works council. In France and Spain, the presence of HR directors may be as
much a reflection of the formalisation of roles (with all ‘heads’ being repre-
sented) as of the importance given to HR. In Sweden most organisations do
take HR as a key to the successful operation of their business. We have explored
this issue further in Brewster et al. (1997, 2000) and Communal (1999).
Two aspects of flexible working practices will serve as examples: the extent
of use of part-time work and the use of short-term contracts. In broad terms
part-time working is used more in the North of Europe and short-term employ-
ment more in the South. Both forms of flexible working practices can be very
cost-effective for management. At the risk of generalisation, part-time working
often suits those (84% of them women) who are on such contracts;^3 whereas
short-term working is less popular amongst employees (Eurostat, 2002).
Despite these generalities the incidence of these, and indeed other, forms of
flexibility varies significantly between countries (see Figures 7.3 and 7.4).
The data shows the percentage of organisations in each country that have
more than 10% of their workforce on each form of contract. The North/South
variation is clear: only one in 10 organisations in Spain has a substantial pro-
portion of their workforce in part-time employment, whereas nearly four in ten
of the Swedish organisations do. Though it is not shown here, the Netherlands,
which has more part-time work than anywhere else, has 41% of its total work-
force on such contracts (Eurostat, 2002). Spain has double the average number
of organisations employing a lot of people on temporary contracts (and Spain has
more short-term employment than anywhere else in Europe) whilst Germany
is noticeably lower. The variations between the countries reflect a combination
184 International Human Resource ManagementFIGURE 7.246%77% 79%49%88%0%20%40%60%80%100%Germany Spain France Sweden UK
Head of HR on Board (Survey 1999/2000, Cranet network 2002)