Many companies support family planning
Fertility treatments, subsidies for childcare and adoption, frozen eggs: More and more companies are supporting their employees with family issues.
The German pharmaceutical company Merck, for example, helps its employees financially to fulfill their desire to have children by contributing to the costs of fertility treatments - for women and men, regardless of their marital status. In addition to fertility tests, which usually cost a three-figure sum, the offer also includes so-called artificial insemination - the average cost of which is in the mid-four-figure range. "With this new offer, we can support our employees in a phase that takes a lot of energy and can be very stressful," says Khadija Ben Hammada, Chief Human Resources Officer at Merck.
The international management consultancy Kearney from the USA also recently decided to provide support in the area of family. In addition to extended parental and part-time working arrangements, the new benefits also include monthly childcare allowances as well as financial support for child planning and adoption, as the company announced. The aim is to "provide employees with even better support in balancing family and career and contribute to social change", says Marc Lakner, Managing Director of Kearney in Germany.
Among other things, Kearney supports childcare with up to 500 euros per month. Fertility treatments and adoption are subsidized with up to 40,000 euros. The aim is also to explicitly support both parents, Lakner makes clear. "We also want to encourage fathers to take a break for a longer period of time to take over childcare." After all, many couples want to share family work equally. In general, the aim is to enable employees to achieve a better work-life balance in this way.
Measures for employee retention
These two companies are just two examples of many. Overall, the proportion of companies offering childcare in the form of company crèches or financial support has more than tripled since the beginning of the millennium, as research by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) shows.
Ann-Christin Bächmann studied the range of family-friendly measures on behalf of the IAB. It can be assumed that companies offer them "in order to appear more attractive to potential skilled workers and therefore recruit well-trained staff more easily, as well as to retain employees in the company," says Bächmann. Her analyses also showed that mothers return to companies that offer family-friendly measures more quickly after the birth of a child. In this case, they are also less likely to change employers. Khadija Ben Hammada from Merck also emphasizes: "Such offers naturally also help to attract, retain and retain employees."
For Regina Ahrens, a social scientist and certified business mediator, this does not necessarily mean that employers can only have their own interests in mind and not also have good intentions: "One does not exclude the other." Ahrens has been researching and teaching the topic of work-life balance for more than 15 years and advises companies in conflict situations as well as on the development and expansion of family-friendly measures. "Basically, I would see it as a positive development that more and more employers are offering such measures," she says in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
Researcher advises precise needs analysis
However, she has also been observing for some time that the shortage of skilled workers is encouraging this development. This is not fundamentally a bad thing, as some benefits unite the interests of the company and the employees - a classic win-win situation.
However, there are also measures where this is not the case. "Companies often simply adopt certain measures from others without paying attention to what their employees actually need," explains Ahrens. After all, the workforce varies greatly from company to company. A good example is the company crèche. "If the average age of the workforce is in their mid-50s, it doesn't make much sense."
Another main problem is that some measures can also create pressure. "If a company makes it possible to freeze eggs, many people are indirectly put under pressure and think: 'Then maybe I should do it too'." The situation is similar with company crèches. Companies should therefore carefully consider which measures make sense for their workforce and ensure that they do not put pressure on employees. Ahrens sums up: "In principle, it is a positive development that more and more employers are addressing the issue of family. However, it must not be abused out of self-interest."
The company Merck, like many others, recognizes the importance of supporting its employees with family issues and offers financial assistance for fertility treatments. Kearney, a U.S.-based management consultancy, has also joined this trend by providing extended parental leave, part-time working arrangements, childcare allowances, and financial support for family planning and adoption. Ann-Christin Bächmann's research shows that companies offer family-friendly measures to attract and retain skilled workers, with studies indicating that mothers return to companies offering such measures more quickly and are less likely to change employers.
Source: www.dpa.com
