05.06.2026 Sabrina Ludwig 97

KIKXXL: “Our employees’ families also benefit from the EAP program”

At pme Familienservice , we firmly Familienservice that mental health is one of the most important factors in building strong teams. The HR department at KIKXXL shares this view. As a nationwide service provider, they know that high-quality external EAP support takes the pressure off employees , managers, and the HR department. 

Lina Duwendag is the Deputy HR Manager at KIKXXL. In this case study, she explains why the partnership with pme Familienservice is Familienservice win-win situation for everyone and how it helps the company effectively engage with and support the younger generation. 

Company Overview

Challenge

High demand for internal counseling, overwhelmed managers, growing family-related stress, and external services that are difficult to access. 

Solution

A readily available, low-threshold EAP counseling service (offered digitally and by phone) that covers a wide range of topics, providing employees with direct, confidential, and professional initial support while alleviating the burden on managers. 
 

(Photo: KIKXXL)

Since May 2024, pme Familienservice has been supporting Familienservice with EAP services and the pme Academy. What prompted the decision to invest more heavily in employee mental health? 

Lina Duwendag: There wasn't a single trigger; rather, there were several factors that led us to expand our offerings.  

One factor was that our in-house trained staff for debt counseling were very well received by employees. At the same time, employee and BEM meetings revealed that managers and the HR department often reached their limits when employees asked for support with additional challenges.  

This is not just about mental health in the narrow sense, but about a wide range of family-related issues. Topics such as caring for family members are becoming increasingly common. Information on the internet is often confusing in this area, and employees need concrete, reliable guidance and checklists.  

That’s why we looked for a way to offer employees quick and easily accessible first aid and support—without major obstacles or long wait times. 

All of this has shown that a professional EAP program is a worthwhile investment. Of course, part of the goal is also to reduce the number of sick days. After all, when employees receive prompt and effective support, they are naturally able to work with greater peace of mind.  

What have you appreciated so far about working with pme Familienservice? 

The prompt assistance with all issues. And the open and honest collaboration. 

Which employee groups benefit most from these programs? 

Everyone! Internal HR, managers, and employees: Because no matter what concerns you may have right now—whether mental or physical—they are fully Familienservice by the EAP and Academy programs offered by pme Familienservice .  

Our employees' families also benefit from the EAP program: they can use the 24/7 Expertline as well to get support. 

Which benefits are particularly popular among your employees? 

Life situation coaching is most commonly used as part of EAP counseling —specifically, the 24/7 expert hotline, where employees can receive quick, psychosocial, and confidential assistance.

The seminars and coaching sessions offered by the pme Academy are also well attended and frequently booked. These are primarily designed to be preventive in nature. 

We’ve recently started using the Mindance app from pme Familienservice—but we’ve only just begun rolling it out. I can’t say anything about it yet, but I’m really looking forward to the feedback. 

Was there any specific feedback or an example from your day-to-day work that you'd like to share?  

Just yesterday, an employee received help from the pme Familienservice s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Familienservice has a concrete plan in hand, as well as a first appointment at a local counseling center. 

Which service best supports you as an HR professional and manager? 

I recommended the Mindance app to our HR team because I really like it myself and enjoy using it, and because it offers a wide range of easily accessible resources: mental exercises, one-on-one coaching, and peer-to-peer exchanges with other HR professionals and managers. 

I also really like the courses and seminars offered by the pme Academy. Just recently, I took a course through the app on how to recognize mental health issues in employees and how to support them. I’ve also completed a course on the topic of “Chronic Illness in the Workplace.” 

How did your collaboration with pme Familienservice get started?  

We’re very tech-savvy. We have our own app and an intranet. That’s where we posted information about the EAP and the Academy’s offerings. Right at the start, we also held a live video conference with our pme contact, Rebecca Redlich, who introduced the program to all employees. 

We also received flyers from pme and have displayed them in poster frames at all our locations. We like to bring these flyers with us when we have performance reviews, and the works council also distributes them when they have confidential discussions with employees and are asked for advice. 

There are now posters in the restrooms advertising the Mindance app, complete with a QR code that can be scanned directly with a cell phone. 

What HR trends do you foresee over the next 5 to 10 years—including those related to Gen Z and young talent? 

I would say that mental health will continue to gain importance. Older generations tended to put their own well-being on the back burner. But that has definitely changed. 

That’s why I’m really curious to see how the Mindance app will be used, because I think it will help us better connect with our younger employees. The majority of our workforce is under 30, and the younger generation is more hesitant to make phone calls.  

What advice would you give to other companies that want to make mental health a higher strategic priority?  

I could go on and on about a comprehensive workplace wellness plan. That’s a very, very broad question. Maybe Familienservice with the pme Familienservice as a first step, since they’ll walk you through the process and give you a solid introduction to the topic. 

Would you Familienservice pme Familienservice —and why? 

I think you can tell: we’re extremely satisfied. We’re taking advantage of the program, and our employees are too. And that takes some of the pressure off HR. We can refer our employees to a professional service where they can receive first aid—and that’s especially important for our younger workforce. We have a large number of employees with a wide variety of life stories and challenges; this program is perfectly suited to that diversity. 
 

(Photo: KIKXXL, Dortmund location)