Boss and father: Why I consciously took parental leave as a manager

Alexander Hanuschek consciously took time out for his family: In his role as group leader, he decided on seven months of parental leave – a step that shows that at ARRK Engineering, professional responsibility and personal priorities can go hand in hand. In this interview, he tells us how this worked in detail.

Dear Alex, let's start with a few words about your background. Before you could start developing automobiles, you studied automotive and engine technology at the Technical University of Munich – how did you come to choose this subject?

It started early on, during my school days I was already enthusiastic about cars and even during my school days I was thinking about what I would do with them. That's how I came to study mechanical engineering with a specialization in automotive and engine technology. However, it has to be said that the course is very theoretical – but I was interested in what was actually under the hood, I wanted to back up my theoretical knowledge with practical experience. That's why I worked on cars a lot in my free time while I was studying, and it allowed me to combine my passion for cars and technology in the best possible way.

Between my bachelor's and master's degrees, I did a voluntary internship at an automotive manufacturer, in the field of quality management for the development of the drive system for press vehicles – it was very exciting!

And today, my work in ADAS analysis at ARRK is extremely diverse: it requires a comprehensive understanding of technology, but also of user behavior and the knowledge of continuous improvement; with our work, we analysts contribute to the fact that the assistance systems continue to become safer and more reliable.

How do you see the employer today? From your perspective, are there advantages to working for a development service provider instead of for an OEM?

Of course, both always have advantages... from my perspective, I can supervise a wide range of projects at the development service provider, with the prospect of even working in other industries besides the automotive industry. ARRK, or P+Z Engineering as it was then, simply made the best impression on me. And I found the field of driver assistance particularly exciting with a view to the future.

In addition, various aspects that would now be considered new work topics have long been the norm at ARRK, such as a certain flexibility in how we organize our time, a corporate culture characterized by mutual respect that is actually practiced here, and a focus on employee satisfaction. And in light of current events, I can say that having a family is really a big advantage.

Family is a good keyword. You took seven months of parental leave as a manager – how did the company and the team react to your decision? Was there support or reservations?

Admittedly, it came as a bit of a surprise to my colleagues, which I can understand – not the birth of the child itself, of course, but the close timing to my role as group leader: I took over the group leadership in February and then from August I was on parental leave. I communicated this wish as early as possible and very openly. And if you think about it, women can't postpone their childbearing years either.

We drew up a plan for my absence and it all worked out well. What I really like to point out is that there were no reservations on the part of either colleagues or management. We discussed it, organized it and implemented it. At no time was there any subtle discouragement or anything along those lines communicated between the lines.

In your opinion, what significance does it have for the corporate culture when men in leadership positions also take parental leave?

Well, basically there's no reason why men shouldn't take parental leave! And the decision of managers in favor of care periods is a clear sign that family and career can actually be reconciled in a company and that it's not just lip service. And in the next step, it also encourages other employees to make similar decisions.

Furthermore, and this point is particularly important to me, it contributes to gender equality by breaking down the idea that care work is reserved exclusively for women. Personally, I made this decision together with my wife in order to actively support her and her career path. She had received a good job offer that she wanted to accept. Equality should have been a matter of course long ago. It promotes fair treatment of parenting and raises awareness of the responsibility of both parents. In particular, the change of perspective for both parents is good; you get to know each other's situation much better.

In retrospect, I have received nothing but positive feedback and encouragement, and in my opinion, the acceptance of parental leave for men – whether with or without personnel responsibility – leads to a better work-life balance for everyone involved. After all, a diverse management level that reflects different realities of life always promotes creative solutions and a better understanding of the needs of all employees. It contributes to an inclusive work environment! If you look at this from the point of view of sustainability, then you can say: companies that cultivate a family-friendly culture are always attractive to talented employees and can retain them in the long term. The satisfaction and loyalty of the workforce increase when such private or personal decisions are supported, and at ARRK this has been the case for much longer than the current discussion about New Work.

Do you have the feeling that men with personnel or management responsibilities in particular are still hesitant to take parental leave? If so, why?

There is still a stereotypical notion that men should be the main breadwinners, and that can increase the pressure not to take parental leave. In addition, many men are afraid that taking time off could have a negative impact on their careers, whether it's missing out on opportunities for promotion or being less visible in the company. Of course, being absent still has no positive effect on your career. This is where corporate culture plays a crucial role; in many companies, parental leave for men is not yet sufficiently supported or appreciated, so of course role models are missing and hesitation may increase. I have the feeling that a small change is emerging after my seven-month parental leave, because you can see that more and more colleagues are actively seeking a better balance between work and family and are taking parental leave to do so.

And presumably organizational concerns are an additional factor in making many men hesitant to take parental leave. Some feel very personally responsible for managing their team and fear that their absence could disrupt workflows. That was also the case for me at first, but it was possible to manage through good and forward-looking planning. Perhaps there is a general lack of information about the advantages of parental leave and of programs that encourage men to take this step.

When you came back from parental leave, were you surprised by anything?

No, not really! (laughs) Everything went well.

Let's take a closer look at your typical workday, starting with the interesting question: Do you, as analysts, test the performance and security of the developed systems in real scenarios?

Not really, that's the exception for us analysts. No, we primarily get the data from vehicles and test benches, which we then evaluate. In this area, you definitely need to enjoy troubleshooting! For us, the main thing is to determine whether it is a development error in a driver assistance system, for example in a sensor, or whether it is an operating error by the driver and perhaps even target behavior. If we can't find the error with the data provided to us, we have the option of simulating it on a test bench or even in a real vehicle. Sometimes errors can be checked on the control unit via simulation, which in turn enables us to test things very quickly and efficiently and find errors.

Can you explain a bit more about test drives, errors and error patterns and how you process the data? Will analysis activities be increasingly automated in the future?

As analysts for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, we have the important task of identifying sources of error in these complex systems, and we use a mix of different methods and techniques to do so. We work with simulations a lot because we can run through various scenarios in the simulated environment and observe how the system reacts; this allows us to identify potential weak points without endangering real vehicles. Of course, vehicle tests are also essential and the feedback from the test drivers is important because subjective impressions are often the key to successful optimization. Speaking of usability – how do users interact with the systems? This area is also of interest to us analysts because it is important that the systems are intuitive and safe so that misunderstandings or operating errors do not occur.

But let's say a camera doesn't recognize the stop sign or a sensor doesn't display the desired values. We then have to find out: what the problem is and why something isn't working. We start by analyzing data and looking closely at sensor information and system logs to find patterns or anomalies that indicate possible errors. If, for example, we see that certain sensors do not respond as expected under certain conditions, that is usually already an indication of a problem. In the fault tree analysis, we systematically break down possible sources of error and evaluate their effects on the entire system. This enables us to identify the causes of problems in a targeted manner. When we want to identify patterns or anomalies, but also when we want to create error images, we use mass data for this purpose; these are quite large and complex data sets that are difficult to handle with traditional data processing methods, simply because they have a certain volume and complexity.

Since you asked about increasing automation: certain similar processes in the complex analyses we carry out definitely have the potential to be automated. We are already constantly optimizing our work in terms of efficiency and quality.

Is there a project during your time at ARRK that you are particularly proud of, perhaps even together with your team?

It's not a single project, but the development of the entire ADAS sector. When I started, the ADAS team consisted of 15 people, now we are around 400! I am quite proud to have been there from the very beginning and to have been involved in and helped shape the entire development of the sector.