The Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM) received confirmation of the audit berufundfamilie certificate from the board of trustees of berufundfamilie Service GmbH on 10 December 2023. This is the second time that the IOM has been awarded the certificate with special recognition for its long-term, sustainable family and life-phase-conscious personnel policy. The berufundfamilie audit certificate is a seal of quality for a strategically organised work-life balance policy.

Prior to this, the institute successfully completed the dialogue procedure for the audit, which is open to employers who have been pursuing a strategic family and life-phase-conscious HR policy for at least nine years with the audit. The IOM was first awarded the audit certificate in 2011. After 2 re-audits, the second dialogue process has now followed.

The aim of the dialogue process is to maintain the high level of development of family and life-phase-conscious personnel policy and to exploit the potential for optimisation in individual selected areas. To ensure the quality of the certificate, a further dialogue procedure will be conducted in three years' time.

With the audit, the IOM aims to position itself not only in terms of its reputation as a scientific institution but also with regard to its personnel management: The attractiveness for employees with family care responsibilities is to be increased through concrete measures to optimise the framework conditions for reconciling work and family life. With the berufundfamilie audit, the IOM will document its commitment to work-life balance both externally and internally. Equality and family orientation are part of the IOM mission statement and are firmly anchored in the business plan (programme budget).