SYNTEGRO

According to Frank De Weser, the Managing Director of Syntegro: “Companies are now facing an ever-growing demand for increased flexibility, and they realise they must meet this requirement. Especially with the current war for talent and the new generation workforce – who are keen to achieve a healthy work-life balance – flexible working has almost become a must. However, employment legislation is still rather fixed in its ways, so employers cannot just let go of the reins completely.”

Workforce Management: New Hybrid Working

In recent years, circumstances have prompted us to become more aware and more experienced in the various ways of flexible working. In 2020, from one day to the next, we were forced to start working from home, whilst our children were learning remotely around the same table. It became compulsory for employers to allow working from home. All these experiences have speeded up this transition. We are now seeing that this flexible working born out of necessity has turned into a new type of hybrid working. Efficient workforce management plays a crucial role in this process. With the current labour shortages, you can use flexible working as an argument to project yourself as a more attractive employer.

“Especially with the current war for talent and the new generation workforce – who are keen to achieve a healthy work-life balance – flexible working has almost become a must.” Frank De Weser - Managing Director Syntegro

Frank De Weser explains: “COVID-19 has speeded up the way in which we currently organise our work. People are now deciding to work more from home. It has given them more freedom as a result, but it also means that the strict boundaries between one’s work and private life have become blurred.” There is also an ever-growing cohort of free-lancers who work for an organisation, or people who are tied to a particular company on a project basis. They also fall into this bracket, but this does not comply with the employment legislation.

“There are now various tools that support this ‘future working model’. Over the past few years, companies have upped their investment in IT infrastructure. There are now more cloud-based applications, and telecommunications have been adapted to hybrid ways of working. Everyone has become more easily accessible even whilst away from their workstations. The rate of change has accelerated in practice. However, in terms of the legislation, not much has altered, and hybrid working is still in its infancy.

Workforce Management: The Legal Constraints of Flexible Working

During lockdown and the Covid-related restrictions many of the derogations from the employment legislation and the employment rules and regulations have been overlooked. However flexible you as a company aim to be, your model must still fit within a certain framework. “If a care worker needs to rest for a minimum number of hours between two shifts, then this is a strict obligation you will always have to factor in.”

Other agreements in terms of normal working hours and schedules, the maximum number of holidays within a set period, assessing and checking the work performed, the compulsory hours of rest, etc., are subject to change. “A new type of awareness has grown around hybrid working, which will mean that both the employment legislation and the rules and regulations of employment will have to be amended. This will have an impact on workforce management and its ancillary systems.”

Workforce Management: Transforming Your Organisation

Workforce management is in a state of flux. The legislation is still rigid in its approach, whilst there is a growing demand for flexibility. Members of staff always find change difficult to cope with. After all, just when you have got used to a particular set of new rules, you are again asked to adapt to another. And people are always sensitive when it comes to their holidays, their pay and working hours.

“If your company operates a rigid system, this could potentially cause a great deal of extra work and worry. However, Syntegro solutions are perfectly designed to cope with this. Our customers do not experience any inconvenience, because we can amend the underlying rules and regulations to ensure that the system is always kept up-to-date and fully compliant with the latest legislation and agreements.”

Consequently, there is no need to wait for the legislation to be amended to implement a workforce management solution within your organisation. “In a tool, such as that of Syntegro, all the rules and regulations of the organisation are pre-set. If people wish to self-roster or communicate their preferences, this is achieved within the set framework. One person might prefer to work more weekends, whereas another might like to have Wednesdays off. The Syntegro consultants will configure the system in such a way to achieve the happy medium between the needs of the workforce and the need to achieve the guaranteed levels of service. This means that no one can just submit any unlimited number of requirements.”

“Syntegro can amend the underlying rules and regulations, and this ensures that the system is always kept up-to-date and fully compliant with the latest legislation and agreements.” Frank De Weser - Managing Director Syntegro

The Syntegro workforce management system is rolled out by our experienced consultants, who take responsibility right from the point of system analysis to the final testing. “They assist our customers with the roll-out by making the right decisions. This is Syntegro’s forte. By specialising in workforce management solutions, our project consultants are experts in their field, and they have relevant experience within similar companies. As a result, they guide the customer in the roll-out of a perfect system.”

Find out about the Syntegro solutions to organise your workforce management, tailor-made to meet today’s needs and with a view to the future.