Some studies proofed positive effects on the diversity of candidates invited for an interview when the applications are anonymous regarding the age, gender and ethnic background. For example a study of the ‚European Working conditions Observatory’ conducted that the probability of being interviewed regardless of gender or ethnic origin increases by about eight percent due to anonymous applications. Similar results were shown in a pilot study by the German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency in which eight different governmental and non-governmental companies of different sizes took part. But only three out of eight companies are continuing the procedure now the pilot is over. So, what are the negative aspects? First of all it takes a long time and thus is expensive to blank applications out (as it is usual to give the personal information with the application – and concerning some information as e.g. the name and address it is definitely needed – all applications must be reworked). Another interesting aspect is the question, if this system is stopping discrimination or just delaying it until the interview process. Perhaps it would be the better approach to provide the employees with trainings to get the whole application process rid of discrimination? For women the study mentioned above showed that the chance to get a job offer increased by almost seven percent because of the anonymous applications but no such effect was found concerning ethnic origin. For the pilot study no clear statistics are available because of privacy policies.

It seems as if there is not the one way to go – but that every company has to figure out which is the right recipe to ensure an application process without discrimination. If for example a company purposely wants to invite and hire applicants from minority groups as a part of the diversity-strategy blanked applications would not fit the needs. Fact is that – regardless of the instruments used – it is important to fight against discrimination in the application processes – for companies in equal measure as for candidates and the society.

LEAN – Talent management – committed –workplace 2.0 – business culture – non-territorial work place – Change Management – communication – performance – connected – skill profile – Assessment Centre – consulting – working everywhere – innovation – changing DNA of employees – leadership trainings – human being as a resource

Is this how working works in the 21st century – or is it science fiction? According to the German documentary film of Carmen Losmann “Work Hard – Play Hard” this is already the work life of today. Company buildings are constructed with the aim to look and feel like at home, the employees need to book their own work places – as they do not have their own permanent office anymore – and managers spend their time at trainings in the countryside to improve their soft skills and team solidarity. Work life and private life meld more and more, mobile devices enable us to handle the tasks everywhere in the world – at least as far as knowledge working is concerned – and the Management doctrine seems to be ‘making enjoyment out of the work’ to get the best performances and results of your employees.

“This reminds me of a sect!” said the man sitting next to me in the cinema while shaking his head.  Is he right? Are the companies of today and tomorrow trying to influence us, predetermine our values and supplying us with our friends, networks and leisure activities? Or is it wonderful and unburdening to meet the colleagues like neighbours at the planned ‘coffee-meeting-points’ of fancy buildings, not to have to punch the time clock any more, to work at home at any time we would like to and to get provided with any kind of support concerning the organization of private life by the employer? This is a topic for controversial discussions – above all a discussion between generations perhaps. While representatives of the generation Y are looking at the scenes of the film as a situation experienced everyday in their lives the elder viewer seems to feel like looking at Mr. Spock in spaceship enterprise – and is at least a little bit confused by this.

Carmen Losmann succeeded to create an interesting insight into the working atmosphere at huge German companies like Unilever, Accenture, Deutsche Post DHL and Kienbaum. Without any commenting and little music the film lives by the staff observed in the scenes and the smart film editing. Anyway it is this spartan and neutral form of expression as well which leads the viewer to call these working atmospheres, Management Ideas and behaviours into question.

Curse or blessing – what do you think about the working world 2.0?

Here you can watch the trailer of the movie “Work hard – play hard”

Sonja, please tell us something about yourself.

I am a student at the Leuphana University Lüneburg, studying „Management & Human Resources“ and working towards earning my master’s degree in spring 2013. For this semester, I decided to do an internship at Henkel, working in the ‘Global Diversity & Inclusion’  department and assisting the team in Düsseldorf as well as Shanghai.  

Why did you apply for an internship in the “Diversity & Inclusion” department?

After completion of a very interesting internship in the Human Resources department in Henkel’s Business Unit Laundry and Home Care in 2011, I decided that I wanted to continue to develop my knowledge and understanding of the subject and thus to apply for another internship in Human Resources in Düsseldorf. I was looking for an additional opportunity to develop my skills as well as my professional know-how. Furthermore I wanted to gain insight into more conceptual HR tasks as well as in change management. In my opinion, diversity in particular is a very important and future oriented subject and I agree that it is of great significance to view an employee as an individual rather than to limit one’s focus on the workforce as a whole. To create an inclusive environment is not easy but anyway an important competitive factor for businesses in the future.

What kinds of tasks are assigned to you at Henkel?

My work is very diverse, which is very exciting. Most of my assignments deal with internal and external communications with regards to diversity like for example writing blog posts for the henkeldiversity.com blog. However, there are plenty of other tasks as well – ranging from the work on an ‘flexible working competence platform’ to the support of a supplier screening for new unconscious bias trainings. One very exciting project that I am currently working on is the design, planning, and implementation of the first internal “Diversity & Inclusion” award at Henkel.

What do you like most about your internship?

 Of course the highlight of my internship is to be given the opportunity to spend three months abroad. I am thrilled to be working with the Asia Pacific ambassador of Diversity & Inclusion inShanghaitowards the end of June and I am very eager to gain new experiences through my three month long stay inChina. On an everyday basis though, I must say I was surprised by the very positive working environment, the highly motivated colleagues and that I was handed new assignments every day. Moreover, I was very happy to notice that all of my colleagues treated me as an equal from the moment I started to work for Henkel.

In your opinion, how will you benefit from working at Henkel?

 The experiences during my internship will definitely prepare me for future jobs in Human Resources. I have the opportunity to get to know very different aspects of the daily work in Human Resources and especially in Diversity and Inclusion. I have the chance to work in a diverse team but also to complete my individual tasks and to plan and carry out my very own projects. The experiences abroad will be a special development of course – work-related as well as personally.  

What’s next?

I am glad to say that, once my internship is over in September 2012, I will spend another five months at Henkel in Düsseldorf to write my master thesis on a diversity topic.

With the view to Europe’s Scorecard it catches one’s eye that 56 out of 106 companies are still in the category “asleep” – haven’t starting the gender journey at all. 20 businesses at least have appointed a ‘Token’ woman to the team, about 30 can be found in the mid-table and at the top of the six categories (a minimum of 40 percent of either gender) – none. With 59 percent of companies having at least two women on the Executive Committees the US are better positioned than Europe and Asia. But still there is a long way to go as here as well the most women are not in line or operational roles.Asia lags behind with 73 out of 89 companies still in the category “asleep” and only 4 percent having at least two women on their Executive Committee.

These figures should alert us – especially against the background of different studies which show the importance of mixed gender in leadership teams. For example according to the research report “The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards” which considered the Fortune 500 and is published by ‘Catalyst’ companies with more women board directors outperform those with the least by 53 percent concerning return on equity, by 42 percent concerning return in sales and by 66 percent concerning return on invested capital.

It seems as there is still a long way to go until we reach a diverse gender balance. To achieve this goal more is needed than just trying to improve the figures for reasons of visibility. We need to strive for a diverse and inclusive work environment in which mixed leadership teams are able to work together successfully without any concerns regarding the sexes.