The land Registry (Het Kadaster)

2013 Experiments
Cao Kadaster 2013 – 2015

Het Kadaster (the land Registry) foresees that future generations find personal development and work diversity more important than the current generation of workers. In anticipation of this shift they are experimenting with flexible work relations in order to retain their attractiveness as an employer.  Furthermore, flexible work relations provide the organization with better possibilities to adapt to their changing environment. Positive side effects  may be that the organization can reduce the costs of hiring extern consultants and a better allocation of workers within the organization. 

Approach

In 2013 Het Kadaster set up an internal flexpool of workers, currently existing of around 10 employees. These employees work on project basis for different departments. They remain fulltime employed by the Kadaster but are responsible themselves for acquiring enough work. Instead of a specific job (description) they are  now ‘employee flexpool’. Het Kadaster declares their salary costs to the departments they work for. 

The participating employees are expected to acquire their own work by using their network. This means that they have to approach managers, take care of their contacts, know what is happening in the organization and anticipate possible job openings. This requires a other skillset than usually is required from public officials. They have to be(come) more assertive and independent and develop a more entrepreneurial mindset.

In theory all employees can apply for the function of ‘employee flexpool’, but because of the specific skillset required there are certain entry requirements regarding ‘employability’ and capabilities. Therefore all applying employees need to take an online assessment. Furthermore, possible ‘clients’- i.e. managers of different departments – are asked whether they would hypothetically hire the applying employee if there was a job opening at their department. This is to ensure that ‘employee flexpool’ have enough work  to do once they are in the flexpool. 

Results of the experiment

Due to the small scale of the experiment, no official survey of employee satisfaction was conducted. However, the program manager concluded from various evaluations and interviews with participating employees, both  managers as professionals, that they are pleased with the experiment. As he stated: ‘the participating employees are easyly to identify, they are the ten workers with the biggest smile on their face’. The clients are satisfied as well, they said the ‘employees flexpool’ performed above average.

This positive outcome will probably result in the expansion of the experiment in the nearby future. However, before flexpools can be more structural embedded in the organization, some obstacles have to be overcome, as this experiment have shown. First, the organizations’ culture and the employee’s attitude towards flexible work relations have to change. As stated above, future generations are expected to value the flexibility and work diversity  that comes with the flexpool. Most of the current employees however value job security and job clarity higher, thus having a more skeptical attitude towards participating in the flexpool.

Second, the legal (im)possibilities with regards to flexible work relations are quite complicated and need to be sorted out first. Het Kadaster and unions reached a collective labour agreement for the years 2013 – 2017 (see below)

Workplace innovation

For employees to be admitted to the flexpool, they have to have a rather different skillset compared to ‘normal’ employees. Although this is an entry requirement – so participating employees already possess these competences – it is expected that they enhance these abilities because they have to use them  more often.

By participating in the flexpool their workload gets more diversified, as they are allowed/ have to seek projects that appeal to them. The fact that they have to provide for their own work adds a new dimension to their work as they have to maintain their network and actively approach  managers. This combined changes improve the quality of work.

Due to the small scale of the experiment the effect on the organization is hard to define. However it is expected that Het Kadaster will benefit in the future from its improved employers image, thus reducing the costs of attracting new employees. Furthermore, the use of flexpools should improve the allocation of workers, reducing both the cost of hiring external consultants and the size of the required workforce.

CLA 2013 – 2017
The CLA  2013 – 2017 was created in the regular dialogue between the employer and the trade unions. Besides the salary and pension agreements it was agreed that parties will work on a program for ‘Flexible and sustainable employability’ in teh coming period, with among other things the following issues:
a Matchpoint for personal capacity asked and offered;
removing obstacles for mobility in the job classification;
the possibilities for recruitment for general service;
promotion of vertical and horizontal mobility, including external employment and directorships and volunteering.

Reference
https://www.kadaster.nl/web/artikel/download/Sociaal-jaarverslag-2012.htm

Cao Kadaster 2013 – 2015

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