Careers

8 July 2024

“Our employees feel well looked after”

Three employees, from a store, administration and logistics respectively, report on what a work-life balance means for them.
Reading time: 10 min.

PENNY Markt GmbH and REWE Markt GmbH, including all stores and participating retailers, have once again received the Work and Family Audit (audit berufundfamilie) certification for their visionary human resources policy. This confirms their commitment to implementing measures over the next three years that help employees achieve a healthy work-life balance. Three REWE and PENNY employees, from a store, administration and logistics respectively, report on just how these work-life balance measures look in practice and what they mean for team morale and employee loyalty.

For the employees the measures have brought about noticeable changes for the good. That also goes for Katharina Niedzial, who is responsible for the work-life balance efforts of PENNY Region East.

Ms Niedzial, you have been involved in developing activities associated with work-life balance at PENNY East since the company’s initial certification in 2018. What has changed in the intervening years, and what still needs to change?

Katharina Niedzial: Whether it has to do with the certification or was simply time for a change, we have certainly launched a great number of work-life balance initiatives in the years since that initial certification. It’s now much more common for employees. including those working in our stores, to take a sabbatical, typically of around a month or two, to use up accrued flex time. More fathers are now taking parental leave, among them many in management roles, like our very own area manager. That wasn’t the case before. Within our corporate culture, attitudes towards taking leave to care for a family member have also changed. Now, if someone needs to take time out, they can do so as a matter of course.

In the stores, managers today try a lot harder to meet the needs of employees while also maintaining operations; for instance, by creating the rotas well in advance. There might be a mother with small children, a man who wants to pursue a hobby on Friday afternoons and a woman who needs to care for her ailing mother at home.

katharina-niedzial

About:

Katharina Niedzial

HR Partner for the PENNY East region and responsible for work-life balance.

Have the measures changed over the years?

Katharina Niedzial: I think it’s less a matter of the individual measures changing and more a change of attitudes among managers; store managers or district managers. They’re checking in more and wanting to hear from employees.

The attitude of managers has changed.

Katharina Niedzial, HR Partner for the PENNY East region and responsible for work-life balance.
katharina-niedzial
Katharina Niedzial, HR Partner for the PENNY East region and responsible for work-life balance.

What measures are still needed?

Katharina Niedzial: We don’t need any new measures. We have quite a lot already. What we need is to get the word out to employees. And we need to regularly check the measures for effectiveness. For example, are employees taking advantage of them, do they work equally well in cities and rural areas, and so on. And finally, it would be nice if all managers across all regions and levels shared the same understanding and supportive attitude towards a work-life balance.

The workplace is more than just the place you go to earn a pay check

Deborah Dessi has been an assistant store manager at REWE Dirk Pfleger in St Augustin near Bonn for ten years now. In our interview, she talks about work-life balance initiatives at her store and their impact on team morale.

Ms Dessi, why is work-life balance given such high priority at your store?

Deborah Dessi: Today, your workplace is more than just the place you go to earn a pay check. A positive atmosphere and friendly relationships with supervisors and coworkers do a lot to foster employee satisfaction and productivity. Helping our employees achieve a healthy work-life balance helps us recruit and keep good people. It’s not always easy to meet everyone’s needs. But we are trying.

deborah-dessi

About:

Deborah Dessi

Deputy store manager at REWE Dirk Pfleger in St. Augustin near Bonn.

What measures in this area have you taken in your store, and what has the impact been?

Deborah Dessi: Some time ago, we and our employees made a list of all the measures we have here at work to promote a healthy work-life balance. It didn’t take us long to fill an entire sheet on our flip chart. Here are just a few examples: The company provides our work uniforms and even washes and irons them for us. We have employee discounts and compensation for inflation, holiday and Christmas bonuses. And work schedules are drawn up and shared three weeks in advance to help with planning. We have company parties, set working hours, emergency time off, training opportunities, supplementary pension insurance, and various health services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were given tests and masks. And last but not least, we’re always finding little gifts and acknowledgements in our personal lockers.

It is good for the team spirit and the mood to know what is possible.

Deborah Dessi, Deputy store manager at REWE Dirk Pfleger in St. Augustin near Bonn.
deborah-dessi
Deborah Dessi, Deputy store manager at REWE Dirk Pfleger in St. Augustin near Bonn.

Are your employees aware of all these services?

Deborah Dessi: In February, I invited all of my employees to a work-and-family information day, where I answered questions and presented the various offerings at REWE. My goal is to hold an info day like this every quarter. It’s good for the team and for morale overall when everyone knows what is available and possible. It makes it easy for employees to trade shifts or step in for each other without always having to check with the boss first. Of course, it’s not all sunshine and roses. No job is perfect. But we’re fair – and the boss’s office door is always open for us.

So, would you say the work-life balance efforts have had a positive impact on team morale?

Deborah Dessi: Absolutely. Team unity is important. Our cashiers are a great example of this. They meet every couple of weeks for Sunday brunch and to enjoy some downtime together. Two years ago, we saw just how important team spirit is. A fire in the store forced us to close for three months. During that time, our boss arranged some training for us. We visited the farms of our regional producers, snuggled piglets at Strohwohl Farms and got to see how cheese is made. To stay in touch with our customers, we held an open-air market in front of the store twice a week, where we sold homemade cakes, and regional suppliers offered product tastings. We also organised a children’s festival.

It’s important that employees feel seen, heard and valued.

Head of PENNY Logistics Andreas Krämer and his leadership team promote interaction and appreciation. He reports on the positive effect he’s seeing this approach have on recruiting new employees.

Andreas Krämer: I enjoy being responsible for my 184 logistics team members. We’re proud of them and everything they do here each day. Even just the way they process the day’s deliveries and dispatches deserves our utmost respect. It’s hard work that takes its toll on the body over the years. The average age of our employees is about 43.7 years, which means that maintaining their health, providing preventive occupational healthcare and offering regular information and awareness are important. That includes things like back braces, classes on maintaining a healthy back and instruction in the proper technique for lifting and carrying heavy items.

It’s important that employees feel seen, heard and appreciated. And that they know they can come to us supervisors about anything, any time. Management has also prioritised supporting employees at work and does so on a daily basis. This is gradually changing our daily working lives.

andreas-kraemer

About:

Andreas Krämer

Operations Manager of the PENNY Logistics Center Neuhausen, Southern Region.

Most of our employees are on the same page when it comes to talking things out. And the way I see it, every person here deserves my respect.

Andreas Krämer, Operations Manager of the PENNY Logistics Center Neuhausen, Southern Region.
andreas-kraemer
Andreas Krämer, Operations Manager of the PENNY Logistics Center Neuhausen, Southern Region.

Andreas Krämer: Let me give you an example. One of our team members was working the late shift. Something changed with his family, and he needed to move to the early shift. So, we moved him. If we hadn’t, we’d likely have lost him. Instead, he’s satisfied, and we were able to keep a good employee. Being willing to listen is so important. Here’s another example: One of our team members let us know that his ageing father needed full-time nursing care. He asked if he could, for a time, only work until 2pm to get everything organised. His team lead told him, 2pm might be too late for some things. So let’s have you finish at 12:30 each day for four weeks. During that time, you can take care of all the administrative matters and organise his move into the care home. You could actually see in the man’s body and on his face that he realised, Wow, I really do matter here. We also offer supportive projects like “LoS!”, a programme that helps build self-help skills for different phases of life, as well as the fitness app, GemeinsamTopfit, and other health-promoting programmes for the use of our employees.

Treating everyone as equals is essential for building a community that’s based on trust. The atmosphere in our team is good, and we get loads of applications here in Neuhausen, the majority of which are from friends or acquaintances of our existing employees. We think that speaks well about us supervisors and managers. And most of these new team members are great to work with. Of course, there will always be the occasional conflict. That happens when you have such a big team and so many different cultures coming together. But most of our employees are on the same page when it comes to talking things out. And the way I see it, every person here deserves my respect.

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