More female customers

“The composition of our workforce still doesn’t reflect our customer demographics,” admits Ursula Schwarzenbart, director of Daimler’s Global Diversity Office (GDO). Recent studies show that three out of four women are involved in automobile purchase decisions, and it also won’t be long until half of all vehicle owners are women. But despite these developments, less than eight percent of senior managerial positions in the Daimler Group are held by women.

The Group does have its first female Supervisory Board member, however: Sari Baldauf. Still, Daimler would like to see a lot more talented women in top positions. At the moment, however, Daimler is focusing its thoroughgoing diversity management activities on getting more women into managerial positions, which is why company executives are being urged to increase the share of female supervisors in their units. Hiring and promotion processes are being made more transparent, and female departmental directors and team leaders who wish to have a mentor are being assigned one. “Mentoring is one of the most effective measures for making women visible and expanding their personal networks,” says Schwarzenbart.