Flexible work models: for satisfied employees and a strong employer brand

Flexible work models have become a basic requirement for many employees. We show you which models are available and how the introduction of the various options can be a win-win situation for employees and employers.

According to the AXA SME Labor Market Study , part-time and more flexible working arrangements are the most common measures SMEs take to address the shortage of skilled workers. An AXA survey of around 1,000 employees in Switzerland confirms that it’s a wise choice: From the employee’s point of view, flexible work models are among the top five factors that make a company attractive.

Flexible work models at a glance

When we talk about flexible work models, we mainly refer to the following three “modern” models.

Part-time and job sharing

Probably the best-known form of flexible work is when employees work part-time rather than full-time: usually between 20 and 80 percent of a full-time job. Either there’s less work to do at the job in question on an hourly basis, or the company offers what’s known as job sharing. In this sub-form, two persons share a position, for example in a ratio of 50:50 or 60:40.

In practice, part-time and job-sharing models are often combined with a flextime model.

Flextime

Flextime is when employees do not have a fixed number of hours to work per day. Instead, they can decide how they want to distribute their working hours over the week or even the month. 

Whether or not there are fixed core working hours that must be adhered to depends on the operational requirements and the employer’s decision.

Another version of the flextime model is annual working hours: The number of hours that must be worked are not reviewed weekly or monthly, but only have to be completed by the end of the year. This form is particularly popular in industries with project-related work or strong seasonal fluctuations.

In addition to the annual working hours model, some companies also offer their employees the option of accruing their work hours. Employees accumulate their overtime and unused vacation days over a longer period and use them in a bundle, e.g. for a sabbatical or early retirement. 

The flexible work model also offers a “trust-based working hours” version: Employees themselves are responsible for making sure that they keep up with their hours (making up for too fews hours, using up overtime) and recording them correctly. Depending on the situation, recording hours may not even be necessary. However, this is only possible under certain legal conditions.

Four-day week

A special New Work model that is on everyone’s lips is the four-day week. There are an increasing number of pilot projects in Germany and abroad – in some cases with quite different results and assessments.

To evaluate it for your own company, it helps to look at the different explanations in terms of number of hours per week, salary and number of persons per position. Here’s a quick explanation: Depending on the variant, the four-day week can mean something completely different: One company spreads the same number of hours over four rather than five days a week. Another also reduces the number of hours to be worked. And a third company splits a job between two people, so that each one only works four days a week. 

We have put together an overview of the various options for the four-day week for you:

Greater attractiveness as an employer with flexible work models

Flexible work models are an important factor when it comes to employer attractiveness. Our expert Tanja Altenburger explains why this is so and what matters when designing work models. She is Head of Employer Attractiveness at AXA.

Consideration and flexibility: targeted motivation for moms and dads

“Create a family-friendly environment and communicate this to the outside world,” advises Tanja Altenburger. For example, do not schedule larger or regular meetings before 8:30 a.m. or after 5 p.m. and respect the indicated contact times. “Our family-friendly meeting times have met with a very positive response from AXA employees,” says the employer attractiveness expert. 

Many parents also appreciate being able to organize their working day flexibly. By letting parents work early in the morning or in the evening, flexible hours help them be on time for drop-off and pick-up times for daycares and schools, for example.

But family-friendliness in the company starts before that: when you return to work after the birth of a child. By offering new parents the opportunity to go back to work on a reduced schedule, you secure important potential that might otherwise remain untapped. A (temporary) reduction in the workload for a day off for mom or dad is also highly attractive. 

Good news for you, because that means: If you take care of your employees with children, you not only keep valuable employees in the company, but also actively position yourself as an attractive employer.

Part-time and career: Promote talents and offer perspectives

Find out what drives your employees and how they want to develop. If you target support and training and promotion programs for part-time employees as well, you are more likely to actually promote the right person.

Job sharing can be a good way to deploy part-time employees in line with their competencies – while still offering them the flexibility they want in terms of working hours.

Not only do you benefit from motivated, satisfied and therefore usually more productive employees, but you also have one more favorable advantage for you as an employer.

An AXA survey has shown that many employees rely on their personal network when looking for a new job. That’s why Tanja Altenburger offers this tip: “Involve your employees and give them the opportunity to tell people about themselves and their day-to-day work, for example on social media. Satisfied employees are the best ambassadors for your employer brand.”

Part-time work and pension fund: Identify and exploit potential

Under the Swiss social insurance system, changes in salary usually have far-reaching consequences for substitute income in old age. In particular, employees should be familiar with the impact of part-time working on their pension in order to avoid major pension gaps in good time.

“More and more employees, including younger employees and women, are looking at part-time pensions and are actively looking for solutions,” reports Tanja Altenburger, AXA’s expert on employer attractiveness.

This offers you as an employer the opportunity to position yourself with the help of an attractive OPA solution. This is because you have a direct influence on the design of your employees’ pension fund solution – even if you don’t have your own occupational benefits institution.

They can thus provide better protection for part-time employees than required by law, for example by removing the entry threshold and coordination deduction, or by adapting them to the level of part-time employment. 

Tip: If you provide your employees with more extensive offers in the area of OPA, you should actively communicate this both internally and externally. This way you can use your full potential in terms of employer attractiveness.

What’s important for day-to-day work at SMEs when it comes to flexible work models

Modern work models are not just for large companies. With small and large measures, SMEs can also make a big difference in the battle for labor. The following practical example shows what matters.

Listen and take action

Philipp Albrecht, hotel director of the Park Hotel Winterthur, has been thinking about a four-day week since his apprenticeship at the hotel management school 15 years ago. The topic was put on the table in the summer of 2021. “The second winter after COVID, we started recruiting new staff too late. And couldn’t find any suitable employees due to the shortage of skilled workers in the restaurant industry.”

As the guests returned in droves at the same time, the kitchen staff in particular became overworked and dissatisfied. In particular, the four-hour afternoon break was a major problem. “In a city hotel where the staff sometimes travel long distances to work, the afternoon break is down time that many people couldn’t make work for them,” says Albrecht. Something had to change urgently.

Together with the hotel’s chef and HR manager, Philipp Albrecht developed a concept that was primarily aimed at better allocating the kitchen crew’s resources and thus making them more efficient. The idea arose to work only for four days, but for two hours longer and to get rid of the afternoon break. The time gained in the afternoon is used to prepare the evening service and the next morning.

The crew of the Park Hotel tested the practicality of the four-day week for two months in a pilot trial, after which fine-tuning was carried out. “We quickly realized that the model didn’t work everywhere – for example, the concept wasn’t practical for the dishwashing service,” says Albrecht.

Employee feedback was good. “We have so far benefited greatly from the change in our work model – our employees are happier, our processes are more efficient, and we can position ourselves as an attractive employer in the market,” sums up the hotel director.

Plan, communicate and compromise

Holistic planning and a transparent culture of communication are fundamental building blocks when introducing new work models, explains Johann Weichbrodt, organizational psychologist at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland: 

“The art is to reconcile a company’s business objectives with the needs of its employees. They need to think carefully about which processes are efficient and which ones can be adapted or abolished. Discuss closely with your employees during the planning phase, test the concept for a few months and check things out together to see what works and what doesn’t.”

Especially in companies where the tasks vary greatly depending on the area, it is necessary to think carefully about how to align the work model with the different needs of the individual teams, the expert explains.