Advocating diversity as a crucial component for success in global technology companies, Gabriele Sons, Chief Human Resources Officer of thyssenkrupp Elevator AG, urged 50 executives from the company’s Asia Pacific region to consistently incorporate Diversity & Inclusion in their business operations. At a recent workshop titled “Let us SHINE – SHarpen INclusion as an Edge,” global best-practice examples from leading companies were discussed to showcase the advantages of intercultural collaboration. “It is well proven that diverse teams perform better, and since we want to be the best in the market, thyssenkrupp Elevator is committed to a corporate policy that values and encourages diversity,” Gabriele Sons said. “Diversity & Inclusion is more than just a commitment; it is a vital pillar of thyssenkrupp’s corporate strategy and an important building block for its long-term success.” Diversity is already a big part of the corporate fabric at thyssenkrupp Elevator: customers in 150 countries profit from a close-knit network of more than 50,000 employees comprising of more than 100 nationalities across 900 local branches. The company’s global network of experts also contributes significantly to Research & Development projects, working across countries, sectors, cultures, genders and age groups to deliver solutions for challenges of the future. The common objective: Making cities of tomorrow the best ever places to live. Mrs. Sons added, “Different points of view push us to challenge ourselves, adapt to new ideas and ways of doing things, and thereby help to drive innovation. As a company that is aiming to transform the elevator industry through game-changing technological innovations, diversity is an invaluable factor in determining how we structure our organization.” MAX, thyssenkrupp’s predictive maintenance and service solution, is a testament to the success of this approach as it was developed transnationally by European, Asian, and American teams, thereby taking global needs and demands into consideration from the very beginning and at every step of the development process. Demonstrating that it means to lead diversity from the top, one of thyssenkrupp’s corporate goals is to increase the share of women in leadership positions globally. While 8.8 percent of management positions were held by women in 2014, today there are 10.2 percent, with the target set for 15 percent by 2020. In order to achieve this, thyssenkrupp employs a mix of measures, including the reconciliation of family and working life, and with the program “we.help” launched in September 2015, also encourages the integration of refugees. Through this program, approximately 400 internship and training positions will be provided in the next two years, of which the first 100 have been filled already. Diversity & Inclusion Management is an integral cornerstone of thyssenkrupp’s Human Resources policy, mission statement, and principles for management and was additionally codified by the signing of the “Charta of Diversity.” About us: thyssenkrupp Elevator thyssenkrupp Together with our customers we develop competitive solutions for the challenges of the future in the areas Mechanical, Plant and Materials. With our engineering expertise we enable our customers to gain an edge in the global market and manufacture innovative products in a cost- and resource-friendly way. For us, technical progress and innovations, allied with the combined strength of the Group, are key factors enabling us to meet current and future customer and market requirements around the world, grow on the markets of the future, and generate strong and stable earnings, cash flows and value growth. |
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