Deutsche Telekom looks to close equality gap

Deutsche Telekom

In Germany, women in Europe's largest economy on average earn 23.2 percent less than men. And while German Chancellor Angela Merkel is one of the most powerful people in Europe, there are few other female heads of state or government in the EU. Boardrooms have long cherished the male role model, favouring them over women, but one company wants to change this. Deutsche Telelekom, one of the country's biggest companies has unveiled plans, of what could be considered a radical plan, to fast-track more women into management roles in the company.

Despite women making up almost 40 percent of the global workforce, the number of female CEO's across most industries remains low - the move by Deutsche Telekom could be the first steps that many companies need to take.

By 2015, the company has stated that 30 percent of its middle and upper management positions will be filled by women - the first gender quota to be implemented at one of Germany's top 30 DAX-listed companies.

Anne Wenders, a Deutsche Telekom spokesperson, says this is not a "tokenistic gesture aimed at political correctness," but a new way of thinking that could become a model for other German companies. "This is a revolution and it will change the way our company works," she says, Time stated.

Lagging behind

Germany lags far behind other Western countries when it comes to gender equality in the workplace and promoting women to top positions. In a survey of 600 global companies conducted by the World Economic Forum earlier this month, Germany ranked 14th out of 20 countries in terms of the percentage of women employed.

The study found that only 33 percent of employees at the German companies surveyed are women, compared with 52 percent at the American companies in the poll and 48 percent at the Spanish firms. What's more, only six percent of chief executives in Germany are women, compared with 12 percent in Norway. And just one of Germany's DAX-listed companies has a woman on its board: Siemens, which appointed Barbara Kux to its eight-person executive committee in 2008.

Deutsche Telekom applauded

The decision by Deutsche Telekom to try and level the field has been applauded by many, but the company has another motive behind their decision. Women comprise around 60 percent of all business graduates from German universities today and the company says it can't afford to miss out on those coming out of the universities.

Also, Deutsche Telekom cites recent studies pointing to the profitability of companies that have women managers. "Taking on more women in management positions is not about the enforcement of misconstrued egalitarianism," Chief Executive René Obermann said in a statement. "Having more women at the top will simply help us operate better."

Women currently only occupy 12 percent of the management positions at Deutsche Telekom offices in Germany - and none of the positions on the eight-member executive committee. In order to recruit more women managers, the company says it plans to introduce more flexible working hours and part-time positions, as well as expand its parental leave schemes and child-care services. It has also implemented a new "stay in contact" program, which helps women managers keep in touch with the office while on maternity leave.

Gender equailty

Germany lags behind when it comes to gender equality. After a heated debate, Norway passed a law in 2003 requiring that 40 percent of all board members of publicly listed companies had to be women. The measure paid off: company boards went from just seven percent female in 2003 to 40 percent in January 2008.

Spain, the Netherlands and France are now planning similar laws. Sweden doesn't have a quota system, but it has introduced other measures to help women combine work and family life, such as tax cuts for household and childcare services and incentives for more fathers to take parental leave to care for children. The policies have helped Swedish women, as they now hold 19 percent of executive board positions and nearly half of all board seats in state-owned companies are now held by women.

Only time will now tell if other companies follow the precedent set by Deutsche Telekom.

Jodie Humphries

Jodie Humphries graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA Hons in Creative Writing in 2008. She has worked for GDS Publishing for the digital group since July 2009. She has previous experience with writing for the web, running her own website since April 2007.

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