Reconciling family and working life
Reconciling family and working life is one of the most important socio-political challenges in this day and age, also in the Region Hannover. Back in 1996, the Region Hannover already established and expanded the women and work coordination office for the Region Hannover (KoStelle) in order to keep valuable, skilled and, in this context, primarily female workers in the regional job market, or to bring them back successfully after taking a break to raise the family. 120 women from the Region Hannover received advice from the KoStelle in the first six months of 2022 alone, compared to 231 altogether in 2019 and an even smaller number in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
Finding KoStelle by chance
The following case taken from the office’s consulting work is just one example of many very similar biographies. Johanna Prien-Kaplan, now33 years old, came to the KoStelle office in 2020. Despite being highly qualified, having obtained a Master’s degree with the top academic grade of 1.0 in ethnology in Berlin, she felt that she had no career prospects. “I simply had no idea where to go from there and reproached myself for not being better prepared for working life. I almost felt I was worthless. It was awful”, she recalls.
Since she had actually wanted to do a PhD after her Masters, she specifically returned to Hannover with her husband and little boy, where the child had an all-day place in a childcare centre, as well as added support from grandparents who lived nearby. B t then she had twins and her dreams for her future career burst. “I had intended to go abroad for my thesis. It would probably have been possible with one small child. But three?“ Furthermore, the salary that her husband earned as a preschool teacher would not be enough for the large family, so she had to find a way of earning additional money. She searched for a job where she could use her university degree, but found nothing. In the end, she worked as a temp in an office. She struggled throughout the twelve months of parental leave that she and her husband took together, then she heard about the KoSTelle of the Region Hannover by chance and immediately made an appointment.
Applications soon successful
“Even the first appointment was really empowering. Subsequent appointments were followed by a scheme provided by the Federal Employment Agency which helped me turn things round completely. I came to realise that I am well qualified and that there are many super career possibilities for me beyond my doctoral thesis”, she summarises. She started to submit applications despite having three little children, and soon found temporary part-time work in the equal opportunities office at one of the hospitals in Hannover. “I find this work so fulfilling, it makes me happy and contented”. Furthermore, she also freelances for the KoStelle a few hours a week.
All in all, the income is sufficient for her husband to stop working as a kindergarten teacher and start studying for a degree in social work. “That is what we had planned with our first child: first he would work and I would study, then I would work and he would study. And now our plan is coming to fruition”, says Johanna Prien-Kaplan. All three children are now in a childcare centre and the grandparents also help to look after them.
Individual consulting, seminars and network
The KoStelle operates on a network basis and in close cooperation with the Federal Employment Agency, the Job Centre, business companies and other job market players. “We see our role as being pilots who show the way, from (initial) career guidance through to emergency support”, says KoStelle head Ayten Berse in describing the tasks involved. The advice is provided free of charge and in confidential individual sessions and is also available for men who are on parental leave. An extensive programme of seminars that can be booked online provides a wide range of further training opportunities and information events to help people find their way onto the job market. The “Welcome Back” network helps women to get connected with each other. “The regular network meetings offer those returning to work new impetus, an opportunity for sharing, for mutual support and encouragement, as well as a chance to make contact with other women”, says Ayten Berse.
Furthermore, the KoStelle acts as the office for the ÜBV. This is an association where regional SME businesses can show their commitment to family-friendly employment structures, flexible HR management and future-oriented HR planning. After all, family-friendly companies and life phase-oriented HR policies are an important competitive advantage and enhance the appeal of employers. This also applies to Hannover as a business location.
Header picture: nenetus/stockAdobe.com
