A diverse workforce can boost innovation, team performance, and business success, as well as make a company highly attractive as an employer.
We want to benefit from the opportunities offered by a heterogeneous workforce, which is why we established the Diversity Council in 2013. Consisting of executive managers from all divisions as well as from select Group functions, this council is responsible for developing and elaborating our diversity and inclusion strategy. Our current focus areas are internationality, demography, and the gender ratio.
In 2013, 25% of the management positions at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, were held by women, which means that we reached our strategic goal of raising this percentage up to 25% to 30%. And we intend to further increase this ratio by 2016. Fiscal 2013 was the first time that a woman was appointed as head of a Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Group division.
Progress 2013
25% of the management positions held by women
Since we are an international global player, one of our fundamental principles is to recruit employees from the countries in which we operate and offer them career development opportunities. Currently, people from 114 nations work at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
In Europe and the United States particularly, we are addressing demographic change through various programs; this includes adapting workplaces to the needs of older employees as well as establishing a health management program to maintain their ability to do their jobs.
Manager and employee conduct represents a key success factor in the implementation of our corporate strategy. In 2013, we developed a new competency model describing the type of conduct that supports our strategic alignment and fosters business success. The types of behavior represented in the six competencies promote diversity and inclusion within the company; they provide a crucial basis for all development activities, for assessing performance, and for recruiting new employees.
The 6 Core Competencies support Diversity & Inclusion
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Customer-focused
“Establishes a culture of foreseeing customer and consumer needs and realizing organizational offerings” -
Global
“Owns the alignment of embracing diversity and inclusion as well as working with people from diverse backgrounds and cultural differences” -
Innovative
“Establishes a culture of the implementation of new work routines within own area of responsibility while considering overall business needs” -
Result-oriented
“Establishes a culture of setting and achieving challenging goals that take overall business needs into consideration” -
Efficient
“Establishes a culture of handling ambiguity in the organization” -
Engaged
“Establishes a culture of building collaborative networks across the organization and creating an open, positive atmosphere at work”
In order to foster diversity and inclusion within the company, we engage in numerous activities both Group-wide and at the local level. These include mentoring programs and special advanced training on topics such as leadership skills and self-marketing. Diversity and inclusion at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is also furthered by internal networks initiated by our employees, such as the International Community and Women at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, each of which represents the interests of a different group. In addition, we are also supporting external networks that work toward diversity and inclusion in the professional world. For instance, in October 2013, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, hosted the European summit of the Healthcare Businesswomen´s Association (HBA) in Darmstadt. There, attendees discussed the development and advancement of leadership skills for professionals in the health industry – in particular pertaining to women.
