Preuss: We have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day – so why shouldn’t we have a "Day of Families" as well?

Preuss: I hope Allianz will continue to work on becoming a more family-friendly company.

Preuss: That a change will take place for families – a change away from the notion that mothers should be the only ones to stay at home and look after the children, and towards getting fathers to share more actively in that responsibility.

Preuss: Allianz already does quite a lot for families. Since the early 90s, we've been making a strong effort to promote the compatibility of family and work. For example, we have two management-employee agreements on equal opportunity and family management. These agreements determine in what ways our employees can use our Family Service Organization, an external service provider. We provide support by giving our employees access to free advice on child care and nursing services for elderly family members as well as getting them referrals to whatever services they may need.

Preuss: We are actually quite happy with how much it is used. At the moment, every third enquiry is about nursing care for older family members.

Preuss: We want to effectively offer services that will help and support our employees. If the trend to care for elderly family members continues, we will pay more attention to nursing care.

Preuss: Caring for the elderly at home is a strong goal for the German government. However, for that to happen, there'll have to be a major sociological changes. Especially concerning housing and in terms of mobility. We have to support these developments from within the company and take them seriously. Most importantly of all, it is important that everyone within the organization treats each other with respect and tolerance, regardless of which lifestyle one chooses.

Preuss: Compared to European countries we have a very positive pro-family environment. This is also true of Allianz. In terms of the acceptance of mothers in professional life, countries like France, Sweden and Denmark are ahead of us.

Preuss: You can not change a situation by turning only one handle. Everyone has to pitch in. Every one involved, the company and the employees, has to make a contribution to the acceptance of sociological change in our organization.


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