The classic image of a ‘9‑to‑5’ employee with a fixed work­place is increas­ingly being replaced by more flexible concepts. But what does this mean for employers and employees? Find out in this blog!

• Home office and remote work: Working from home or anywhere else – just not in the office.
• Flex­itime: The option to determine your own working hours within a certain framework.
• Part-time: reduced working hours that allow employees to pursue other interests outside of work.
• Job sharing: two people share a full-time position and take on respon­si­bility together.

More flex­i­bility in the work­place leads to less stress. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by the opinion research institute Sotomo on behalf of the Swiss Employers’ Asso­ci­ation (SAV)*. 81 per cent of respon­dents stated that more flex­i­bility in working hours would reduce their stress levels. 

Employees can adapt their working hours and loca­tions to their indi­vidual needs. For example, to pursue a leisure activity, to take care of a sick family member or simply to have more time for themselves.

Despite the chal­lenge of balancing family and career, many parents do not want to give up respon­si­bility and demanding tasks at work. Companies that give parents the oppor­tunity to take on demanding tasks even on a part-time basis benefit from their commitment and loyalty. 

‘The flexible working model enables me to perfectly combine family and career. I partic­u­larly appre­ciate the fact that I can also do mean­ingful work, take on respon­si­bility and drive exciting projects forward on a part-time basis.’ 

Rebekka Uebersax, Project Manager, nevalux AG 

Parents often have excellent time management and organ­i­sa­tional skills – abil­ities that are invaluable when it comes to taking respon­si­bility for projects at work.

Flexible working models also offer advan­tages for companies. They increase employee satis­faction, reduce fluc­tu­ation and create an attractive, open working envi­ronment. Those who offer flexible working hours show that they take the needs of their employees seri­ously and trust them to work independently. 

According to a Sotomo study*, flexible working models also offer oppor­tu­nities in the fight against the labour shortage. The study shows that more flexible working hours not only increase employee satis­faction, but also their will­ingness to increase their workload. More than a quarter (28 per cent) of respon­dents in part-time employment could imagine increasing their workload if the work could be done more flexibly.

Of course, there are also chal­lenges to imple­menting flexible working models. These include: 

• Coor­di­nation and commu­ni­cation: The most time-consuming point! This is because employees must be informed and able to work together effec­tively, regardless of their place of work and working hours.
• Customer focus: Excellent customer service must be guar­anteed. Response and delivery times must not be compromised.
• Respon­si­bility and trans­parency: A clear framework must be created in which all employees, including those with flexible working models, under­stand and take on their responsibilities.
• Division of tasks: Be careful that employees with a full-time workload do not end up suffering from the working models and having to bear the main responsibility.
• Success factor: Such working models only work if there is an appre­ciative corporate culture and a high level of work ethic. Therefore, don’t lose sight of team building!

Finally, this…

The world of work will continue to change. Flexible working models will increas­ingly become the norm and no longer the exception. Companies that recognise and actively shape this trend will remain compet­itive. They position them­selves as a modern employer with a future-oriented corporate culture. 

nevalux AG has been imple­menting flexible working models since its foun­dation in 2018. Inter­ested in getting to know the company better? Then get in contact with us. 

This is why soli­darity is one of the pillars of our company, alongside prof­itability and team culture. There are many different ways for companies to make a valuable contri­bution to society. This blog shows you how we at nevalux AG get involved and what we mean by the added value mentioned at the beginning. And of course we are also happy to provide you with infor­mation over the phone. Contact

As nevalux AG, we have long been committed to helping people in Eastern Europe who barely have enough to live on. The fact that we were in Moldova has to do with my (author’s) connection to the aid organ­i­sation AVC Switzerland, which is respon­sible for the project. I am amazed at what has developed with little funding and a lot of commitment since my last visit in 2019. A children’s home and a resi­dential home for elderly and disabled people have been created, as well as a place where children can get a warm meal. Our involvement: 

• In the bakery: For nine years, between 500 and 800 loaves of bread have been baked and given away three times a week.
• In the orphanage: nevalux lumi­naires installed in various rooms.
• On the road: distrib­uting food parcels with basic food­stuffs, Firewood that we have processed ourselves and pellets from plant residues for heating.

The joy and grat­itude for our help was palpable both among those respon­sible on site and the local popu­lation. Despite language barriers, we had some unfor­get­table encounters. We are impressed by how children, destitute elderly people, people with disabil­ities and also villagers have improved their quality of life in recent years thanks to the project.

• Thanks to the bakery, families not only have their daily bread. For the women, who some­times wait an hour for their turn, the bakery is also a place of community.
• The financial relief is also crucial. For example: A cubic metre of wood costs CHF 100, the average pension is CHF 110!

The assignment was team-building at all levels and a personal devel­opment expe­rience for the partic­i­pants. All eight nevalux employees who took part in the mission are deeply grateful. 

• “Some of the people in Moldova live in the most difficult circum­stances. It’s a priv­ilege to live in a country like Switzerland, to never go hungry and to have a safe roof over your head.”
• “I was impressed by the friend­liness of the people. And also that I didn’t hear any complaints.”
• “Having a job and earning my own living is no longer a matter of course for me since my deployment.”
• “It was very enriching to get to know and appre­ciate my colleagues in a completely different context.”

Support — be it manpower and/or money — is needed by countless social projects at home and abroad. As nevalux AG, we have delib­er­ately focussed on one project. We don’t want to provide support according to the watering-can prin­ciple, but rather consciously make a formative difference in one place. In addition, the impetus for the project in Moldova came from the employees. The personal connection is there and is culti­vated accordingly. 

Where social commitment within the company is more than just an annual donation to a local aid project, it becomes a topic of conver­sation throughout the year.

• Ideally, the management should provide infor­mation on the progress of the project three to four times a year and thus involve the employees.
• This presup­poses that the “head of the company” leads the way enthu­si­as­ti­cally and shows its employees that respon­si­bility is taken on in social projects.
• “Do good and talk about it!” It doesn’t have to be a large-scale marketing campaign. Never­theless, such a commitment has a positive effect on our image, which in turn has a positive impact on employee recruitment. And the most important thing is that those who set a good example will find imitators.
“This is just a drop in the ocean.” Not true! We can’t do every­thing, but at least we can do something!
• Take the plunge, it’s worth it!

That is certainly one of the strongest argu­ments in favour of team meetings! When team members come together regu­larly to share successes, tackle chal­lenges together and support each other, it creates a sense of belonging. This moti­vates and funda­men­tally promotes collab­o­ration within the team.

• It’s best to start your team meeting with a round of sharing. Which customer encounter has partic­u­larly pleased and moti­vated employees since the last meeting? Which work steps have been partic­u­larly successful and contributed to the company’s success?
• However, less positive expe­ri­ences should also be shared. After all, sharing a problem makes it twice as big!
• Strengthen the sense of unity from time to time with a team-building game. You can find a huge selection on the internet. The effort is minimal, but the effect on the team is huge!
• Do you have any talented employees in this regard? Then delegate!

One person speaks and the others (don’t) listen… Do you recognise this from your team meetings? Then you should do some­thing about it as soon as possible. Commu­ni­cation in team meetings is always dialogue. Of course, infor­mation is important. After all, you want all employees to be at the same level of knowledge.

• Make sure that each team meeting offers team members the oppor­tunity to contribute their perspec­tives and ask ques­tions. This helps to avoid misun­der­standings and improves collaboration.
• Team commu­ni­cation is always about trust. Create an atmos­phere that makes it easy to share ideas. 
• During the meeting, form small discussion groups with a specific task or question. This gives even the more reserved employees a chance to contribute.
• Let people finish speaking. Only interrupt if they don’t stick to the topic and get bogged down.
• Do you have a chat­terbox on your team? As a general rule, use the rule of short votes, it helps.

Moti­vated employees are invaluable to any company. That’s true! But sustainable moti­vation is not about more money and gifts. What really moti­vates people is the oppor­tunity to think, plan and shape things with the company. This is how employees feel seen, heard and valued. Team meetings provide a wonderful platform for promoting exactly this. 

• Give your employees positive and honest feedback on their work during the meetings. 
• Show your appre­ci­ation for their’s indi­vidual abil­ities and strengths.
• Emphasise their value as a member of the team.
• Express your grat­itude for their commitment, even if there is no measurable result.
• Cele­bration is often neglected in teams. Organise a breakfast instead of a “normal” team meeting. Or schedule the team meeting an hour before the end of the day and surprise the employees with an aperitif. 

Addi­tional team events such as the annual dinner, a summer cele­bration or a joint excursion emphasise the appre­ci­ation beyond the team meetings. 

‘Vision? Values? There was some­thing about that…’ Yes, exactly. Back at the job interview, someone from HR held the document with the vision/mission/values under the new employee’s nose. Since then, it has disap­peared back into the drawer. And it certainly hasn’t reached the employee’s mind and heart. If you really take your vision seri­ously, then you will keep deep­ening it. What does the company want to achieve and how will it get there? Which core values does the company follow? Once you have inter­nalised this, you have set yourself a guideline for discus­sions with customers and decision-making. 

• Use team meetings to repeatedly refer to the company’s vision and mission. 
• Make the values a topic of discussion from time to time. 
• Expect your employees to famil­iarise them­selves with the company’s overall mission statement.
• Be an influ­encer and live the values accordingly.

Can colleague A stand during the team meeting? Is colleague B allowed to sit on the windowsill? Is coffee a thing of the coffee break or does the coffee mug belong to the team meeting? Our recom­men­dation: loosen up! Theatre seating and a ban on coffee are no way to guar­antee your employees’ attention. Allow for the spatial atmos­phere and indi­vid­u­ality. The use of media is also important for the atmosphere. 

Is a Power­Point presen­tation appro­priate for the topic? Does every­thing work perfectly or do you need the first five minutes to get the tech­nology up and running? Good prepa­ration also involves checking the media that will be used. 

On the other hand, insist that employees do not have their mobile phones within reach at the team meeting. Otherwise, attention will suffer 100%.

Swarm intel­li­gence is an expression that we at nevalux AG use in connection with our intel­ligent lights. However, swarm intel­li­gence is also ideally suited to team meetings. Someone contributes some­thing, the next person takes up the thread, which is then cheer­fully spun further in the team. In this way, countless ideas and solu­tions have been developed. In addition, important deci­sions are made in the team, which improves accep­tance and guar­antees imple­men­tation. After all, everyone was part of the idea! 

Since brain­storming does not work well for devel­oping ideas in larger teams, we do it like Barack Obama, who is considered a fan of the walking meeting.

We’ll keep the 7th reason short and sweet. Team meetings don’t have to take place at all costs. For example, leave it out during the main holiday season. 

If you manage to attach great impor­tance to team meetings in your company, chances are that your employees will really look forward to spending time together after a break!

Finally, this…

• 1. A team meeting is work and counts as working time.
• 2. Hold team meetings regu­larly and not just when there is an urgent need for commu­ni­cation or tension within the team.
• 3. Send out the meeting invi­ta­tions in good time, ideally with a calendar entry..
• 4. Start on time.
• 5. HMake sure you stick to the time limit.
• 6. End with a moti­vating message for your employees.
• 7. Send the infor­mation to your employees in writing after the meeting.