The Bayer boss has promoted the systematic promotion of diversity on a sustainable basis.
(Photo: obs)
Dusseldorf The louder and louder, the better. The “Beyond Gender Agenda” initiative, which advocates more diversity in German management, has presented the German Diversity Award for the second time. Werner Baumann received the honorary award. The CEO of the Dax group Bayer put the issue of diversity on the global agenda of the chemical and pharmaceutical company with strong personal commitment and made it a top priority.
“Werner Baumann has firmly anchored the systematic promotion of diversity in Bayer’s global strategy and promoted it personally. It is therefore a great honor and pleasure for me to award him this title this year, ”said Victoria Wagner, founder and CEO of Beyond Gender Agenda.
The top manager himself said: “I am honored to receive the German Diversity Award. It is an award for our worldwide #TeamBayer that I accept on behalf of. The award encourages us on our way to systematically promoting diversity at Bayer and thus ensuring our business success. Bayer stands in the middle of society – and that has to be reflected in a diverse workforce. “
The initiative, which the entrepreneur Victoria Wagner founded in 2020 and which is now supported by 45 companies, aims to anchor diversity, equality and inclusion in the DNA of listed and medium-sized companies. In this way, the international competitiveness of the German economy is to be secured and expanded in the long term. Beyond Gender Agenda is the official partner of “The Shift Initiative” of the Handelsblatt Media Group.
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A total of eleven personalities and projects were honored at the digital award ceremony on Thursday. The winners were determined in a multi-stage selection process by a jury of experts and a public online voting. In addition to Bayer boss Baumann, Bahn boss Richard Lutz was honored for his commitment to equal opportunities for executives of different sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBT +) and Allianz board member Laura Gersch for her commitment to gender.
Otto is “Company of the Year” in terms of diversity
Bahn boss Lutz said: “This award is an honor, confirmation and incentive at the same time. For me personally, but above all for us as Deutsche Bahn. On behalf of all employees who loudly and quietly support diversity and LGBTIQ *, I would like to thank them warmly for this special award. The diversity of our DB team is what unites us and enriches us every day. “
Otto can now call himself “Company of the Year” in terms of diversity. The largest German online retailer scored points with the juries with its understanding of diversity as a corporate mandate, the promotion of employee networks and the Otto Diversity Cube, which makes diversity tangible via augmented reality. The award as “Personality of the Year” goes to the sociologist Jutta Allmendinger, who was able to convince with her public commitment and her personal commitment to the Management Position Act II.
She said at the award ceremony: “My thanks go to those who persist in pointing out how important it is to include society in its breadth and diversity. All of this should go without saying, because participation is a human right. My work would be inconceivable without the commitment of many people who have been committed to diversity since time immemorial. For me, the German Diversity Award is an incentive and an obligation to continue to commit myself to the common cause, over and over again, even if the redundancy hurts. “
The prize, which was awarded for the second time this year, enjoyed a great response. “I am very pleased that with the second edition of the German Diversity Award we were able to significantly increase both the number of submissions and the quality of the nominations. After the sobering results of our ‘German Diversity Monitor’ diversity study in September, it is now gratifying to be able to honor outstanding commitment to diversity at the end of the year ”, explained founder and CEO Wagner.
In addition to Beyond Gender Agenda, the “Diversity Charter” advocates more diversity in German management. 31 German corporations and the Federal Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, Annette Widmann-Mauz (CDU), support this association.
More: Bayer boss Werner Baumann on diversity: “Without clear targets, too little happens”