SITUATION/PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
Summertime often creates the need for extra assistance in the office so that the company maintains a normal operation of financial administration. Otherwise standard holiday schedules can be threatened or employees staying in the office are forced to work overtime. In order to prevent such situations Danone introduced the system of flexible employment.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION/SOLUTION:
The basic assumption of the program was to find an effective and long-term solution allowing the department of financial administration for the use of holiday time according to the schedule. The objective was to come up with such a solution which will function in that way which will not disturb the standard work system of the department (maintaining the same employment level encumbers employees with overtime work).

The solution consisted in finding, training and employing a group of employees for temporary work on chosen positions. Employees were to be hired for the summertime. The sources of recruitment were local work markets where Danone subsidiaries operated. The company cooperated with the Regional Job Centres, Temporary Work Agency and relied on employees' recommendations.

Now the company falls back on this solution every year during holiday time (April-September). The long-term need to employ temporary workforce is determined in every holiday schedule. The process involves HR department and a respective line manager in charge of the financial administration in a given region of the company's operation. New employees are prepared to new duties during 1-2 day training.Such a solution does not produce additional costs. Not infrequently does the company offer permanent contracts to its temporary employees. Those people quickly adapt in the company, know the procedures, structure, specificity of the sector and the company itself. During past 2 years, 80 people found work in Danone through this system.

BENEFITS:

• This solution brought stability/systematic use of holiday time;
• Does not increase costs;
• Does not encumber steady employees with additional work;
• Creates "a recruitment backup".

CHALLENGES:

• Cooperation with Regional Job Centres;
• Setting precise and clear requirements and preferences concerning employees;
• Before the company started using the temporary work agency, it sought people in its own ways. Cooperation with people who were to replace permanent employees consisted mainly in concluding short-term agreements or additional overtime work, which posed difficulties in planning the budget, balancing the level of employment and additional workload for employees from the payroll department. Employing temporary workers through a work agency solved those problems.

WORTH REMEMBERING:

• Planning is the most important – at the beginning of the year the company prepares holiday schedules which enable effective implementation and good functioning of flexible forms of employment;
• It is also of great importance to have a well-prepared profile of a recruited candidate and send it to a temporary work agency as early as possible, which will help to find best matching candidates for work.