbing certain volatilities in the business, for example through an annual working time model or through the creation of a pool of competent persons for cross-organizational assignments.
- Extended Flex Workforce
The Extended Flex Workforce relies on employees who already know the company well but are no longer in a normal or permanent position. This group includes former employees, for example part-time students, mothers and fathers during or after the parental leave or retirees. Obstacles to hiring external resources such as the demanding professional introduction or organizational and cultural familiarity are bypassed with this employee category.
- External Flex Workforce
It is made up of flexible employees such as temporary employees or freelancers, so-called freelancers , who do not have a permanent contract. While temporary employees are so-called staff leasing and the operational company has essential authority to issue instructions, freelancers are self-employed with a contractual relationship based on a service or work contract. This process is increasingly being supported by appropriate online platforms.
advantages
Flexible employment enables rapid adaptation to changed market dynamics and thus increases the agility and competitiveness of companies. Flexible forms of employment can thus help to cope with structural change. On the other hand, flexible employment opportunities correspond to the sociographic development towards individualization and the associated needs of employees to be able to better combine work and other areas of life. In addition, they offer employees who are not so easy to place an opportunity to find their way into the labor market due to the lower hiring hurdles.
Risks
The flexible workforce concept involves various risks. Companies only exploit the potential of the concept if they plan to use flexible employees as part of the overall personnel strategy. If the flexibility is not anchored in the corporate culture , parallel procurement worlds can arise and the discrepancy between the core team and the other flexible employment groups can have a negative effect on the course of business. In addition, the model entails greater effort in coordinating the employee groups.
literature
- Marcel Oertig, Martina Zölch, Viktor Calabrò: Flexible Workforce - Fit for the challenges of the modern working world? Haupt Verlag, Bern 2017, ISBN 978-3-258-07986-8 .
- Peter A. Reilly: European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology . Volume 7, Issue 1. Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames 1998, ISBN 0-566-08259-4 .
Web links
Official website for the book "Flexible Workforce"
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Marcel Oertig, Martina Zölch, Viktor Calabrò: Flexible Workforce - Fit for the challenges of the modern working world? Haupt Verlag, Bern 2017, ISBN 978-3-258-07986-8 , pp. 83 and 289 .
- ^ A b Peter A. Reilly: European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology . Volume 7, Issue 1. Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames 1998, ISBN 0-566-08259-4 , pp. 7th ff .
- ↑ Pirmin Schilliger: How many employees a company really needs. In: Handelszeitung . April 2, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017 .