Posts Tagged ‘Diversity’

International Ambassadors

Diversity beats Uniformity

Monday, December 19th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten

The Chinese Ministry of Education wants to request universities across the country to reduce the number of supplied study courses by the “unprofitable” ones. Programs where less than 60 percent of graduates do not find a job within the first two years should be canceled. From their point of view a study program is only rentable for the government and the community if graduates will be integrated as quickly as possible to work and pay taxes. For the ministry it is a clear and compelling case: Why should the government fund an expensive education, if the high skilled then continues to financially depend on the government?

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Diversity & Inclusion, International Ambassadors

Henkel France signs French “Diversity Charter”

Friday, November 18th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten

For the first Time in January 2004 the idea for a Diversity Charter came up in the report “Les oubliés de l’égalité des chances” (By the Wayside of Equal Opportunity) published by the French think tank Montaigne Institute. Nine month later on 22 October 2004 the Charter was finally launched in France by Claude Bébéar Chairman of the Montaigne Institute, and Yazid Sabeg, Chairman of the Board, CS – Communication & Systèmes France, and journalist Laurence Méhaignerie.

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International Ambassadors

Meet The UK and Irelands new D&I Ambassadors

Monday, November 7th, 2011 by Diane Humphrey

Henkel is building on its reputation for excellence by adding seven Ambassadors from Henkel UK and Irelands to its Diversity & Inclusion Network.

Their goal is to champion Diversity and Inclusiveness and promote innovative working practices that engage, inspire and enthuse Henkel employees. These include the open sharing of ideas, where honesty and frankness are prized; The aim is to encourage an inclusive culture that becomes a normal way of doing business at Henkel.

Two Diversity & Inclusion Ambassadors took the time to explain their involvement…

 

Mike Richardson, Global SAP Masterdata Analyst at Henkel Electronics

I heard about the Diversity & Inclusion programme from some colleagues who attended the D&I pilot training in Hemel Hempstead, and thought it sounded really interesting. I like the way Diversity & Inclusion is not just about looking to set quotas or concentrate on one aspect: it’s about getting people in the right places and using the natural diversity that this creates for the benefit of the company. One area The Ambassadors are currently looking at is ways to make working for Henkel easier for people who have special circumstances or requirements, including flexible working schemes, homeworking, flexible hours, job shares and other initiatives.  These are all the things that might help fit work around having a family and a life.

 

 

Rondi Allan, Purchasing Manager, UK and Ireland

The role of the Ambassadors is to look at how we can role out initiatives and influence the company to be more diverse and inclusive. 
I believe differences are already being made, maybe in a subtle way, but there is a change.

Since becoming an Ambassador I have learnt a lot about Henkel’s approach o D&I and it is great to talk informally to my colleagues to communicate and promote the D&I initiatives. Equally, it has been fascinating to learn about the perceptions and opinions of my colleagues. 



I believe that greater Diversity and Inclusion will result in greater innovation, market understanding and therefore better decision-making and is essential to achieving our aspiration to be a ’Winning Team’.

International Ambassadors

Labor markets of the Future / Arbeitsmärkte der Zukunft

Friday, October 7th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten

How do students appreciate their own career? This question was raised for the 4th representative “Continental Student Survey”. Therefore, 1,000 Rumanian students – future engineers and business economists – were interviewed. The result: Rumanian students see their future career mainly abroad. Thus the Western European region was ranked as most attractive, followed by Switzerland and the United States. The proportion of students who can imagine a future in South America, has doubled compared to 2009 (to around 32%), and China even tripled the proportion to nearly 23%.

The optimism of the students, however, to really find an attractive workplace after studying is relatively small: while around 70% of male students and 50% of female students in Germany rate their job opportunities as well, only 17% of the Romanian students appreciated their chances as very good.

The reconciliation of family and career assess the students negatively, too. Their estimation: both, politics and economy have great development potential in this subject area. To improve the reconciliation of family and career, according to the students would be most likely through higher pay, more vacation time and flexible working arrangements.

Altogether the students in Romania see a big catch up in the context of diversity dimensions, age, gender and nationality, yet an equally great potential: in particular the concepts of “lifelong learning” and the “heterogeneous teams” are promising concepts for Romania, appraise the students.

The whole study of Continental AG is available at http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/com/en/continental/pressportal/themes/press_releases/categoryNavigation_overview_press_en.html?ovMode=showDocM&dlmKeyword=&ssanum=&DocId=5671468

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Diversity & Inclusion

Respect! / Respekt!

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten

Everyone wants to be treated respectfully. But not just in his or her private life, also at work it is an important aspect. This finding was already shown in the study of the University of Hamburg in 2006. In a first survey, 590 employees were asked about values ​​and conditions that are important for them at work. 2nd place in the study was “a boss, who treats you with respect”. Honoring and recognizing the work you have done placed 4th. The second survey of the university, however, showed the huge difference between the employees’ wishful thinking and reality. Thus, respectful bosses were rather rare.

Respect is still a timely and important topic, as the May edition of the German journal brand eins and the recently published book by René Borbonus “Respect! How you can gain reputation among friend and foe” (“Respekt! Wie Sie Ansehen bei Freund und Feind gewinnen.”) illustrate.

Prestige, dignity and recognition seem to be missing values for many employees at work. If you want to retain young leaders in today’s economic and demographic situation, more than just money has to be offered. “Those who do not respect them, will either never get their full power or will loose them” as the researcher Niels van Quaquebeke (RespectResearchGroup, Hamburg) stated in the brand eins May edition.

In his book René Borbonus says that respect first of all starts with us. You will not earn respect by just insisting on others respecting you. Rather you will earn respect by showing it yourself. As Borbonus writes in his book, respect is not only a prerequisite for a society that works but it is the key to our whole personal success. For anyone who wants to achieve something on a long-term perspective in business and personal life, a selfish and arrogant behavior will lead you nowhere. Only when we have learned to deal respectfully with others, we will receive respect and recognition in return.

A respectful, appreciative and inclusive behavior is the core of Henkel’s Diversity & Inclusion initiative. Only a corporate culture that treats the different ones as open as the homogeneous ones releases the full potential of each of our employees. This openness and appreciation can be found in the term “inclusion”. Inclusion is a prerequisite for the diversity of our employees to leverage their full potential.

But what shows and gives you respect? Personality coach Roland Kopp-Wichmann points to some practical approaches in one of his blog posts: Respect is not a question of value, but a question of appreciation.

What does respect mean to you? (more…)

Diversity & Inclusion

Holistic Diversity Management / Ganzheitliches Diversity Management

Friday, September 9th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten

More and more German companies have recognized that diversity should be a significant and important issue in the corporate strategy. This is one of the key findings of a benchmark report published by Dr. Petra Köppel, founder of the diversity consultancy “Synergy Consult”. 23 of the DAX 30 companies can currently be considered as active in the field of diversity management. Here, the gender diversity dimension is the leading dimension that most companies focus on.

The report states that the main focus of an economic diversity management should lie on changing the corporate culture. Thus, a holistic approach is necessary and essential. Structures, processes and mindsets must be changed sustainable with a long term perspective. The advancement of women should always be part of this holistic strategy but not the predominant one. Overall, the results reflect the growing awareness concerning the diversity topic as well as the need to further promote women to top leadership positions.

With its holistic Diversity Management approach Henkel was able to position itself as one of the leading companies within the study. Thus, Henkel could improve the share of women in leadership positions from 24.5% in year 2006 to around 29% in late 2010. With nearly 30% of women, Henkel is one of the leading companies among the DAX 30.

The complete results of the study can be found at: http://www.synergie-durch-vielfalt.de/pdf/Benchmark_DM_2011.pdf

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Women in Business

A strong commitment to diversity

Monday, August 8th, 2011 by Griselda Serra
Patricia Castejón is the first woman leading the Adhesive Technologies business sector in Henkel Ibérica.

Since July 1 Patricia Castejón is the new U-A General Manager for Spain and Portugal. She is also the chairwoman of the U-A Council Ibérica. Patricia took this position after David Rodriguez was promoted to Regional Manager AC Western Europe. Her promotion is proof of a strong commitment to diversity as Patricia is the first woman ever to lead a business division in the history of Henkel Ibérica.

Now, with Patricia joining the Iberian top management team its members are a balanced mix of gender (five men and three women), nationalities (Spanish, Italian and Argentinian), and age (from 39 to 60). With this team Henkel Ibérica will be stronger in the markets as it assures having different opinions and perspective on board so that the best possible decisions can be made.

International Ambassadors

What Diversity and Inclusion means for us…

Monday, July 25th, 2011 by Diane Humphrey

Here five people, from Henkel UK and Ireland, give their personal statements about what Diversity and Inclusion means for them.

For me Diversity and Inclusion is about being truly opened minded to embrace the talents and capabilities that everyone has. By doing this we are able to recognise what people are really able to contribute, irrespective of their level or function.
The real challenge for D&I, is the ability to move beyond our preconceptions and allow people to show their true value. 

Matthew Hayward, North West European Sales Manager AE

 

 

 

Diversity is everywhere, it is all around us and it is what makes us unique.
Inclusion is about bringing all this together – through our mutual diverse individuality we can achieve great things together. 

Anne-Sophie Pavan, Intern Legal Department.

What Diversity mean to me: different people, different views, different perspectives, all of these things make for a stronger and more successful team.
For me inclusion is about respecting the views, mindsets and behaviours of others whilst working together to achieve a common goal.

Lisa Vardy, Compliance Manager UK and Ireland.

 

 

 

 

What does Diversity & Inclusion mean to me? It’s about being fair to people, however different they are to you or the others around you.
By employing people from different backgrounds and with differing experiences the company reaps huge rewards in terms of creativity, cross-pollination of ideas and sharing of viewpoints.
In promoting Diversity and Inclusion, Henkel demonstrates it’s commitment to equality and fairness and is able to call on the full range of talent, ability and experience that is available to it.

Mike Richardson, Industrialisation Information Manager

 

 

For me Inclusion and Diversity is the correct way to say it, for I believe that if we are truly inclusive in our behaviour and actions towards each other then diversity will automatically follow. 
To be successful we must look beyond the constraints of the traditional working environment and focus on achievements and outputs rather than inputs.  In this way we will ensure that all of our talents are used to their full potential.

Rondi Allan, Purchasing Manager

Best Practices

Adhesives with Diversity Advantages / Klebstoffe mit Vielfaltsvorteil

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten

On June 10, 2011 the supplement”Diversity as a Chance”, published by inpact media Verlag and distributed by Financial Times Germany, was released. One part of this supplement is the story about Maria Xenidou, one of our top leadership women in the Adhesives business. Here you can read about her personal Diversity success story:

Diversity as such is no success guarantor. But one possible way how to leverage the Diversity potential as a success factor shows Maria Xenidou who manages an international development team in the business unit Adhesives and Technology at Henkel in Düsseldorf, Germany.

  For Maria Xenidou Diversity is definitely an advantage – if you manage the Diversity in an appropriate way. Since 2010 the Greek manages a multinational team. Her colleagues work in Düsseldorf, Milan and Headfield, and they come from Germany, the UK, Italy, India, Poland, and Greece. Some of them have been working at Henkel for two years, some of them since twenty-six years.

“Diversity as such is no success guarantor”, says Xenidou. “Many people underestimate the energy which is needed to transform a diverse team into a successful team.”  A great leap forward related to the productivity shows that the engineer succeeded. In the past, the development of a specific adhesive could have lasted one year or longer. Lately the procedure was finished after three months.

The success? An interaction between experiences and cultures. The market knowledge came from England. One of the colleagues is an expert for the details of product requirements. Creative German chemists engineered the technology based on a mixture of curious experimentiveness and long lasting experience. Colleagues from Italy knew about the customer preferences.

For Xenidou this is internalized Diversity – different ways of thinking, different experiences, and different qualifications complement one another, and raise the creativity and efficiency of the whole team. But: “People from all over the world don’t become a team overnight”, knows the manager. This teamwork needs a lot of trust and exchange. She always recalls at quote of Kasper Rorsted, Henkel’s CEO, who said: “If you are talking to people from different backgrounds, try to understand what they want to say and not how they express.”

In addition, it is important for Xenidou that the team has not only contact during their daily telephone conference, but also meet regularly in person. “You can feel how everybody is getting more and more flexible and take each other more seriously”, describes Xenidou the changes of her team.

This team is one example for a multinational teamwork at Henkel. The company has subsidiaries in 125 different countries. At Henkel’s headquarters in Düsseldorf/Germany work people from more than fifty different countries. Over 80 percent of the employees are working outside Germany and about the half in the developing countries. “We want to participate successfully in the development of the relevant markets “, says Kasper Rorsted. “Therefore wee need the best teams at the right place.”

For this reason Rorsted gave top priority to Diversity. “The business of executive managers is to compose the best teams. And these are mixed teams of women and men, different nationalities and experiences”, says the Henkel-Boss. “For us Diversity is an important success factor.” His  belief is that heterogeneous teams advance the economic, creative and innovative potentials of all employees and thereby support to reach better results for the entire company. Because if people always act and think in the same way, they will never create new ideas. [DE]

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International Ambassadors

Henkel awarded as top company that recognizes Equality in Spain

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 by Griselda Serra

The Minister of Health, Social Politics and Equality, Mrs. Leire Pajín and the State Secretary of Equality, Mrs. Bibiana Aido, gave to Henkel Ibérica the distinctive  “Igualdad en la Empresa” (Equality in the Company) which is given by the Equality Ministry.

This prize is a mark of excellence in equality and recognizes companies  commitment with the application of equality policies both in treatment and work condition opportunities, in the organization models and other matters as services, products and advertising.

Mr. Luis Carlos Lacorte, president of HIBSA, received the prize in the name of  Henkel Ibérica.

This recognition is particularly important for us due to the fact that Henkel was included as top company in the first year of celebration of this award, Henkel Ibérica shared the honour with other 39 companies, top and well-reputed companies in Spain as Repsol YPF, Ferrovial or Endesa and the prize confirmed the excellent work developed by the Henkel Ibérica Equality Council which has developed fourteen actions since 2008.

In the picture from left to right: Luis Carlos Lacorte, president of Henkel Ibérica, the Minister of Health, Social Politics and Equality, Leire Pajín, the Henkel Ibérica HR Manager, Griselda Serra, the representative of the Equality Council at the Social side and employee of Adhesive Technologies, Montserrat Expósito and the Labor Legal responsible and representative of the Equality Council at the Company side, Albert Solé.

 

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