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New work in the trade: a bread sommelier tells how a flexible shift system got him through the pandemic (symbol picture)
Photo: Swen Pförtner / dpa
Even before the Corona, things did not go well for many craft businesses: there were a lack of journeymen, masters, and places for trainees remained unoccupied.
The pandemic has once again presented many companies with new challenges, as the spring survey by Creditreform economic research shows: Car companies and the food trade are struggling with a massive slump in sales, while the construction industry is booming - but there is a lack of materials here.
React quickly and flexibly to the new requirements - does it work better if there are no hierarchies, flexible working hours or regular meetings with the entire workforce in the company?
How much new work can the bike shop around the corner or a bakery handle?
Three craft businesses tell how they run their businesses in a completely different way than many expected.
»A large board in the middle of the workshop shows who is responsible for which job.
The picture of the responsible employee is attached to the respective order so that the responsibilities are clear.
Justification board, that's what my employees called it at the beginning - and at first they weren't that enthusiastic.
In many conversations I had to make it clear that it's not about whether someone is a zero, but how the company is doing.
In addition to the board in the workshop, we use Trello so that everyone has an overview of what still needs to be done and what we can improve, for example in the workshop expansion.
And: Every morning everyone has to answer three questions in the big group: What did I achieve yesterday?
What stopped me from reaching the goal?
What do I want to achieve today?
I wanted us to learn to assess ourselves better, to communicate better, and to learn from feedback loops. At first I moderated the morning meetings, at some point I handed them over to the workshop manager. We shouldn't have the hierarchical idea of the boss who comes into the workshop and decides everything. I wanted to spend less time on administrative tasks in order to fine-tune the strategy of the company. Spreading the work over several shoulders has accepted my employees better and better over the past two years.
Unfortunately, the pandemic hit us right. When all the exhibition stands for the year broke down in mid-February 2020, it was a big shock at the beginning, but nobody had to go on short-time work. Instead, my employees first cut overtime and later improved the workshop: created new forms, maintained machines and made workflows easier.
We have also started to concentrate on interior fittings instead of exhibition stand construction. I developed new products like a tiny house, for which I had to do acquisition and marketing and clean the doors of new customers, for example architects. Overall, sales decreased in 2020, but we still had many orders and enough to do. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, I've been working seven days a week and I've noticed more and more how my batteries are draining. If I hadn't known that business would run without me, I would have thrown in the towel much earlier. This gave me the opportunity to react to the new requirements within a very short time, develop strategies, land orders - and ensure the continued existence of operations. "
»We don't have hierarchies, we make big decisions together.
Every last Wednesday of the month, the entire workforce therefore comes together in a plenary session and talks about the organization of our bike shop or personnel issues.
For example, since we want the team to be mixed, we try to only employ female trainees.
In addition, there are financial plenums or subsidiary plenums with certain parts of the workforce, which then determine either the structures in sales or in the workshop.
Up until ten years ago we all got the same salary.
To make it fairer, we now differentiate between employees who have been with us for a long time or who have just started: Every three years the net hourly wage is increased by 50 cents.
Because of the plena we are not quite as flexible as other bike shops. For example, we don't hire anyone without discussing it in plenary beforehand. This can of course be difficult if someone is looking for a job quickly, but we don't vote on it until the end of the month. At the same time, we don't make rash decisions, but take our time. So far we've done well with it: since I've been working here, we've only had to lay off one person. This is important because there is an enormous shortage of skilled workers in our industry.
We tried to create structures that show that we are there for one another. Unlike in many bike shops, we don't let anyone go over the winter and there is no holiday ban in the high season. This is of course more expensive for operation and, especially during the pandemic, more cumbersome, as we had an incredible number of customers. At the same time it has been shown how well we support each other, stand in for the others and deal with fears and problems through our open communication. We do not have lone fighters and competitiveness, so you get a lot more from the others. "
»Unfortunately, standing in the bakery at 1am in the morning is still common in our industry. Family is often difficult to arrange with working hours. That makes the baker's profession unattractive for some, but that's not a problem for us.
My wife Steffi is a trained pediatric nurse and nursing teacher. She brought many ideas with her from her previous professional environment. We therefore work with a self-developed working model that corresponds to the modern working world of »New Work«. It includes flexible working hours, a maximum of five days a week, time-shifted shifts and a service plan that enables employees to plan their leisure time. Two to three full-time employees only work four days a week. In this way, even employees in the bakery can now and then have a completely free weekend.
Anyone who wants to have capable employees must also be guided by how they work or can be active. Mutual appreciation is extremely important to us. That's why we wanted to get away from night work - and instead bake the goods fresh during the day. We produce extremely transparently and also inform about it via social media.
During the high phases of the Corona measures, we were open all the time. There were personnel problems due to the lack of childcare, but we were able to compensate for this through the flexible working hours. The overlap times were accordingly a little shorter. Nevertheless, we had to adapt and reduce our opening times to the situation. Basically there is a shortage of skilled workers in the bakery industry. Nevertheless, with our concept we manage to attract qualified specialists. And not just in the bakery, but in all areas. For example, we currently have two food management students working in sales - probably rather unusual for a bakery. "