On November 29, 2011 Henkel’s first female board member, Kathrin Menges, talked about her recipe for success in front of 140 female Henkel managers in Düsseldorf.
Posts Tagged ‘Role Model’
Best Practices, Women in Business
Overcoming the Gender Gap by being an “Ideal Worker”?
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 by Astrid BostenWhat picture do you have in mind when you think about the “ideal worker”? Is he or she ambitious, passionate and hardworking? And is it a man or a woman? And what do you think are their secrets of success?
But the study clearly showed that there is no one-solution-fits-all approach that women can adopt to advance their career. Among the studied high potentials the Catalyst could observe that even if women are using the same career advancement strategies as their male counterparts, the gender gap between them and their male colleagues is still emerging.
However, there are particular actions that pay off more than others as the study could proof. Greater career satisfaction as well as greater compensation growth was identified if women proactively made their achievements visible. Furthermore, among the 3,345 high potentials an opposed result concerning the influence of leaving the organization on the compensation growth could be recorded. While male “leavers” have a higher compensation than those men staying with their first employee, for women it is more beneficial to stay where they have already proven what their work is worth.
One newsworthy best practice for this result is Virginia Rometty. She recently was named the next chief executive of IBM. In this ear of frequent job-hopping and layoffs, Rometty stayed up 30 years at the same company and finally made it to the top. She is the first woman to hold that job in the company’s 100-year history. As Rometty’s career shows climbing the career ladder within a single company can lead to more success because women can thereby prove themselves and develop sponsors who can help to proceed in their careers.
That loyalty can certainly pay off, Kathrin Menges, the youngest female board member of Henkel also proved. She began her meteoric career in 1999 at Henkel and is another example of how Henkel is developing the next generation of leaders from within the company.
You can read the complete Catalyst study here:
The Myth of the Ideal Worker: Does Doing All The Right Things Really Get Women Ahead?
Best Practices, Women in Business
High Performance: Dual Education / Höchstleistung: Duales Studium
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten
After school, everything was clear for Tanja Federkiel: It should be a dual study. The course: Chemistry and Biotechnology (Bachelor of Science) combined with an apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory technician. Meanwhile, Tanja’s apprenticeship at Henkel has been running for almost a year.
On two days a week, Tanja Federkiel learns the scientific foundation of her work at the University Niederrhein in Krefeld, Germany, on the other days she is at Henkel in Holthausen, working in the laboratory: “This way, I have a total networking between theory and practice. Just studying, that would have been too theoretical.” There are also phases of practical involvement at college, but “there it’s all about the grade. At Henkel, I work on my own projects that promote me. So I feel that I provide a valuable contribution to the company”. And Tanja saves a lot of time, more precisely: Three whole years. That is how much longer it would take to complete the training and college sequentially.
Tanja chose Henkel deliberately: “When I had finished high school I went to the US for a year as an Au Pair, and I wanted to start a dual education right after my return.”
Aptitude tests were the problem. In the worst case, Tanja would have needed to fly back and forth between Düsseldorf and America several times. However, Henkel found a solution: “The authorities offered that I could do some tests before I left home and all the others staggered over two days. “Henkel was just super-flexible, and supported me. As part of her training she is now getting to know even another continent : For a project she will go to China. “This is going to be a very valuable experience”.
As a student and trainee, she is currently engaged in Adhesive Research (AR Silicones & Sealants). With her team she develops new products. Currently she is working on a substance designed to improve the adhesive properties of a particular adhesive. She especially likes, that she can take responsibility even in these internships: “I’m included in production processes and fully integrated, even at laboratory meetings.” In the future job search, she sees herself, thanks to her work at Henkel, having a clear advantage over other students: “Because of the additional training at Henkel I have now a much better insight into the real business. As long as you strain and prove yourself, you can achieve anything.” [DE]
Best Practices, Women in Business
What are we waiting for? / Worauf warten wir?
Thursday, June 16th, 2011 by Astrid BostenThe article „The Moment of Women – What are we waiting for?” published on June 15, 2011 in the German journal “Brigitte”, describes how the conditions have changed in some executive boards of German companies. Kathrin Menges, Henkel’s Head of Global Human Resources, and Eleonore Traenckner, Global Project Manager for Adhesives Technologies are part of the article and tell about their points of view.
The opportunities of women in the German labor market increase rapidly. Independent of legislative authority and politics, many companies included the promotion of women in their business objectives.
Companies like Microsoft, that have four women with children in top management positions, or the insurance group Allianz where one third of the leading positions are held by women, best practices and role models cover the way to female career progression. McDonalds has thirty female executive managers and at Henkel the proportion of female managers (nearly 30 %) is nearly equivalent to the proportion of the entire workforce.
One pioneer of this phenomenon is Deutsche Telekom that in March 2010 announced that thirty percent of the leadership positions have to be held by women until 2015. That meant to Telekom’s Diversity Manager Mechthilde Maier that she had to focus on the modification of the corporate culture. The acceptance of women in executive boards and the attractiveness as an employer of choice plays a mayor role in her daily business life.
At Henkel the proportion of women in leading positions is already about thirty percent, though we did not introduce or announce a women’s quota or specific affirmative action programs for women. “It is our intention to advance every person who works in this company at the best”, says Kathrin Menges. That this way of thinking is successful shows the example of Eleonore Traenckner. She has been working at Henkel for four years and she never felt disadvantaged because of her gender. Kathrin Menges and Eleonore Traenckner agree on one main point: Women really have to be self-motivated to proceed in their career tracks and they are self-responsible for it.
However, companies with affirmative action programs and special measures for women are rare. What we see is the improvement of flexible working opportunities, specific mentoring programs and a general change from a culture of presence to a culture of excellence. And this is beneficial for both – women and men. [DE]
Der Artikel „Die Stunde der Frauen – Worauf noch warten?“ der Zeitschrift Brigitte vom 15.6.2011 beschreibt, wie sich die Bedingungen in manchen Chefetagen verändert haben. Mit dabei: Kathrin Menges, die weltweite Personalchefin von Henkel und Eleonore Traenckner, Global Project Manager im Klebstoffbereich.
Die Chancen für Frauen auf dem deutschen Arbeitsmarkt verbessern sich rasant. Unabhängig von politischen Regelungen, haben viele Firmen die Förderung von Frauen bereits in ihre Unternehmensziele aufgenommen.
Zum Beispiel Microsoft, zu dessen Top-Management vier Frauen mit Kindern gehören. Oder der Versicherungskonzern Allianz, beim dem ein Drittel der Führungspositionen mit Frauen besetzt sind. Bei McDonalds gibt es 30 weibliche Top-Führungskräfte.
Vorreiter dieses Phänomens ist die Deutsche Telekom, die im März 2010 festlegte, dass bis 2015 dreißig Prozent der Führungspositionen von weiblichen Managern besetzt sein sollen. Die Diversity Managerin Mechthilde Maier sieht ihre Verantwortung vor allem in der Veränderung der Unternehmenskultur. Dabei spielen die Akzeptanz von Frauen in Chefetagen und die Attraktivität des Unternehmens eine wichtige Rolle.
Auch bei Henkel liegt der Anteil von Frauen in Führungspositionen bei knapp 30 Prozent. Allerdings haben wir keine festgelegte Frauenquote oder gezielte Fördermaßnamen. „Unser Ziel ist es, jeden Menschen in diesem Unternehmen bestmöglich zu fördern“, sagt Kathrin Menges. Dass dieses Denken erfolgreich ist, zeigt das Beispiel von Eleonore Traenckner. Seit vier Jahren arbeitet sie bei Henkel und hat sich niemals als Frau benachteiligt gefühlt. Und in einem Punkt sind sich die Henkel-Damen völlig einig: Frauen müssen ihre Karriere wirklich wollen und sie sind selbst dafür verantwortlich.
Unternehmen mit gezielten Förderprogrammen und Unterstützungsmaßnahmen sind derzeit noch selten zu finden. Allerdings ist ein Aufschwung vermehrter flexibler Arbeitszeitangebote, spezielle Mentorenprogrammen und eine allgemeine Entwicklung von einer Präsenz- hin zu einer Leistungskultur deutlich spürbar. Eine Entwicklung, von der letztendlich alle profitieren: Frauen und Männer.
International Ambassadors
Success is about people
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 by Diane Humphrey
Dr Yvonne Traynor is Henkel’s Global Head of Quality – UA, and has been with the company for an impressive 20 years.
As a working mum, Yvonne has noticed many advances over the years in how easy – or otherwise – it is for women to fit childcare around building their career. Here, she talks about her career with Henkel from a woman’s perspective.
“I have two children, now 20 and 19. It hasn’t been that difficult to juggle work and family, because the demands of my job and the requirement to travel only increased as my children got older. When they were very young, I had a good childminder/housekeeper who helped out. The downside was that it cost a lot in childcare, and for a while it cost me more to be at work than to stay at home.
“Flexible working arrangements mean women with children can more easily maintain a balance between family and work. So Henkel is woman friendly in this respect. On the other hand, only 5% of top leadership posistions are held by women. So it appears women don’t make it to the higher ranks and I’m not sure why.
“I made an effort to continue my education to make sure I had the right skills for higher positions. My background is in chemistry but this doesn’t prepare you for senior management. For example, I obtained a diploma in accounting and finance, as well as an MSc in executive leadership. This made sure I kept up to date with the latest trends in business and became more aware of my own strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the day, success is about people. I try to make time for people and I appreciate the value of relationships.
“While I’ve come across individual men in Henkel who held old-fashioned views about women in the workplace, thankfully this is now rare. Henkel recognises the benefits of diverse teams and is genuinely interested in improving the ratio of men to women. My experience as a woman has been positive so I would recommend Henkel to other women.”
Diversity & Inclusion
Dream Team instead of Quota: Why companies cannot afford to do without modern Diversity & Inclusion concepts. Dreamteam statt Quote- Warum Firmen heute nicht mehr an einem modernen Diversity Management vorbeikommen.
Friday, May 13th, 2011 by Anke Meier
Dreamteam statt Quote- Warum Firmen heute nicht mehr an einem modernen Diversity Management vorbeikommen.
Es wird die These aufgestellt, dass die gegenwärtige Diskussion um eine Frauenquote für verschiedene Führungsebenen nicht weit genug greift: Nur umfassende Vielfalt von Mitarbeitern in allen Ausprägungen (Alter, Geschlecht, Nationalität, Ausbildung, sexuelle Ausrichtung, private Lebensumstände, Religion, etc) ermöglicht es, als Wunscharbeitgeber wahrgenommen zu werden, die passenden Mitarbeiter zu finden und diese auch langfristig zu binden.
Ein wesentliches Problem bei der Einführung von Diversity & Inclusion ist das mangelnde Bewusstsein der Führungskräfte dafür. Es gibt bei der Einstellung neuer Mitarbeiter das Phänomen des „Self-Cloning“, welches echte Vielfalt verhindert. Während man früher immer diejenigen Mitarbeiter bevorzugt hat, bei denen man ein gutes „Bauchgefühl“ hatte und sich somit sicher fühlte, sollte heutzutage eher das Gefühl der Unsicherheit ein Parameter sein, um mehr Vielfalt anzustreben. Dies natürlich nur unter der Bedingung, dass die Qualifikationskriterien voll erfüllt sind. Vielfalt auf Kosten der Qualität bringt keinen Nutzen. In diesem Punkt ist es wichtig, die Prozesse im Unternehmen kritisch zu beleuchten. So ist es zum Beispiel wichtig, dass Entscheidungen zur Einstellung oder Beförderung von Mitarbeitern von einem möglichst vielfältig besetzten Gremium getroffen werden, um self-cloning so weit wie möglich zu vermeiden.
Ein anderes wichtiges Element für mehr Vielfalt ist die Unternehmenskultur: Obwohl viele Firmen umfassende Angebote zur Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf haben, ist deren Nutzung häufig gering, oder diese Angebote sind implizit für Frauen mit Kindern gedacht. Andere Arbeitnehmergruppen befürchten berufliche Nachteile, wenn sie diese Angebote in Anspruch nehmen. So ist in vielen Firmen der Anteil von Männern mit Teilzeit sehr gering, obwohl diese genauso familiäre Verpflichtung haben und diesen auch gerne nachkommen würden. Hier gilt es , mit umfangreicher interner und externe Kommunikation und vor allem durch Vorbilder, einen Kulturwandel herbeizuführen. Die nachfolgenden Generationen von Mitarbeitern, die sogenannte Generation Y, fordert solche Rahmenbedingungen und will sie auch nutzen. Darauf sollten Firmen sich rechtzeitig einstellen; vor allem müssen auch die Mitarbeiter berücksichtigt werden, die ihre Karrieren noch im Rahmen der klassischen Aufgabenteilung zwischen Mann und Frau gemacht haben. Die impliziten Widerstände können sehr stark sein und einen echten Kulturwandel verhindern.
Durch diese und andere Maßnahmen können Firmen den Talentpool für sich gewinnen und die Mitarbeiter länger bei sich halten. Die Studie rechnet Einsparungen von rd. 10.000 Euro pro Mitarbeiter in dessen gesamten Lebenszyklus vor.
Dream Team instead of Quota: Why companies cannot afford to do without modern Diversity & Inclusion concepts.
It is said, that the actual discussion around a women´s quota in management positions does not release the full potential of Diversity: only a comprehensive definition of Diversity, including Gender, Age, Nationality, sexual orientation, Education, Religion and much more), helps to become the “employer of choice” , to attract the best employees and to retain them long-term.
One essential problem in realizing true Diversity & Inclusion is the unconscious bias of managers, leading to the phenomena of “self-cloning”, when hiring new employees. In former times it was good to hire those people, when we felt comfortable with them. Nowadays we should come out of our comfort zone and hire those, where we do not feel so comfortable, of course only, when the required qualification criteria are fully met. Diversity on cost of quality is no choice. However, this concept requires having a critical look on our processes inside the company. It is important for example, that hiring or promotion decisions are made by a true diverse committee to avoid self-cloning as far as possible.
Another important measure to benefit from Diversity is the company culture. Even though a lot of companies offer family friendly arrangements, their usage is low, or these offers are targeted implicitly at women with children. This excludes all other employees, who might fear disadvantages in their careers when asking for these offers too. The share of men working part-time is very low in companies. But these men are often fathers too and would like to fulfill their share of family work as well. To achieve this cultural change, internal and external communication is essential and most importantly role models. The future generations of employees, the so-called Generation Y, wants these offers and uses them. But it is important too, to look at those employees, who made their careers in more traditional sharing of family work between men and women. Their resistance can make it very hard to change the culture.
Companies, who take these and other measures, have a better chance to use the talent pool and retain their employees longer. The study shows savings of 10.000 Euro per employee during its life cycle within a company.
Diversity & Inclusion, Women in Business
Third WoMen’s Networking Day at Henkel / Dritter WoMen’s Networking Day bei Henkel
Thursday, April 7th, 2011 by Astrid BostenOn April 5, 2011 Henkel’s female networking group “Women in Leadership” invited to their third WoMen’s Networking Day at Henkel’s headquarters in Düsseldorf. Special about this year’s event was that for the first time our male leaders were invited to attend the event too. Thus the motto for the invitation addressed to our female leaders was ”Ladies’ choice – Bring your boss”.
More than 220 participants attended the Networking Day, among them a good proportion of men. Colleagues at different Henkel locations around the world additionally had the opportunity to join the WoMen’s Networking Day via live stream.
Kathrin Menges, Global Head of Human Resources, gave the first introductory speech about Gender Diversity @ Henkel. This speech was followed by a “Walk around Womenomics” – a speech given by the bestseller author Avivah Wittenberg-Cox. Avivah already was our guest speaker at our last year’s event and left us with the homework to start the dialogue with men. Asking Avivah, what our school grade was for achieving to bring such a good share of men, she answered “definitely an A”… Good to hear!
A panel discussion on “I did it my way – Role Models are telling there individual success story” with seven Henkel leaders (men and women) followed next. The panel talked about individual success stories, milestones in their lives and decision making processes.
A premier highlight and innovation at the same time was our Henkel twitterwall – an offer that gave the audience the opportunity to actively participate in the panel discussions by tweeting their questions, comments and arguments to a public wall. Thereby the diversity of minds, thoughts and perspectives were actively included into the ongoing discussion.
The panel discussion was followed by a presentation of our new Global Diversity & Inclusion Director, Markus Dinslacken, who introduced the consultancy offer of our Global Diversity & Inclusion department that is meant to enhance Diversity within the different departments at Henkel.
After a short break the participants were invited to join diverse workshops in which topics such as “Recruitment & Assessment Processes”, “Networking & Support”, “Flexible Working Opportunities” or “Reconciling Career & Family” were discussed.
The final item on the agenda was a panel discussion on the subject of “Women’s Quota – Necessity or Constraint”. Claudia Nemat, Managing Partner and Director for the High Tech Sector of McKinsey gave the introductory by presenting the key findings of McKinsey’s “Women Matter” studies.
The panelist for the quota discussion were Henkel’s CEO Kasper Rorsted, our Global Head of Human Ressources, Kathrin Menges and Bruno Piacenza, Board Member at Henkel and responsible for the Laundry- and Homecare business unit. Additionally we were happy to welcome two external guests: Regine Stachelhaus, who is member of the board of eon and Claudia Nemat. Their unanimously belief was: No necessity for quota but a huge necessity for change!
For this discussion again the twitterwall served as third party moderation by and for the audience.
After a half day of information and interaction the third WoMen’s Networking Day ended with an informal get-together. All participants were satisfied with the agenda and – even more important – the gender mix. [DE] 
(more…)
Women in Business
Powerwomen in Dialogue / Starke Frauen im Gespräch
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 by Astrid Bosten
The starting event of our internal women’s network at Henkel “Women in Leadership” (WiL) in 2011 was the high-light-event at the same time: the round-table discussion with Simone Bagel-Trah our chairwoman of the shareholder committee and of the supervisory board at Henkel.
So far, she is the first and only woman who is chairwoman of the supervisory board at a DAX-30-company. There were 120 women attending this event which was organized by the working group “communications” of the WiL. Anneliese Wilsch-Irrgang who is the leader of the department Regional R&D Emerging Markets (U-W) was the moderator of the event and she succeeded in having an open and amicable talk to Simone Bagel-Trah. One of the thematic priorities was e.g. the new models for flexible working hours, which are oriented towards today’s rhythm of life of women and men. The participants discussed different concepts which included different part-time working possibilities, too. In the course of the two hour event a lively discussion about mentoring-programs, training- and coaching-measures, flexible working hours, valuation systems as well as different management styles was rapidly emerging. “The participants were delighted with the open atmosphere of the discussion”, this was the impression of the organizers at the end of the event.
Exchange of experience for women
There are monthly meetings and different events which are organized by the network “Women in Leadership (WiL). Within these conferences several topics are discussed such as career management, skills, reconcilement of family and work, or models of flexible working hours. Thus, experiences can be changed and there is the opportunity of getting an insight in other business units and functions.
Women in Business
Ready, Steady – Stagnation?! / Auf die Plätze, fertig – Stillstand?!
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 by Astrid Bosten
A matter of common knowledge: more women earning better school and university degrees within a shorter time. It is also known that this superiority of women disappears by the time of entering into professional life. A Catalyst study conducted in 2007/2008 shows that women do not only enter into professional life on lower management levels but also lag behind men with the same basic position in advancement and compensation from their first professional jobs. This is not really an European or German phenomenon but can be consistently followed all around the globe.
However, the womanless leadership of German companies is a really German and also a most widely European phenomenon. Every now and then there is “pulled a woman out of the hat” who is voted onto the executive board. Nevertheless, this does not affect the pipeline of women from bottom up.
This is what Siemens experienced: By using this method of “pulling a woman out of the hat” Siemens managed to appoint two women onto the board, Brigitte Ederer and Barbara Kux. But although there was probably a signalling into the enterprise these two ladies did not change the situation of Siemens: 14 percent of leadership positions at Siemens are held by women and only 7 percent in top leading positions.
Though, where does the logic disappear in the scenario between education and profession? That question I raised during a conversation with a man. His logical explanation was as follows: “Professional life has nothing to do with studying or school. Education is a matter of diligence. However, just diligence is not sufficient to make one’s career. Entering the workplace means to start real life.”
A survey carried out by the “World Economic Forum” found out that, among 600 large companies, the real (professional) life offers a surrounding which is described as “masculine” and “patriarchal”. Above all there is a lack of female role models. These key factors combined are the obstacles for would-be female leaders.
Deutsche Bank faces this circumstance with a special mentoring concept: Since September 2009 there have been 30 high-potential-women in an exclusive mentoring program with mentors from its executive committee – all 12 of them men. The result: One third of the partaking women advanced to new or broader roles within only 18 month.
Mentoring as key to success? Or having a high-ranking-sponsor who supports the career of his protégé? To arouse awareness within the company it is important to become visible – for both, men and women. A further study performed by Catalyst in 2010 with the same business school graduates it studied in 2008 found out that two-thirds of the surveyed men had a mentor at the C.E.O or executive-committee level.
For Henkel, too, the mentoring concept is of importance to promote diversity and mutual understanding. The concepts have already been implemented in different countries and divisions or they are to be initiated soon. And, for that matter, the women themselves did recognize their chance: Last year the share of women in leadership increased yet again about 1.3 percent up to 28.7 percent.
This is a good basic position in the “war for female talents”. Thus, the motto of our women at Henkel for the future is: Ready, steady – go! [DE]
Best Practices
Must executives be authentic? / Müssen Führungskräfte authentisch sein?
Monday, January 24th, 2011 by Astrid BostenMust executives be authentic? This question raised Roland Wichmann-Kopp on his personalityblog (Persönlichkeitsblog) for a controversial discussion. Authenticity at any cost? Or just a moderate starring role? The happy medium seems to be the right one.
At least 94.6% manager named real authenticity for the most important and essential motivation factor for employees in a survey made in 2004. But this survey also showed that it seems to be more important to be authentic in personality than to be authentic in self-expression. Because the how of the rhetorical competence and presentation technique was only mentioned by barely 50 percent.
This leads to another discussion. “leadership and leadership styles”. Especially in the gender diversity discussion questions are raised concerning: Is there actually a female leadership style? And if so, by what are these styles characterized? And how sustainable are they in a male dominated working environment?
The answer again seems to be: yes and no. There are leadership attributes that are more often embodied by women but are not necessarily gender specific. On the other hand some female role models see themselves confronted with another kind of criticism: They don’t behave like a woman (anymore). Or they don’t have children and therefore are not challenged by the situation of reconciling career and family. Another dilemma? Perhaps. But maybe just a temporary dry spell before the next generation enters the labor market. Because following the increasing demand of women in leadership position diversity will find its way.
And honestly in small numbers brilliant role models are already there: our chairwoman of Henkel’s Shareholders’ Committee Simone Bagel-Trah is that kind of role model business women are looking for: she is a company founder, holds a doctorate in microbiology, is youngest chairwoman of a DAX 30 company and she is married and mother of two little children – and beside that, she is a very nice person and unpretentious as the SZ newspaper expressed.
Realness, truth, authenticity or congruency – what ever it is to be a good leader in the end what’s really essential is the diversity of leadership. Do you agree? [DE]
