More and more young fathers, including managers, are interested in parental leave, part-time work, and near-full-time part-time work. (Photo: © Jozef Polc/123RF.com)
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Women in Crafts - Special Features
December 2019
In times of skilled labor shortages, family-friendliness is a clear competitive advantage. More and more employers have already recognized this.
The topic of family-friendliness is gaining increasing importance for companies in Germany. This is according to the "Company Monitor Family-Friendliness 2019" presented by the German Economic Institute (IW Cologne) .
"In times of skilled labor shortages, family-friendliness is not a 'nice to have', but a significant competitive advantage. Companies are well advised to offer programs that promote a better work-life balance," said Federal Family Minister Franziska Giffey at the presentation of the study, which is funded by her ministry.
For nine out of ten employees, family-friendly measures are an expression of a corporate culture that values people. This is also the view of employees who don't currently have young children or relatives in need of care. Unfortunately, even today, too many employees fear professional disadvantages if they take advantage of family-friendly offers. "That's counterproductive," says Giffey.
Overall, however, the trend is positive. The proportion of managers and human resources managers who consider family-friendly measures important has increased by six percentage points to 83 percent since the last survey four years ago.
Operations management
Operations management
Operations management
The proportion of companies that claim to have a "strongly family-friendly corporate culture" has also increased significantly. However, a difference in perception between employers and employees persists. In other words, managers rate their commitment somewhat higher than their employees do.
According to the study , the commitment to supporting fathers, for example those wishing to take parental leave, work part-time, or near-full-time part-time, has developed particularly positively in recent years (from 35 to 53 percent). "Companies are thus expanding the options for living different roles and choosing different lifestyles," the study authors state.
Individually agreed working hours are also becoming increasingly common: eight out of ten companies now offer this.
More and more human resources managers are realizing that a family-friendly workplace must also appeal to employees who do not (yet) have childcare responsibilities or dependent relatives. After all, 78 percent of employees without childcare requirements consider such measures important.
The study found that dealing with employees who use family-friendly programs and those without caregiving responsibilities could harbor potential for conflict. Therefore, managers consider it particularly important to balance interests fairly within their teams. This also means raising employees' awareness that demands and opportunities are weighted differently at different stages of life.
The advisors from the Chambers of Skilled Crafts and trade associations provide support in implementing family- and life-phase-oriented personnel policies within companies. Among other things, they help companies communicate their family-friendly measures externally, which is important for the competition for trainees and skilled workers.
Incidentally, mobile and flexible working will be a key future issue : 44 percent of employees and 59 percent of companies believe its importance will increase even further in the next five years.
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