And so is the worlds work force so just how do Companies Manage to deal with human diversity i fits to improve on that front a reality or merely lip service thats our topic today on made do we use business magazine whoever and however you off welcome to the program. Companies should be adapting to the realities of an open and Diverse Society however showing tolerance and respect for others in the workplace is perhaps easier said than done you have to adopt a range of strategies to address the issue hirohito when you were an extremely diverse bunch with people from 60 countries working together and over 30 languages and the differences with celebrating go beyond just where we came from as my colleague back has been finding out. Women and men young and old people of various ethnic backgrounds with different religions and worldviews different sexual orientations with and without disabilities the dont develop team in berlin is a colorful mix. I wanted to know how does it work at other companies how big a variety is there and how do the bosses deal with it. On this t. V. Commercial for germanys 2nd biggest mail order group is also making a statement about openness and tolerance. Its a vision of a Corporate Culture that accepts people for who they are. That may be every day life for workers and auto these days. But it wasnt always like that. Even in germany in 2020 its far from uncontroversial that we run ads featuring homosexuals and we get hateful comments online sometimes really disgusting hurtful remarks we just have to accept it and we make a conscious decision to do that and i think its important that we do accept it because sometimes showing this attitude can help you endure. Could never work in a company where he has to keep his sexuality. Secret. He set up an elegy bt q. Network where employees can Exchange Ideas and find support many people are afraid to come out according to a recent study every 3rd. Person in germany experiences discrimination at work. Lets say im not out and a colleague asks me about it then i only have 2 options i can lie or i can be forced to reveal my sexuality and thats of the misuse of thats why its so important for a company regardless of its diversity management policy to create a Corporate Culture that promotes openness and diversity. We leave through all catalogs from the seventys to the ninetys. A time when you couldnt order fashion online. Almost all female and male models are white caucasians and some of. The more. If you look here all of these models are one type of person theyre basically all white women of the i dont know about you but when i look at it from todays perspective its a distorted picture of the world. Is to. Have. Things look very different today any company trying to sell products to the general public has to take social diversity into account the city should be a top priority. Is the only woman on the board and she works part time. Even being able to do that is not a given the immense pressure. When measured by whether were making empty promises or if we stick to it through our behavior and initiatives and show that were authentic. That. Its often difficult for homosexuals or transsexual men or women to find work but more and more companies are hiring at special john ferris my. Sticks and stones in berlin. And Stuart Cameron was one of the fair organizers he knows from personal experience what discrimination feels like the o. E. C. D. Estimates that a candidates chances drop by 50 percent if its in their papers the thing. Is discrimination is mostly very in direct for example you dont get invited to certain meetings or you dont get the promotion youre in line for you dont even get invited in the 1st place. It was the same with me when it came out that i was gay and it was really remarkable to see how colleagues at me started to become more distant my car suddenly got scratched in the company parking lot. So it was very important for me to find out which companies out there really dont care who backed me if i have a problem who can i turn to and do i truly believe that this Company Believes in this issue. Using his experience and he started his own business and now advises companies on how they can better address diversity issues. Such as having the right contact person. And that also includes instructing management events workshops and training. I would say the biggest challenge we face on this issue is time. Of course i see how a lot has happened in the past 11 years and things have become more open but it takes time and its happening too slow for me i wish that more companies but also individuals out there would simply understand just how good and important it is and that there was more investment in this area because its good for everyone. In germany as a. P. Is considered a Model Company on matters of diversity there are workers from 118 countries at the software companys headquarters. Different cultures and ways of thinking and styles of communication meet here. Diversity needs to be managed or otherwise there could be problems. Ahead of personnel was forced to flee afghanistan for germany as a 14 year old on his own. Today hes responsible for over 20000 workers. From the companys point of view openness to diversity means locating the best talent for the respective jobs in the respective team we have these talents everywhere theyre not only white or german but could be indian male homosexuals except if you only look at the specific requirements of a job a diverse team automatically emerges. Large companies can benefit from an open Corporate Culture mixed teams often achieve better results precisely because they have a harder time together. I think we have to do it because its the right thing to do because the world has differences they do have to accept weve also noticed that teams are more innovative when they dont all come from the same pot metaphorically speaking. In about a dozen. But of course this also applies in recruitment if were more open as employers and were more attractive option right thats why its not just an end in itself but its also a good fit and has quantifiable advantages for corporate success but even. Allowing diversity in a company is a challenge which ultimately. We need to talk about money and that can sometimes seem crude but addressing diversity means addressing the yawning gaps in how different groups of people are paid for the same work were voted so many times here on t. W. About gender pay differences but the change that needs to happen simply hasnt its time to get something done but 1st a few facts. Why do women earn less. Its not a myth womens wages remain low while mens climb higher and higher. In germany she earns 21 percent less than a man and she has far less chance of up painting a company car but where does the difference come from lets look back a couple of decades. In the wake of the 2nd world war in germany there was a shortage of men and women had to take on hard work their fight for just wages was particularly loud women demanded equal pay and they were successful. Then came the bitch off the economic miracle the traditional gender roles returned with a vengeance in west germany at least they have a could remain a housewife and stay home to take care of the kitchen the kids and her husband. Both socially and legally men were seen as the only breadwinners this role division continued for decades and it continues to affect employment today. Eva chose a typical womens job working in a Human Resources department. Careers in i. T. The Natural Sciences and high tech didnt interest her. The problem is typical womens work is paid less nurses and caregivers often earn less than a Truck Mechanic for example for in addition eva interrupted her career to raise a family and later worked only half days she never sit in the bosss chair. A vicious circle. As it stands now researchers say evil would have to work almost another 170 years before she finally earns as much as a man equal pay in germany wouldnt become a reality until the year 2187. Will keep reporting on that issue but women work as a facing other disadvantages besides lower pay the coronaviruses in something of a regression towards the gender roles of the past men have been the 1st to return to offices while women have often been left juggling working from home with keeping the kids schools and entertained entrepreneur and mother in acim to all things that totally out of order shes been speaking to our reporter it also gives us a little insight into his daily routine. I cook at home or on my own shirts and i work full time for my unique and. Definitely unique quite rare for many women would be a dream come true which is a good thing. If. Working from home is good because it gives people a chance to take care of their children and their careers are there any downsides. They have a problem is the problem is that during the coronavirus pandemic women pay the price for the good of Society Women have followed their hearts and taken care of their families and their children they want to do this as well but they also still have to do they paid work it said gender roles back a few decades ago. Back to the fiftys. Coronavirus could encourage further discrimination against women. Mine is all my concern is that if unemployment continues to rise due to the coronavirus women will get a broad deal by staying at home doing more part time work taking care of people more and paying an even higher price. My impression is that if a woman wants a career she caught up a child and she wants a child she has to forgo the career how can we avoid this dilemma. In germany it is unfortunately often the case that women must choose and get trapped working part time but order that means that i do a job part time that is normally full time so im constantly get told that i cant have a career if i dont work full time plus i have to do 100 percent of the housework that i do if i didnt have a job so im constantly stressed as i think if a woman wants to have a career and children my advice to her would be to work full time. Because the likelihood of her finding a Partnership Model in which the man does a lot of housework and it is much higher than if the woman were to work part time. At. We need more men who contribute and share the workload definitely definitely we need men and businesses to contribute other relationship models are possible ive had one with my husband for 20 years i cannot emphasize this enough we both work full time we have 4 children and we dont have an au pair or a nanny we manage by alternating between working long days and short days 6 hours 10 hours 6 hours 10 hours and that works well. I cant bear to hear any more businesses say we have standards and just cant find a qualified woman i cant bear to hear it anymore because its not true and we need to consider that women present themselves differently and their qualifications come across differently and we need to take a closer look at that. How one person by looking at people differently and not just at those who appear boastful story thats not true for all men and theres less to it than what it might sound like there are men who are very competent dont get me wrong but men also present themselves with their chests broad and proud and women tend to be more modest and hope to be discovered and dicta. But that doesnt usually work you know they can know it doesnt but it also doesnt work when women say ill act like a man