Characteristic features

• Informal and personal interaction
• Flat hierarchies
• Annual “active staff outing” to strengthen the sense of community and to maintain health with varied workshops
• Christmas party for all staff
• An active contribution of ideas and individual skills is desired and fostered

Fair Conditions

• Analogue adopters of the collective wage agreement as recognised by the authorities
• Contract with remuneration according to incremental pay scale
• No distinction made between educators and socio-educational assistants
• Deferred compensation, company pension scheme
• Subsidised breakfast and lunch
• Discounted use of Hamburg’s public transport system (HVV Profi Card)
• Discounts for the sports clubs ETV and SVE
• 30 days of leave (31 days of leave as from the age of 50; 33 days of leave as from the age of 60)

We are an informal and family-friendly company, certified by the Hamburg’s Alliance for Families with the »Familiensiegel« (translated as Family Seal). Thanks to flat hierarchies, regular exchange with our staff takes places on an equal footing. Respectful behaviour towards one another is of fundamental importance to us.

At Finkenau’s facilities, we deal with working fathers and mothers on a daily basis who are able to pursue their careers and thereby combine family with professional life due to our professional, loving and reliable childcare. We want to enable this for our employees as well. This is why flexible working hours (including part-time work) is important to us as well as flexible solutions for emergency situations (illness, family care) and support in returning to work after a family-related break. We do not consider our employees’ family responsibilities or challenges as an obstacle to their careers but quite the opposite as an enriching experience for the pedagogical work.

In the interest of quality assurance, internal training courses take place regularly for all staff at our facilities.

We regularly qualify and upskill our employees in internal training courses. The training enhances and deepens the knowledge of our staff. They develop on a professional scale and gain essential additional qualifications. For career changers, these trainings are especially important so as to acquire basic and refining pedagogical skills. The compulsory training takes place during working hours.

Upon agreement with the employee, Finkenau usually takes on the costs for external qualification procedures. Topics of interest can be brought to the attention of the respective facility management or the foundation’s board of directors.

Internal training topics

Psychomotricity, participation, educational and learning stories, sexual education, documentation and observation, talks with parents, language support, creative work, philosophising, researching with children as well as maths at nursery and kindergarten.

From 2011 to 2015 the federal government funded the Hamburg project »MEHR Männer in Kitas« (translated as MORE men in kindergartens). Finkenau took part in this project with several of its facilities. After termination of the pilot project, we still attach great importance to diversity in teams and extend a warm welcome particularly to men and career changers joining the pedagogical profession.

When the social education worker and now chairman of the foundation’s board Konrad Mette founded his first kindergarten »Hölderlinsallee« in 1975, there were hardly any men at the time working as childcare workers. Right from the start, Konrad Mette placed lots of emphasis on diversity and on male educators in the kindergarten team. The number of male employees in our facilities has increased significantly since then. The objective is to have a well-balanced proportion of male and female educational staff to support child development.