“Demographic change” – the term sounds abstract, but it represents a very concrete problem for many employees today. How do I reconcile my job and caring for family members in need of care? At Bornemann-Etiketten, we are actively addressing this issue and have a clear strategy: listening to employees, finding solutions and offering support.
From now on, we will also be helped in this by the state program Compatibility of Care and Work, whose charter we were one of the first employers in the region to sign. Participants in this program are committed to improving the care-friendliness of their company by, for example, qualifying care guides, individually reviewing their working time models or using a company care kit.
Companies exist in different industries, offer different products and services, and may not have much in common at first glance. However, this does not apply to their employees and their life situations. These are the same in most cases, regardless of whether screws, web pages or, as in our case, labels are “manufactured”. An estimated 500,000 working people in NRW care for relatives, partners or friends in addition to their jobs. But I prefer to keep my professional and private life separate: I can’t talk to my supervisor about a nursing case at home, especially not if my job might suffer as a result. The result is dissatisfaction and lack of understanding on both sides, and the problems become bigger rather than smalle
Through chance conversations and personal experiences, the whole issue came to light for us. It quickly became clear to us that a communicative, transparent approach was the only solution. When there is a nursing case at home, the needs of colleagues at work automatically change as well. This means that we look for alternative working time models, we listen to individual challenges and we look for solutions together.
Signing the charter opens up yet another whole new set of opportunities for us in terms of access to consulting and care infrastructure. In this way, we want to relieve the burden on colleagues with care responsibilities and support them in consulting the right people at the right time.
Would you also like to raise awareness of the compatibility of care and work in your company? Click here to go to the website of the NRW state program with all the relevant information.
