Popakademie awarded certificate

The Popakademie is one of a total of 306 organizations - 125 companies, 147 institutions and 34 universities - that were awarded the audit berufundfamilie or audit familiengerechte hochschule certificate this year, which generally runs for three years. The awarding of the quality seal was preceded by a structured auditing process lasting several months, in which solutions for better reconciliation of work or studies, family and private life are (further) developed and the family and life-phase-conscious / family-friendly orientation is anchored in the culture of the organization. In addition to the Popakademie, 33 other organizations were celebrated for their first audit berufundfamilie or audit familiengerechte hochschule certificate.

State Secretary Wulf emphasized: "In order for our economy to remain strong in the face of demographic change, companies must promote the talents and skills of their employees in an even more targeted manner. A reliable work-life balance is a decisive key to this. The certified companies, universities and institutions show impressively how this can be achieved - with flexible, innovative and everyday solutions instead of rigid models. They set standards and are role models for employers throughout Germany."

At the certificate award ceremony, which was held under the title of the berufundfamilie annual motto “#agematters - age(n)-consciously attractive”, Oliver Schmitz emphasized: "Our working world is finally getting there, addressing employees of all ages both in recruiting and in retention management. Success depends above all on the design of age- and age-conscious work-life balance offers that break away from general attributions of the performance and work ethic of different generations. Where many organizations are still struggling, the companies and institutions or universities certified according to the audit berufundfamilie or audit familiengerechte hochschule are already active: they consciously take the age factor into account in order to promote the individual potential of employees and to position themselves broadly in terms of personnel."

Applicable in all sectors and different company sizes, the audit records the status quo of the family and life-phase-conscious or family-friendly measures already offered, systematically develops the company's individual potential and ensures that family awareness is anchored in the organizational culture with binding target agreements. Once this process has been successfully completed, an independent board of trustees made up of prominent representatives from business, science, politics and associations awards the audit certificate. The practical implementation is reviewed annually by berufundfamilie Service GmbH. After three years, further personnel policy objectives can be agreed as part of a re-audit. The employer may only retain the certificate if the re-audit is successful. Since the audit was introduced in 1998, over 2,000 organizations have been awarded the certificate. A total of 921 organizations are currently certified according to the audit berufundfamilie or audit familiengerechte hochschule, including 372 companies, 446 institutions and 103 universities. Around two million employees and over 1.3 million students can benefit from this.

berufundfamilie Service GmbH is a service provider and think tank in the field of reconciling work, family and private life. It successfully supports companies, institutions and universities in the implementation of a sustainable family and life-phase-conscious personnel policy and the design of family-friendly working, research and study conditions. Its central offering is the audit berufundfamilie or audit familiengerechte hochschule, which was initiated by the non-profit Hertie Foundation. The audit is the strategic management tool that employers use to set up their personnel policy in a family and life-phase-conscious manner and to strengthen their attractiveness as an employer. The Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Karin Prien, is the patron of the audit berufundfamilie and audit familiengerechte hochschule. https://www.berufundfamilie.de/