Tognum’s “Career and Family” certificate renewed

• Recertified as a family-friendly company
• Joachim Coers: “We’re expanding our offerings”

Friedrichshafen, 1 July 2010. The specialist for propulsion and power solutions Tognum and its largest subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen have once again been certified as a family-friendly company. Joachim Coers, Deputy Chairman of Tognum AG, and Vice President Human Resources Matthias Jobmann received the certificate in Berlin from the German Minister for Family Affairs, Dr. Kristina Schröder. Tognum underwent the audit performed by the non-profit Hertie Foundation for the first time three years ago. The certificate has now been renewed. “The award of this certificate emphasizes our intensive efforts to give our employees the opportunity to come to terms with the special demands of modern business life and social responsibility in the family” said Joachim Coers.

Together with its subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, the Tognum Group offers numerous opportunities to reconcile the demands of a career and private life. “We have a very flexible part-time arrangement here that’s designed to meet the needs of families with infants and employees who have dependents in need of care. We reserve places in day care centers, for example, and provide child care arrangements for our employees during school vacation,” explained Matthias Jobmann, Vice President Human Resources.

Since the company first received the certificate in 2007 following the “Career and Family” audit, its catalog of family-friendly offerings has been steadily expanded. Those responsible for the program have focused not only on young families. As project manager Silke Moll, who took advantage of the part-time arrangement after parental leave herself, explains: “There are increasing numbers of employees who want to or simply have to look after dependents in need of care these days.” Anita Imgrund, who works in the Quality Assurance department of Tognum‘s subsidiary, MTU Friedrichshafen, has also discovered the benefits of the family-friendly offerings: She has an agreement with the company to work four instead of five days a week, because she has to share the responsibility of caring for her parents with her siblings. On her “day off”, she looks after her parents. “For me, this is a matter of genuine concern, and the company helping me in this way means my parents can stay in their own familiar surroundings. You just don’t find this kind of understanding with many companies these days.”

“The successful renewal of this certification has given us the incentive not to relax in our efforts. Our employees are also repeatedly showing us how we can make our company even more family friendly,” says Tognum’s Industrial Relations Director Joachim Coers. “It’s what we understand as social responsibility. But it also has clear benefits for the company. It doesn’t help an employer when the members of its workforce are suffering from a double burden. This way, the company retains the skills and the hard work of each employee, and he or she is able to cope with the responsibilities at home.”