In Europe the boardrooms are a little more diverse in terms of Gender Diversity, but they differ not by much. For Tina Marron-Patridge, executive partner at IBM London, this is not a surprising fact. “Men are often looking for mirror images of themselves and that can make it harder for women.”

Henkel, IBM and Deutsche Telekom have set good examples in 2011 by appointing women to their boards. This change in culture is just what Viviane Reding, Vice President of the European Commission, would like to further develop throughout business. Her own mission is to see more women sitting in the boardroom around Europe. At the Women’s Forum in 2011 she said, “60 percent of graduates are female, but you don’t find them in the workplace later on. And you certainly don’t find them at the level they deserve.” In her opinion it should be in the interest of the companies to get those women promoted, to get them in and to get them work. “We see that women who are doing MBAs have achieved very strong MBAs with very good results. And later on, in the workplace, they are passed over by their male colleagues who have not done so well.” She wants to join forces at all levels. At the political level, of course, but also at the business level. The debate is not new and although the proportion of women in boardrooms is still quite low some changes can already been observed.

The British government has been keen to promote itself as a strong supporter of women in business. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, recently said that he wants to get rid of the “usual sort of rotating list of men patting each other’s backs and increasing the level of remuneration. I want to see more women in Britain’s boardrooms, which I think would have a thoroughly good influence”. An independent review by Lord Davies recommended that at least a quarter of the board members among UK listed companies in the FTSE 100 should be female. But the reality shows that only 21 out of 93 possible positions have been assigned with female candidates. The 30 Percent Club aims to change this fact. Their Goal: Improving diversity around the top table by getting 30 percent of the seats filled by women. But they do not want to force chairmen to this result via a quota. They want to motivate and encourage them to change their attitudes.

This is the approach Henkel has also chosen to increase the proportion of women in top leadership positions. Henkel’s holistic diversity management approach has three focus diversity dimensions: gender, age and internationality. In the center of all diversity initiatives and measures around the globe, however, Henkel puts the cultural aspect: the appreciation of the diversity.

To make best practice examples visible, Henkel’s employee newspaper “Henkel Life” meets successful women working in the Asia Pacific region on a quarterly basis. As part of the interviews successful women are asked to give insights into their secrets of success and to give advice to other female employees.

“I really consider gender diversity and inclusion as one of our key competitive advantages and as a tremendous asset for our company. For me it’s a personal priority to foster it, and I am happy and dedicated to see and support women to successfully combine business and private life. Today we have already a number of female colleagues in leading positions in our region,” says Patrick Kaminski, President of Henkel Asia-Pacific.

The elderly are the fastest growing age group in Europe, which will lead to an increase demand of nursing care. At the same time does the extension of working life and increasing numbers of women working lead to a decline of informal caretakers. An out-patient care is often being favored, but the lack of compatibility of career and care is often associated with various stresses for the employees and follow-up costs for the organizations. Loss of skilled workers, loss of productivity and quality of job performance are just a few examples of possible consequences caused by that.

These findings were also underlined by the research center EXPERTISE with their study “Operating Costs and Lack of Compatibility of Care and Career”. The study showed that this incompatibility costs the German economy about 19 billion euros per year. This means a total of 14,000 euros on average per person employed with nursing care duties. The predominant presenteeism culture in German organizations is causing half of the occurred costs. Although, employees are physical present at work, time pressure and stress lead to not fully efficient workers. A total performance loss of 33% could be observed. In contrast to that, part-time employees have still 93 % of their productivity. Due to the double burden a full-time worker additionally has 7.1 sickness days per year.

Companies have to face this problem and find solutions. “A major key is to openly address the topic and provide a contact and information center in the organization,” recommends Prof. Dr. Dr. Helmut Schneider, author of the study done by EXPERTISE. In most cases the care situation suddenly occurred and couldn’t be planed in advanced. Thus, the affected employees had little opportunity to adjust their time management. This time conflict hast to be solved together for finding a suitable solution.

Thus, the range of Henkel’s Social Services is also aimed at employees who have relatives requiring care. Prior to the assumption that a care-and duty-relieved employee can focus on the original work, the Social Services provides help in arranging care situations or supports employees in finding suitable care accommodations. The “Elder Care” program also offers the opportunity for affected employees to join a circle of experience. The exchange about the challenges that bring the care of relatives – very often over a long course of time – provides extra support for the affected employees.

With a series of dynamic, interactive, year-round programs the forum challenges individuals to view leadership in powerful new ways as well as enrich their own sense of possibility. Leaders are empowered to lead with passion, act as mentors to others and make a difference in their businesses, their communities and their lives.

Ten Henkel employees participated in the various workshops and seminars offered at the event. “It was a great opportunity for Henkel to connect other business professionals and benchmark diversity best practices with companies such as American Express, Honeywell and Ernst and Young,” said Angela Curley, Corporate Diversity & Inclusion Manager, Henkel of America.

The German Executive Association ULA is the political voice of all managers in Germany. It represents their interests in labor, fiscal, social and educational policy towards the government and parliament, both in Berlin and in Brussels.

“In their leadership role, our members want to contribute to take advantage of a living diversity. A diverse management provides a competitive advantage: It can better lead mixed teams, faster identify new markets as well as diverse customer needs and correspond to the demand,“ said Dr. Bruckmann after signing the Charter in Berlin.

Böhmer welcomed the joining of the Association. For her it is a signal to the equality of the sexes in professional life: “Forward-thinking companies recognize that diversity management contributes significantly to the company’s success. It has been scientifically proven that mixed teams achieve better results. This is a challenge for managers. In response to this, it is very gratifying that the German Leadership Association with its accession to the Diversity Charter declares its commitment to promoting diversity in leadership positions”.

The German “Diversity Charter” is one of the largest networks of companies and institutions in Germany. The initiative, under the patronage of Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel, is committed to the appreciation of diversity and inclusion in the corporate culture. To date, over 1,100 companies and institutions with more than 5.5 million employees in Germany signed the Charter. Henkel is one of the founding partners of the Public Private Partnership structure that ensures the continuation of this company’s initiative.  

Additionally, Henkel France just recently has signed the French Diversity Charter. Thus, Henkel has signed the German, French and also Spanish Charter version until today.

The importance of an efficient diversity management and the economic success related with it was additionally highlighted by a new study conducted by McKinsey & Company: “Why diverse Organizations achieve more” (“Warum diverse Unternehmen mehr leisten”).

The boards’ composition, the return on equity (ROE), and the EBIT-Marge of 180 companies were compared to analyze the impact of diversity on the organizational performance. The results clearly showed that companies with highly diverse boards have a better ROE and EBIT-Marge. Between 2008 and 2010 they could reach 53% more ROE and had a 14% higher EBIT-Marge than companies with less diverse boards. As a matter of course the economic success is influenced by a variety of factors and can not only be attributed to diversity. But the study could at least proof a significant correlation between diversity in the companies’ top management and their performance.

McKinsey identified three aspects which can explain the proven correlation. All highly diverse companies showed a clear performance focus in their recruitment processes. Considering this aspect and not only career and social related background of potential candidates can lead beyond a better performance to more diversity. Furthermore, organizations who take changing life situation into consideration create the required space for maximum performance of diverse employees. For example parents, who need to reconcile career and family, need flexible working models and can only have a carefree working time if they are supported by the organization. Finally, highly diverse companies are able to better react on a shift of the market as they have specialized diverse knowledge they can rely on.

Beyond the correlation with a company’s performance, diversity can also reduce the upcoming skills shortage by 50%. As the study of the “Bundesagentur für Arbeit” shows, senior, female, and international employees are the key to overcome the problem based on the demographic change in the next decades in Germany. By better using the potential of employees who are 55 years and older could reduce the missing of qualified workers by 22%. 17% reduction could be gained by focusing more female employees and another 15% with the immigration of international workers.

The results of the studies showed that there are five main courses of actions for the top management to gain a higher level of diversity. First of all, the topic must be part of the company’s main business objectives. A clear commitment of the top management of a company is the basis for the success of all following activities. Secondly, in the recruitment process the importance of diversity must be omnipresent. The appreciation of this aspect as a benefit could lead to different and better recruitment decisions. Furthermore, the abolishment of barriers is another influence factor for a higher diversity. Flexible working models or parking slots for handicapped workers are just two aspects which can create a working base for diverse employees. Moreover, a neutral system for the employee’s rating and promotion ensures that all have the same chance for personal development – only performance and not ethnical background, gender or culture should be taken into consideration. Finally, setting a signal through lighthouse projects can show the full support of the company’s top management with diversity and could lead to more successful projects.

In 2007, Henkel started its global Diversity & Inclusion initiative by consciously taking the above mentioned aspects into account. Thus, Henkel’s CEO, Kasper Rorsted, proclaimed Diversity & Inclusion as one of the strategic priorities for Henkel. Additionally, the recruiting and developing process was reviewed and modified and further flexible working conditions were introduced. Meanwhile, diversity at Henkel became part of our daily business.

“The Diversity Charter is a written commitment that can be signed by any company, regardless of its size, that wishes to ban discrimination in the workplace and makes a decision to work towards creating diversity. It expresses a company’s willingness to improve the degree to which their workforce reflects the diversity of society.”

For Henkel, a company that operates in 125 countries, Diversity & Inclusion is an essential success factor. “We find lots of diversity in our own ranks. And this success, we want to develop and implement strategically,” said the CEO of Henkel, Kasper Rorsted, when he signed the “Diversity Charter” in March 2007 for Germany. 2009 Beltrán Francesc, Vice President HR of Henkel Ibérica and Latin America, followed Kasper Rorsted and signed the Spanish version of the Charter on November 4^th in Barcelona.

In France currently 3,320 major companies show their commitment to diversity and have already signed the Charter. Beginning with an auditing one year ago by IMS, a well-known French non-governmental organization that helps companies fulfilling their social responsibilities, Henkel France has started stepping up its effort concerning the topic. With the help of IMS Henkel developed a diversity action plan focusing the aspects “disability”, “generation gap”, “flexible working conditions” and “social and ethnic minorities”. Creating role models by training all managers in diversity-related topics to demonstrate an exemplary behavior was a fundamental aspect of the plan. With this approach Henkel France wants to further support the general approach of Henkel as a socially responsible company.

Moderatorin des Abends war Barbara Schöneberger, die gleich zu Beginn mit launigen Worten den Abend eröffnete „Mit dem Deutschen Diversity Preis werden Teams ausgezeichnet, von Menschen, die ganz unterschiedlich sind und trotzdem miteinander klarkommen. Also geht dieser Preis auch stellvertretend an alle Ehepaare“, erklärte sie ihre ganz eigene Interpretation von vielfältigen Teams.

Wie die Idee des Deutschen Diversity Preises entstanden ist, erläuterte Roland Tichy, Chefredakteur der WirtschaftsWoche. „Die ursprüngliche Idee ist in einem Gespräch mit Tina Müller, Kasper Rorsted und mir entstanden.“ Bald kam McKinsey als drittes Gründungsmitglied dazu und die ursprüngliche Idee, gesellschaftlichen Einfluss auf die Offenheit und Wertschätzung von Vielfalt zu nehmen, entwickelte sich weiter bis hin zum Deutschen Diversity Preis.

Ziel des „Deutschen Diversity Preises“ ist es, herausragende Beispiele für praktizierte Diversity zu prämieren, um die Relevanz des Themas zu unterstreichen und andere zur Nachahmung zu ermutigen. Der Preis wird von der „Charta der Vielfalt“ unterstützt, einer Unternehmensinitiative zur Förderung von Vielfalt in Unternehmen in Deutschland.

Der deutsche Diversity Preis wurde in vier Kategorien vergeben: „Vielfältigster Arbeitgeber“, „Bestes Diversity Image“, „Innovativste Diversity Projekte“ und „Diversity Persönlichkeit des Jahres“.

Die Entscheidung über die Gewinner in den Kategorien „Vielfältigster Arbeitgeber“ und „Diversity Persönlichkeit des Jahres“ traf die hochkarätige Jury, bestehend aus Prof. Dr. Renate Köcher, Geschäftsführerin des Instituts für Demoskopie Allensbach, Frank Mattern, Deutschland-Chef von McKinsey & Company, Kasper Rorsted, Vorstandsvorsitzender von Henkel, Dr. Christine Stimpel, Deutschland-Chefin von Heidrick & Struggles, Prof. Dr. Rita Süssmuth, Bundestagspräsidentin a.D., und Roland Tichy, Chefredakteur der WirtschaftsWoche. Die Finalisten der Kategorien „Vielfältigster Arbeitgeber“ und „Innovativste Diversity Projekte“ wurden anhand objektiver Faktoren unter den eingegangenen Bewerbungen ausgewählt.

Sieger in der ersten Kategorie „Vielfältigster Arbeitgeber – Großunternehmen“ war BASF. „Diversity & Inclusion ist bei der BASF Geschäftsstrategie“, erklärte Saori Dubourg, die den Preis für BASF entgegen nahm. „Diversity ist wichtig, um Potenziale zu erkennen; Potenziale unserer Mitarbeiter, aber auch Potenziale unserer Kunden. Inclusion bedeutet für uns eine Unternehmenskultur der Einbeziehung zu schaffen“, erläuterte sie weiter. „Wir, bei der BASF, haben das Thema mit viel Freude und auch etwas Humor im Unternehmen verankert.“

Der Preis für das „Beste Diversity Image“ wurde von Henkel CEO, Kasper Rorsted verliehen. Gewinner in dieser Kategorie war Google. „Unsere Mission ist es, die Gesamtheit der weltweit verfügbaren Informationen allen Menschen auf der Welt zugänglich zu machen“, erläuterte Frank Kohl-Boas, der den Preis für Google entgegen nahm. „Das gelingt nur, wenn unsere Belegschaft unsere Benutzer reflektiert. Und es bedarf natürlich einer Unternehmenskultur, die der Vielfalt offen gegenüber steht. Dabei ist jeder unserer 28.000 Googler weltweit ein Botschafter unseres Unternehmens.“

In der Kategorie „Innovativste Diversity Projekte“ verlieh Dr. Christine Stimpel, Deutschland-Chefin von Heidrick & Struggles gleich vier Preise in drei Unterkategorien. „Dies ist meine Lieblingskategorie“, verriet sie „denn diese Projekte leben unglaublich vom Engagement der Mitarbeiter und Initiatoren“. Ausgezeichnet wurden in den drei Unterkategorien „Unternehmensprojekte“, „Soziale Projekte“ und „Initiativen“.

Als Diversity Persönlichkeit des Jahres erhielt Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel den Deutschen Diversity Preis. „Sie hat ein Kabinett der Vielfalt zusammengestellt“, erläuterte Laudator Roland Tichy die Entscheidung der Jury. Da die Bundeskanzlerin aufgrund des Bundesparteitages der CDU nicht persönlich bei der Preisverleihung anwesend sein konnte, übermittelte sie ihren Dank in einer Videobotschaft. Dabei würdigte sie die Initiative des Deutschen Diversity Preises und rief dazu auf, die Vielfalt in Deutschland weiter zu fördern.  

Die Preisträger des Deutschen Diversity Preises 2011 im Überblick:

1. Kategorie: Vielfältigster Arbeitgeber

Unterkategorie Großunternehmen                                                         

Preisträger 1. Platz:                                                       BASF                         
Auszeichnung Exzellent:                                     Deutsche Post DHL und Ford-Werke

Unterkategorie Kleine/mittlere Unternehmen     

Preisträger:                                                                   twago

Unterkategorie Öffentliche und soziale Institutionen                   

Preisträger:                                                                   RWTH Aachen

2. Kategorie: Bestes Diversity Image

Preisträger:                                                                   Google

Unter den Top 5:                                                          Adidas, IKEA, Bosch, SAP

3. Kategorie: Innovativste Diversity Projekte

Preisträger Unternehmensprojekte:                    ING.Diba 

Preisträger Initiative:                                          CJD e.V. Eutin und Hamburg 

Preisträger Soziale Projekte:     Berufswege für Frauen e.V. und TIO e.V

 4. Kategorie: Diversity Persönlichkeit des Jahres     

Preisträgerin:                                                     Dr. Angela Merkel

 Weitere Informationen finden Sie im Internet unter http://www.diversity-preis.de/ 

Today, the first “German Diversity Award” ceremony will take place at a gala event in the prestigious Langen Foundation in Neuss. About 200 guests from business, politics, society and media are invited to this event. Barbara Schöneberger will host the awards ceremony.

The aim of the initiators – Henkel, McKinsey & Company and WirtschaftsWoche – is to encourage a culture of diversity by rewarding outstanding achievements in this area, highlighting successes and encouraging imitation. The awards will be hand over in four categories: Most Diverse Employer in Germany, Best Diversity Image, Diversity Personality of the Year and Most Innovative Diversity Projects. The high number of applications shows how important the diversity topic in Germany is; for both, society and economy.

Starting at 7 p.m. CET you can follow the ceremony via our twitter account: www.twitter.com/henkeldiversity. Be the first one who gets to know who the winners in the four different catagories are!

Diversity und personelle Vielfalt – unterschiedliche Nationalitäten, Geschlechter und Erfahrungen – sind entscheidende Erfolgsfaktoren für Unternehmen und Organisationen. Zum ersten Mal wurde nun auch in Deutschland ein offizieller Preis ins Leben gerufen, der Arbeitgeber, Einzelpersonen und innovative Projekte würdigt, die sich durch eine Kultur der Vielfalt auszeichnen.

Der von Henkel, McKinsey&Company und der WirtschaftsWoche initiierte „Deutsche Diversity Preis“ wird heute im Rahmen einer festlichen Gala in der renommierten Langen Foundation in Neuss verliehen, zu der rund 200 Gäste aus Wirtschaft, Politik, Kultur und Medien erwartet werden. Durch den Abend führt Barbara Schöneberger.

Mit dem „Deutschen Diversity Preis“ wollen die Initiatoren zu einer Kultur der Vielfalt anspornen, herausragende Leistungen auf diesem Gebiet prämieren, Erfolge hervorheben und andere zur Nachahmung ermutigen. Die Preise werden in insgesamt vier Kategorien vergeben: Vielfältigster Arbeitgeber Deutschlands, Bestes Diversity Image, Diversity Persönlichkeit des Jahres und Innovativste Diversity Projekte. Die hohe Zahl der eingereichten Bewerbungen zeigt, welchen Stellenwert das Thema Diversity bereits jetzt in der deutschen Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft hat.

Folgen Sie unseren live tweeds über unseren twitter account: www.twitter.com/henkeldiversity und seien Sie die ersten, die erfahren, wer die Gewinner in den vier verschiedenen Kategorien sind.

Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted recently emphasized on the importance of expanding business in the debt crisis through innovation in an interview he gave to CNBC SquawkBox in the US.

And creative minds are what the initiators of Henkel’s Innovation Challenge are looking for. Coinciding with the start of the new academic year, the fifth annual “Henkel Innovation Challenge” international student competition has started in the beginning of October. Within this competition, students from all disciplines are invited to develop innovative ideas in teams of two.

The task is to develop a concept for a product under a Henkel brand or for an innovative technology which will meet the needs of customers in the year 2030 – for one of Henkel’s business areas: Cosmetics/Toiletries, Laundry & Home Care or Adhesive Technologies. And, as Henkel does not only emphasize on innovation power but also on sustainability, this year the product ideas and technologies must contribute to sustainable development, such as reducing energy or water consumption.

Students from 14 European countries and the Asia/Pacific region will compete with their best ideas. The winner will be honored in Poland in April 2012 and will receive an around-the-world ticket and a travel voucher worth 1000 euros.

So, if you’re a student, and you have a good fellow by your side and you both want to develop product and service ideas for Henkel brands in 2030, then take your chance and apply for Henkel’s Innovation Challenge until December 12.