Frankfurt In the middle of its restructuring, Commerzbank is again reorganizing its management team. Human Resources Director Sabine Schmittroth will leave the institute at the end of the year when her contract expires, Germany’s second largest private bank announced on Wednesday.
“Since the autumn of last year, I’ve been wanting to start a new phase in my life after 38 years at Commerzbank,” explained Schmittroth. “The moment is right for this. Because by the end of the year we will have initiated the majority of the HR transformation.” The institute wants to cut a total of 10,000 jobs by 2024.
However, the indiscretions within the company and the doubts as to whether the supervisory board intends to extend her contract at all may also have played a role in Schmittroth’s departure.
Originally, the 56-year-old manager’s contract was to be extended by five years in September 2021. According to financial circles, the chairman of the supervisory board, Helmut Gottschalk, took the topic off the agenda at short notice. Internally, he justifies this by saying that he wants to take more time to make the decision and ensure that a fiasco like Jörg Hessenmüller’s doesn’t happen again.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The supervisory board initially extended the contract of the IT board member in June and then terminated it again a few months later. The reason: According to insiders, Hessenmüller had not sufficiently informed the control committee in advance about serious problems with the outsourcing of securities processing to HSBC.
In addition to Hessenmüller, ex-boss Martin Zielke, corporate customer boss Roland Boekhout and private customer boss Michael Mandel have also left the bank early in the past two years. There were also numerous changes on the Supervisory Board.
Criticism of “public execution”
After the contract extension in September was canceled at short notice, the Supervisory Board only wanted to deal with this issue in the spring or early summer. Within the Commerzbank management, Schmittroth had many advocates who hoped to the last that she would stay on board.
Among other things, Schmittroth is likely to have been massively annoyed that she was recently accused of things internally for which she is no longer responsible – for example, that digital advice centers were set up too slowly.
Schmittroth temporarily assumed responsibility for private customer business in October 2020 after the departure of Michael Mandel. Since December 2021, however, the Austrian Thomas Schaufler has been responsible for this.
Within Commerzbank, many find the circumstances surrounding Schmittroth’s departure lacking in style. The internal criticism of her, which was first reported by the “Wirtschaftswoche” last week, was tantamount to a “public execution”, said a person familiar with the discussions. “You can’t do that like that.”
Another Commerzbank insider is also shocked. “If Commerzbank doesn’t need something, it’s renewed personnel discussions,” he says. Germany’s second largest private bank has made great progress in implementing its strategy and was in the black in 2021. The share price has also recovered. “The fact that the bank is now causing itself problems by reorganizing the board of directors is stupid.”
Spirited homegrown
Schmittroth began her career in 1984 with an apprenticeship at Dresdner Bank and then worked there in various positions. After the takeover by Commerzbank, she made a career there. At the beginning of 2020, she became a member of the Management Board as Labor Director, and ten months later she also assumed responsibility for private customer business.
However, the chairman of the supervisory board, Gottschalk, who has been in office since April 2021, was of the opinion that both tasks were too much – and subsequently withdrew Schmittroth’s responsibility for private customer business again.
In addition to her job at Commerzbank, Schmittroth has also been Chairwoman of the Employers’ Association of the Private Banking Industry since March 2021. In this role, she is also busy in the ongoing collective bargaining with the unions.
In contrast to many other bank board members, who come across as rather stiff, Schmittroth is considered spirited and does not shy away from unusual measures. After the takeover by Commerzbank, she took the green Dresdner Bank umbrellas from some colleagues. Schmittroth wanted to make it so clear to them that they should now work for a new financial institution and not trust the old days.
Warm farewell words
Schmittroth explained on Wednesday that it was not unusual that she was now looking for a new career perspective after a grueling job cut. “I am now paving the way for handing over responsibility for my department to new hands.” Until then, however, she will continue to do her job with full commitment.
CEO Manfred Knof paid tribute to Schmittroth for her decision. “We all work very well with her on the board,” emphasized Knof. “The fact that the talks with our social partners last year went so well is mainly due to her.”
The head of the supervisory board, Gottschalk, explained that Schmittroth had made a significant contribution to the fact that the institute was making good progress in converting it into a digital consulting bank for Germany. “Respect and thanks are due to her, above all, for the dual responsibility that she took on for a year with great success for the Human Resources department and the Private and Small Business Customers segment,” explained Gottschalk.
More: Interview with Sabine Schmittroth: “We will keep looking at the amount of the allowances”