Woman scientist in a lab looking into a microscope
Mario Irrmischer

Field of Action 4: Design of Life-Phase Oriented Personnel Policy

Our Vision

At RWTH, the individual life plans, qualification phases and status passages of university employees and the resulting needs are valued and taken into account. Those responsible for personnel development and personnel management are aware of their responsibility in this regard and are aware accordingly. Employees receive support in reconciling their professional goals with private requirements, taking into account the interests of the service. The core of this process is the joint search for viable solutions that are acceptable to everyone involved.

Target groups

University management | ZHV | Group representatives I Managers | Students in transition to employment as academic staff | Academic staff | Employees in technology and administration

Status Quo

With regard to family justice, work life balance, health management as well as further education and training, there are numerous supportive structures established at RWTH from which not only employees but also students benefit. Among others, the extensive offers of the family service, the Campus Health Management or the In-house Social and Psychological Counseling are worth mentioning here. The results of intensive discussions and creative solutions are also the target dialog procedures within the framework of the "audit familiengerechte hochschule" and the brochure Golden Rules of Family-Friendly Human Resources Management such as an extensive range of training and continuing education offers. Furthermore, there have been discussions between managers and employees to discuss current or future work situations and individual job satisfaction, the inclusion agreement, and the service agreement on home office and situational mobile work. This allows for working 60 % from home and 60 days a year of situational mobile work.

The successful completion of status passages, including the transition from studies to employment in science or non-university occupational fields, the transition from the doctoral to the post-doctoral phase, and preparation for a professorship or employment in the field of science support, is promoted at RWTH through extensive measures anchored in the structure. Among other things, this includes the target group-specific support provided by the Career Center, the Center for Young Academics, and the TANDEM mentoring programs.

Need for action

The transition of employees to (early) retirement should be taken into consideration at an early stage and accompanied in an appreciative manner in order to strengthen their job satisfaction until their last day of work and to enable them to transfer their knowledge. In addition, RWTH should give appropriate attention to the concerns and challenges of employees who would like to work beyond the regular retirement age or who entered the workforce late or via the second educational path.

In the spirit of the service agreements on home office and situational mobile work (DE), within the framework of the interests of the service and in the spirit of a change in management culture, working part-time and from home should be designed flexible and, where it is feasible, possible for all employees.

Future activities

  • Enabling management in tandem and part-time
  • Systematically ensuring the transfer of knowledge in the event of age-related retirement, especially among managers
  • Recommended offers for managers to raise awareness with regard to different life phases of employees
  • Offerings to raise awareness among managers and staff council members on the topics of age and generational diversity as well as career development options
  • Expansion of offerings for older employees in the areas of generation management, preventive care and health
  • Creation of a brochure for managers and employees: Golden Rules of Sensitive Preparation for Retirement
  • Creation of offers to accompany, advise and sensitize teams with regard to the needs of individual team members in order to jointly develop appropriate strategies
  • Creation of incentives to continue one's professional qualification after parental leave
  • Initiation of a working group to analyze needs with regard to further training offers on the topics of demography, age and generational diversity
  • Expanding the existing service agreement to include measures regarding gender bias, particularly with regard to the visibility of home office employees in upcoming promotions or performance evaluations
  • Family- and part-time-friendly scheduling of committee and other meetings