When HR, managers and the workforce talk about how to better balance work and family life, it is usually the situation of women. Correct and important, agree Nicole Wronski of the New Work Blackboat consultancy and Tim Jäger, Marketing Lead Neurology at Janssen. But one perspective is overlooked: that of men. “They have to be included, otherwise the move to greater compatibility will be unsuccessful,” says Wronski.
In early 2022, Jäger and Sarah Land, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, together with committed colleagues launched a men’s network called Men@Work at the pharmaceutical company Janssen, which belongs to the global healthcare group Johnson & Johnson. It has since been managed by Jäger and Alexandra Karnetzky, Business Unit Leads, and Jochen Kleining, Director Country HEMAR Management. “When it comes to compatibility, we talk about men, but not with them,” says Jäger.
That should change with the founding of the network. All employees who want to ask themselves how men can work more flexibly and reconcile career and private life can join the exchange platform. Women can be members too and already are. Both male and female employees benefit from the men’s network, says Jäger. After all, it’s easier for women to pursue their careers more when men do more care work.
Discuss classic compatibility issues from a male perspective
With 15 members, the network is still quite small: around 1,000 people work for Janssen. By comparison: Janssen’s Family@Heart network, where employees typically exchange information about compatibility and work-life balance, has more than 400 members. But Men@Work is still relatively young, says Jäger, and the men’s network’s projects reach a larger group than just members.
The pain points that have been worked out thus far for employees in Men@Work differ little from those that Family@Heart has found for the entire workforce, regardless of gender. The biggest sticking point is the uncertainty about the possibility of using certain flexible working models even at the highest levels of the company and what the possible consequences of a longer parental leave or a reduction of working hours are.
Men@Work members look closely at topics from the male point of view and ask themselves: what currently applies to a man in terms of compatibility? At the same time, the network wants to make visible those men in the company who can serve as role models for work-life compatibility. This should make the following scenario a thing of the past: “Until now, the team has rarely noticed that the child has woken up ten times a night and that the father is therefore briefly less efficient,” says Jäger, who is a father himself same.
Make role models visible
To make male role models more visible, he, the diversity manager and engaged employees started a video campaign together with the consultancy Blackboat as a prelude to Men@Work. The men on camera include men from the company who are pursuing part-time careers or have been on parental leave for an extended period of time. The short interviews were posted on the intranet and some were also used externally for employer branding.
Also part of the network’s activity is the organization of webinars on topics that employees are interested in regarding compatibility from a male perspective. An employee wanted to know more about those returning from parental leave. How is Janssen doing? Jäger and the network team looked for fathers who had already taken this step and wrote an article for the intranet.
Gather people with their concerns
However, the main tool of the men’s network is a simple team channel. Questions are posted there transparently and are answered by other members, including HR managers. Jäger and the rest of the team would like to tackle further projects if the workforce expresses a corresponding need. “You always have to ask yourself what you can achieve as a network,” says Jäger. After all, you do it alongside your real work. “For us, it is mainly about creating awareness, about stimulating a discourse through which reservations and obstacles are reduced and overcome.” The goal is to listen to people and answer their questions.
Men@Work – especially with the help of Family@Heart – as exchange platforms would have made the theme of compatibility “ubiquitous” in the company. Something that, according to Jäger, was only possible with the support of the German board of directors. “People have the courage to satisfy personal wants and needs, which I consider a great success,” he says. In Janssen, the interviews – again mainly through Family@Heart – resulted in holiday camps and babysitting placements, and a salary increase was introduced for at least 12 weeks of parental leave. This proves: “Employees can help shape future work at Janssen.” That is why men should also help shape the way work and private life can be reconciled.
He is the editor of Human Resources. His main focus is on the issues of diversity, equality and work-life balance.
