Good practice: Modern working time models

The company PLANTAG® Coatings in Detmold has developed a new working time model that gives parents in particular more flexibility. PLANTAG® has 140 employees on site and a total of 240 employees worldwide work for the paint manufacturer from Lippe - in the laboratory, production or administration. Head of HR Jörg Pohlmann explains what the new regulations are all about.

Can you tell us something about the background to your commitment?

The PLANTAG® Group and I have been interested in the topic of "family-friendly working environments" for a long time. For example, we have been a member of FABEL-Service, which is committed to reconciling family and career in the Lippe region. This also brought us into contact with Väter gGmbH, in whose project "Your success has many fathers!" we participated - for a personnel policy that also appeals to fathers.

That sounds like an innovative approach. How did your employees react to it?

For me personally, the approach was exciting from the outset, but we first researched within the company to see whether colleagues were also interested in the topic. The response was unanimously positive, so we held workshops led by Volker Baisch from Väter gGmbH to think together about how and for whom working hours could be changed.

What came out of the workshops?

For our employees in administration and the laboratory, there is now a new working time model with flexitime and flexible arrangements that are particularly suitable for parents with children and are used by mothers and fathers. If necessary, parents can make family appointments without using vacation days. However, it has also become clear that the idea of flexibilization does not suit everyone. This was an important insight that we gained in the workshops.

Flexibilization is generally considered almost standard when it comes to family-friendly working hours. What is different for you?

It's important to know that we have a very good "after-work culture" in the company. If you come onto the company premises at 5:15 pm, there's hardly anyone left. This is an important insight that we have worked out together: It is important to many of our employees to know when their working day ends. This also applies in particular to production, which mostly works in one-shift operation and for which the flexible model cannot apply for operational reasons. Incidentally, most of our younger fathers work here. However, when overtime does occur, they prefer to be paid for the extra work.

In other words, you can't (yet) see the much-vaunted change in mentality in the younger generation of fathers in your company?

However, we are also seeing that priorities have changed. One example: 20 years ago, a new sales representative was primarily interested in the horsepower of his company car and the size of his travel area. Today, there is more of a desire for a family-friendly car and the need to stay at home rather than in a hotel as often as possible.

What conclusions have you drawn from the process of flexibilizing working hours?

It is very important to involve the employees, as this is the only way a company can find out what the actual needs are. There is no one solution that fits all. Working time requests must be continuously reviewed and the regulations adapted if necessary. As a smaller company, this is relatively easy for us because we don't have overly rigid structures and can sometimes act unconventionally. Overall, it was a rewarding process in which the employees participated across departments and on an equal footing and which had a positive effect on their motivation. And we are now focusing more on our family-friendly corporate culture - as an important aspect of attracting and retaining skilled workers.