The financial sector constitutes the largest Industry cluster when analysing blue-chip companies in Europe. Does the economic strength translate into D&I leadership or will questions over ethics be confirmed? A comparative summary of results
Author: Michael Stuber
194 article(s)
Google Memo Discussion misses the point
A google employee was fired for spreading harmful stereotypes about women – ten pages long. The following discussion revolved around freedom of speech and existing (gender) gaps in the tech industry. Surprisingly, there was little refection about how D&I did not reach large, mainstream audiences over the past years.
Vereinbarung und Unternehmenskultur: Von großen Worten zu starken Taten?
Kein Event und keine Broschüre zum Thema Work/Life, bei denen nicht die Unternehmenkultur als Schlüsselbereich beschwört wird; ebenso die Vorbildfunktion der Führungskräfte. Die konkrete Gestaltung dieser Elemente bleibt jedoch weitgehend unklar und damit unerfüllt. Unterschätzte und unerwartete Barrieren behindern die wirksame Umsetzung.
How to achieve progress and benefits with D&I? Keep cool and manage complexity
It could be so simple and joyful: celebrating diversity, colourful balloons and smiling people. All good. However, anyone who tackles diversity in a simplistic way and presents it only as a business case is not only cheating on his or her own label – they will also quickly reach the limits of credibility and expectations of measurable success. This is shown both by longer-term maturity and by the effects of recent events. Two key issues have become apparent: a focus on individual issues and a quite superficial desire for change.
30 Years Erasmus: success figures but no passion – Pulse of Europe: passion only
At its launch, the ERASMUS programme was revolutionary and provided literally unbelievable mobility. After 30 years, the stats and results are impressive. However, the look-and-feel of ERASMUS reports and events suggest a political and administrative focus rather than a celebration of a European spirit and integration. Other initiatives, like Pulse of Europe, show enormous spirit but lack the content or structure of established programmes. A combination of spirit and structure would be ideal – but is only found in few initiatives, like AEGEE.
Seven Changes that make your Gender Equality work impactful, accepted and valuable
Hundreds of leading women at the World Women Leadership Congress in Mumbai filled the large ballroom with stunning expertise and vibrant engagement. The only panel of that day, 17 February, discussed a delicate question: The invisible dynamics of gender bias. The only man on the panel, Michael Stuber, shares his top recommendations from 20 years of experience in advancing Gender Diversity on the occasion of International Women’s Day (8 March).
How D&I leaders should be D&I role models and work more with the mainstream majority
For twenty years, D&I was demanding inclusive behaviour and high ethical standards from dominant groups while running programmes for women and minorities. The analysis shows that this has to be reversed: D&I leaders should role model their ideals and work a lot more with the mainstream majority.
D&I must step out of its own comfort zone
D&I is stuck in routine, generic strategies and a copy-and-paste mentality. This analysis shows how a lack of relevance to the business and too much regulation is limiting the scope and impact of Diversity. A new business focus can bring back the change into D&I and unleash intrinsic energy. Continue reading
D&I could be a powerful alternative to Nationalism – if pitched effectively
It felt as if overnight many achievements of 20 years of D&I work were ruined when nationalistic and post-truth campaigns received support and were partially successful. A root cause analysis shows how badly managed globalisation and virtualisation led to fragile communities. D&I has the power to offer an alternative – but for that, it needs to be re-framed.
Post-truth dynamics in the D&I field and what we should do about it
While the Internet jokes about seemingly silly populist media statements, the successes of simplistic, fact-free campaigns continue to horrify experts, including D&I stakeholders. However, the impact of accelerating post-truth dynamics on D&I is largely underestimated as is the responsibility of Media and ourselves.
Praxisnahe AkademikerInnen
Die jährliche Diversity-Konferenz von Tagesspiegel und Charta der Vielfalt präsentierte mit „Visions of Diversity“ ein neues Format. Fünf AkademikerInnen stellten in 7-minütigen Statements ihre Zukunftsbilder für D&I vor – und ihre Forderungen.
Book Review: Overcoming Bias (by Jana/Freeman)
The enthusiasm about neuroscientific evidence about how our brain deals with differences continues to be high. As much as D&I practitioners appreciate the additional knowledge about barriers to making the most of difference, they are looking for robust ways to mitigate Unconscious Biases. A new book offers help.
Deutschland braucht ein Einwanderungsgesetz – vor allem für das eigene Selbstverständnis
Die BMW Stiftung Herbert Quandt lädt ein und sie kommen: Der Bayerische Innenminister Herrmann und SPD Bundestagsabgeordneter Oppermann. Vor ausgewählten Gästen tauschten sie am 26. Oktober 2016 in der BMW Welt in München Positionen zu einem etwaigen Einwanderungsgesetz aus. Eine Nachlese von Michael Stuber
Case Study: Involving Top Management Levels in shaping the Gender Diversity agenda
If you feel you need to reshape your Gender Diversity strategy and want to make sure top management is not only on board but actively engaged, why don’t you run workshops on the business case & strategy design with your first levels? One large country organisation of a global firm did that and received detailed input and lists of active supporters with whom they proceed. Continue reading
Consolidated online resource for European gender data: Excellent policy data, weak for D&I
The European Union’s Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) has introduced a new online resource for Gender Statistics. It aims at serving as a comprehensive knowledge centre for gender statistics on various aspects of (in)equality between women and men. Initial tests show that the focus of the database is more on general demographics and public policy concerns than on employment or management.
Case Study: The Power of Unit-specific D&I objectives and action plans
Going their own way has led one global business sector of a blue-chip Corporation to the highest levels of D&I energy and engagement. Their unit-specific approaches to action-planning combined with a globally compatible storyline provided both coherence and freedom to tailor approaches. They became best practice within their Industry.
Kulturelle Vielfalt: Kontext ist alles
Welche Dynamik sich zwischen zwei Kulturen entfaltet hängt nicht nur von den jeweiligen (vermeintlichen!) Besonderheiten ab, sondern wesentlich von örtlichen und zeitlichen Gegebenheiten. Dieser sogenannte Kontext ist entscheidend für das Verständnis inter-kultureller Prozesse. Dies gilt umso mehr, als dass sich Werte, Grundannahmen, Normen oder Maßstäbe mit dem jeweiligen Kontext verändern – bis hin zu willkürlichen Festlegungen. Kontext-Kompetenz wird damit zum Erfolgsfaktor im Umgang mit kultureller Vielfalt.
Jetzt NEU: Vielfalt endlich bunt
Wirklich gutem Marketing gelingt es, Kühlschränke an Inuit zu verkaufen – so hieß es einmal. Geniales und zudem wohl hochbezahltes Marketing ist es, Vielfalt als „bunt“ zu spezifizieren und dies als Markenwert zu etablieren.
Gender-Krampf: Selbst „Spitzen-Väter“ polarisieren
Zum 11. Mal verlieh die Lifestyle Bakery Mestermacher ihren Preis „Spitzenvater des Jahres“ – diesmal an zwei engagierte Männer. Kanzlerin Merkel betonte in ihrem Grußwort, dass sie eine „Entscheidende Rolle“ in der Gleichstellung spielten. Trotz – oder wegen – des medialen und politischen Lobs: Die Preisverleihung ist heftig umstritten.
Cultural Diversity – From normative models to exploring existing realities
Learning about differences can be tricky as it may well lead to putting (groups of) people in boxes. ‘Men are from Mars’ is one example for the stereotyping risk, and many traditional cultural models fostered categorisation – even in categories that did not exist before. Exploring the realities of cultures as they exist is an intriguingly easy alternative.