Men are still clearly in the majority in important management positions.
(Photo: unsplash, Montage: M. Becker for Handelsblatt)
Making a choice is always hard – and often even hard reality when it comes to gender issues. Just two of the twelve business representatives who are flying to China with the Chancellor are women. According to government circles, because Germany’s top management is still extremely male-dominated, there are regular problems in getting enough women to travel with them. So far the bitter reality.
The proportion of women in Germany’s highest management circles has risen by just 0.8 percent in the past twelve months. So by 2022, the list will still have more men named Christian than women, according to the nonprofit Allbright Foundation. A modern, cosmopolitan industrial nation definitely looks more diverse.
Anyone who had any doubts as to whether a women’s quota would really achieve anything must realize by this year at the latest: it is far from achieving enough. The small plus in the proportion of women is mainly due to the large Dax companies – i.e. those companies for which there is already a binding quota for women on the board.
Most other companies seem to have the same level of ambition when it comes to diversity as ever. With the same excuses: “We just can’t find anyone.” Or: “That doesn’t work in our industry.” Or more recently: “We have really different problems right now.” Diverse, mixed teams help to successfully get through the crises of this time control, as studies by the strategy consultancy McKinsey show.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
However, if we keep up the current pace, something like gender parity in top management will only be achieved in 42 years. No company should have that much time in view of the war, Corona and a shortage of skilled workers. Quite apart from the fact that pictures of all-male board members, podiums or aircraft crews always have enormous shitstorm potential.
Quota of women on the board: no more loopholes
The German diversity lethargy of some companies, in which loopholes are used as long as they are still open, is all the more incomprehensible. For example, the Cologne-based outdoor advertiser Ströer recently reduced its board of directors from four to three members – with the side effect that the MDax company now meets the requirements of the Füpog II quota law, despite three men and zero women on the board. Because: The regulation only applies to a board size of more than three members.
Whether there is reason behind such cases or not: they make it clear that it can only be a matter of time before the legislator tightens the criteria for the quota for women. Demands for this are already on the table. They could also affect younger stock exchange groups, which are also often exempt from the current quota system because they have no works councils.
Listen to the “Rethink Work” podcast on social background as a diversity factor here
Companies still have a choice, even if some Christians don’t like it. Either they act now and find the best women for their most important posts ahead of time and raise further female and international talent on the levels below.
Or they muddle through and spend their energy trying to circumvent existing rules and stave off shitstorms – only to be forced to bring more women onto the board in a few years, if everyone else starts looking too.
Yes, quotas should always only be a tool. But where they apply, they work, as the numbers show – in complete contrast to the principle of voluntariness.
More: Handelsblatt Live “The Shift Summit” – How diversity enriches companies