The importance of motivated and satisfied flex workers

The past year has been a major challenge in finding enough labour for many companies' seasonal peak and holiday seasons. For Snijpunt as well. The extreme and prolonged warm weather caused a huge peak in production. Particularly because our customers needed more semi-finished products to keep up with their own demands. We have done our utmost to help everyone and provide them with the right quality products.

We, and many colleagues in the industry with us, anticipate that this problem will only get bigger. Precisely for that reason, we already started with the creation of a flexible team for the summer of 2019.

The challenge lies not only in being able to find people but also in the quality of those people. It is therefore increasingly important that we ensure that our flex workers are and remain satisfied and motivated.

Flex workers as full team members

We like to see our flex workers enjoying themselves, and that they would like to come and work with us next time again. To achieve this, the flex worker is seen as a full team member. This starts for every new flex worker with a comprehensive welcome on the first working day. This includes a guided tour, a clear explanation of the training procedure, and the possibilities within the company. The canteen and workshop will be improved in the coming period and we will no longer make any distinctions between permanent employees and flex workers. From now on, we offer flex workers the same opportunity to take specific training courses as permanent employees.

To recruit new flex workers, we produce various profiling, which ensures that the flex worker really opts for our company. We also include several promises in this. For example, we make it possible for flex workers to take time off during the Christmas period to spend holidays with their families. Together with suitable candidates, we’ll look at training needs and focus on further plans. We even think about paying the costs of the journey from their native country to the Netherlands for successful candidates who work 3 months productively for Snijpunt.

It is only possible with the right partners

All this can only be achieved in cooperation with the right temporary employment companies as partners. Together with them, we want to fulfil these promises for our employees. To make sure the team is ready at the start of the peak, the flexible base team will be created by rotation prior to the peak period. Precisely during this peak period, we must keep the employees involved in our work. Close cooperation with our partners is crucial in this!

To get it done and find out what things really work to form a successful flex team, we are going to investigate, test and refine. Early next year we will come back to you to share what has and hasn't worked and how we will go into the summer.

To be continued…