Just how do Companies Manage to deal with human diversity i fits to improve on that front a reality well mainly lip service thats our topic today on made data 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 ensuring tolerance and respect for others in the workplace is perhaps easier said than done firms usually 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. Has been finding out. Women and men young and old people of various ethnic backgrounds with different religions and world views different sexual orientations with and without disabilities the dont develop team in berlin is a colorful mix. 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 at auto these days. But it wasnt always like that. It was in spots. 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. Go back tom could never work in a company where he has to keep his sexuality a secret. He set up an l. G. 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 and 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 as if it is a thats why its so important for a company regardless of its diversity management policy to create a Corporate Culture that promotes openness and diversity for place. We lived through all catalogues from the seventys to the ninetys. A time when you couldnt order fashion online. Almost all female and male models are white caucasians vans marshawn and. More than. 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 the same. Things look very different today any company trying to sell products to the general. To take social diversity into account city should be a top priority. That is the only woman on the board and she works part time. Even being able to do that is not a given. 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 transsexual men or women to find work but more and more companies are hiring at special john fairs like 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 their peepers. This 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 or 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 suddenly started to become more distant like carson he 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 other. But of course this also applies in recruitment if were more open as employers and we are 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 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 the debate 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 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 a doll things thats totally out of order shes been speaking to our reporter milty audition it also gives us a little insight into his state of retain. I cook at home why arent my own shirts and i work full time for my unique and. You definitely unique quite rare for many women as youd be a dream come true which is a good thing. 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 and demick women pay the price for the good of Society Women have followed their hearts and taken care of their families and their children 1. 00 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. Back to the fiftys. The 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 but 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 so 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 in it is much higher than if the woman were to work part time. At holder and. Need more men who contribute and share the workload definitely definitely we need men and businesses to contribution 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 and we manage by alternating between working long days and short days 6 hours 10 hours 6 hours 10 hours and that works well but. 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 question. How 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 doctor. But that doesnt usually work you know they can no it doesnt but it also doesnt work when women say ill act like a man throughout my career ive heard again and again you act like a man and youre too dominant cant you be more humble women have to realize that that can hold them back as well as im a doctor who suffered at all. Diversity also means people of different abilities working alongside each other however disability can make finding a job much harder for example just one in 4 blind people in germany is employed over cloudy a large shark camp and visited him have been speaking to 3 women making a success of themselves in the world of work and one of them to rights to the outer reaches of his comfort zone. Let me know when it starts to hurt can you still speak. And breathe. And i have retinitis pigmentosa its a genetic disorder and causes tunnel vision my eyesight was quite good until i was 30 or 35 i could still ride my bike. Given the normal fog of. Most of my patients dont even know when i tell them im legally blind they say they dont believe me. That was a quick. One can verify this if you can cover up a lot you become a champion in covering it up of course i have trained my coworkers to never put things in the wrong place. I get so mad if i have to spend hours hunting for something if i reach for it and its not where its meant to be and i have to start looking for it. My parents always supported me they never said you wont be able to do that. But lynn is very noisy very crowded and people just leach other a lot its a challenge. I see light and dark and contours here in this hall i can make out the windows and the round lamps that look like bright patches. So i can orient myself quite well. I locate the steps with my stick. I know the courthouse building very well with all its corridors and corners. Sighted people often get lost here and cant find their way out without help. But when i was 11 i once went to a Lawyers Office was amazing so it was clear that i would study law. The figure of justice is always depicted with a blindfold in my case given that i cant see i dont judge people by their exterior because i cant that also means i dont get distracted and remain focused on what people tell me. But that doesnt mean im entirely free of preconceptions theyre just a bit different blind people might not like the sound of someones voice or the way they shake your hand. Im not a living lie detector but i am pretty sensitive to what people are telling me whether its true or whether theyre lying. On the floor if you cant imagine a blind person can climb a flight of stands you wont believe that a visually impaired person can hold their own in the workplace. Ive been blind since birth but when i say im on my way to work people ask if im going to a workshop for the blind they should be asking where do you work that just goes to show how many preconceptions there still are. In the Digital World technology is a blessing and a curse at the same time there are some websites we can use easily but far too many and not excessive. If you dont have the app will tell me. Its just like the bus is just arriving no. Standard that can be recognized by the app. It says the next one is delayed coming in 10 minutes it doesnt show the one thats just come in so i got on the. Dial of in town because theres good public transport that lets me get around. That if self driving cars ever become available and i can afford one i might consider moving to the country. Long view of diversity is that cultural and ethnic background should play no role in our ability to be employed however your race can still be a boon or a burden on the job market something my colleague to ponder chim better has been finding out for himself erin but it. Heres the information a german employer would get about me. Im a journalist the dortch of ella in berlin and im black and african in case youre wondering. After 12 years in germany im still surprised that data on ethnic origin and race isnt something german employers normally record about race and ethnicity can still play a role in whether you get hired. A foreign sounding name can already be a barrier and german employers typically expect a photo along with a job application so what you look like and your perceived race or ethnicity influences your chances of getting a job. German companies recognize that theres a problem with just what are they doing to reduce bias in recruitment one of the countrys largest employers says its made diversity part of its core strategy. Parader georgia baan employs more than 200000 people across germany the companys diversity manager says they only recruitment system helps them to be more objective. But what happens when humans and not computers are involved. Aap newest of all. Went out to Start Testing a new measure that will run during our diversity week. Test and it will be a kind of blind audition process blind auditions come on 1st will remove all personal data from the job application this is its. For the blind auditions the recruiters will sit in one Video Conference room and sits in the candidates will sit in a different Conference Room or in the recruiters will only be able to hear the candidates not see them. But the candidates will be able to see the recruiters. Zied the always fair and oh well thats a bit like the voice. Yeah. But you can still tell a lot from a voice and an accent several major german corporations about got the diverse we try to do when we send here and that has helped them hire people from different nationalities and different cultural backgrounds but race and ethnicity remain a major problem when it comes to the Workplace Discrimination. A survey by germanys Antidiscrimination Agency shows that one in 3 people who reported Workplace Discrimination said it was because of their ethnicity or race the berlin based citizens for europe says more needs to be done to understand how race and ethnic origin can affect people in the labor market here the u. K. Is a step ahead 2 years ago the British Government published its 1st race disparity audit the report revealed significant pay differences among various ethnic and racial groups and they all White British p. S. According to official u. K. Statistics in 2809. 00 or 80 groups burnt nearly 22 percent less on average than their white peers in london where the countrys ethnicity pick up has widest. Thats why calls to require companies to report ethnicity paid a growing louder. We think. That. I. Think. They could use. The right thank you very much things are moving far too slowly when it comes to diversity discrimination based on ethnicity or race is still very much a reality in the u. K. Germany and elsewhere and it also affects us in the workplace. Ive learned a lot while working on this report but im not convinced employers are doing enough to prevent discrimination based on the knesset and race. Not enough is another way of saying too little isnt it so obviously something that as were seeing can ultimately benefit us all and will keep reminding companies of fat fact this report brings to