REWE saleswoman Daniela Gatz from Falkensee manages a team of fifty employees and offers them flexible working hours. The winner of the REWE "Work and Family" competition sees many advantages in this - not only for the employees, but also for the success of her store.
A four-day week, part-time management and long weekends - when Daniela Gatz talks to other retailers about the different working time models in her store, she often receives puzzled looks. "How do you do that? That wouldn't work for us! - Those are the most common reactions!" laughs the REWE saleswoman. "I then have to explain that the whole thing didn't happen overnight and has developed gradually."
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Daniela Gatz has been the manager of the newly renovated REWE store in Falkensee since July 2012. Her team comprises fifty employees aged between 18 and 77, including ten temporary staff. Last year, the businesswoman won REWE's own sales competition "Job & Family" - and the key to success lies in the balance between work and private life, according to Daniela Gatz, herself the mother of an eleven-year-old son. "You can tell when employees have enjoyed a long weekend with their family, they have a different glow," explains the 50-year-old. "Only happy employees can perform well at work." This is why she introduced the four-day week, which senior managers like one of her assistants also make use of. Her team also came up with the idea of putting away delivered goods at night - to save customers the "hustle and bustle" and to be able to put things away quickly without the distraction of everyday business. The night shift, which runs until midnight on Wednesdays, is now popular, as is the associated time off in lieu.
In return, the colleagues are prepared to step in when staffing bottlenecks occur elsewhere - for example during holiday periods or when staff are absent due to illness, Gatz explains. To this end, she has specifically trained her employees to be all-rounders, so that everyone is ready to help out whenever necessary. "Ultimately, it's a give and take, everyone has to pull together, that's the prerequisite," emphasises the businesswoman. Her team has now grown close together, almost like a big family, and mutual support has become a matter of course. Daniela Gatz herself usually works "mum-friendly shifts" and uses the free time for her son.
Daniela Gatz does a lot to keep her employees happy. For example, there is a "wish book" for holiday planning or days off ("100% taken into account!"), cake in the lounge every day ("I tried fruit, but cake was more popular!"), two celebrations a year ("We've earned it!") and a fixed "grief day" every month, on which the clerk takes time in her office for personal and private discussions. "My employees are the most important thing, nothing works without them!" emphasises Daniela Gatz. This is also the advice she gives to sceptical retailers. "You have to be able to let go, let people do it, then they feel valued. So much comes back!"
