Deutsche Telekom Works To Put Women On Top - Building Gender Balanced Business

“They came up very publicly with extra-ambitious targets in an unlikely sector. In the telecoms industry, particularly in Germany, the pipeline of women is not really there yet.” — Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, chief executive of management consulting firm 20-First

Germany has been under scrutiny lately for lagging behind other European countries in promoting women to the executive ranks. Blame has been laid on the nation’s “mother cult” mentality, which results in most women leaving the workforce after having children (only 14% of German mothers with one child continue full-time work).

Deutsche Telekom has tried to address the issue by offering more flexible schedules, but few employees have taken them up on it so far.

“Flex jobs are always associated with back-room and non-critical roles. Once you get off of full-time, people worry about not being able to get back into a critical role.” — Professor Herminia Ibarra

Where Deutsche Telekom has made the most progress is in recruiting more female university graduates.

• 53% of entry-level hires are women (up for 33% in 2010)
• 32% of employees selected for programs intended to groom future leaders are women (up for 18%); the number will rise to 40% by the end of 2012

Despite the difficulties, and some resistance to change by both men and women in Germany’s corporate world, a recent survey of 160 Germany companies revealed that 71% of respondents were ready to start hiring more women into the top ranks.

“There’s got to be an understanding that it may take longer and there are certain risks involved,” said Ann Frances Kelly, of recruiting firm Signium International. “Everybody has to buy into that.”