A diverse workforce consists of various nationalities and cultures, religions, various age groups and genders, disabled and able-bodied employees, as well as people with different sexual preferences. This diversity is important to us. As an international company, we believe that equality and heterogeneity are important. Various opinions and ideas are important on a day-to-day basis. We need different perspectives to be better able to achieve our targets. Everybody should have the chance to work with us. Deutsche Telekom has set itself some targets and launched measures on this in the field of corporate social responsibility with the aim of supporting women, disabled people, homosexuals, and refugees for instance. In this blog, I would like to give you a few selected examples.
Woman power
In the past, women were unable to read or write and were severely discriminated against compared to men. Luckily these days are over now. However, there are still discrepancies in terms of salary or women in management positions. Therefore, one of the targets at Deutsche Telekom is to ensure that 30 percent of all middle and upper management positions are filled by women.
In order to support women and families, several Deutsche Telekom sites have day care centers for children and childcare services during school vacations. In individual cases, for example when a parent is unable to take their child to daycare, they have the option of working in a parent and child office. The “Career and children” program is designed to assist staff in avoiding the career disruptions that can occur as a result of parental leave or working-time reductions.
To encourage women to take on roles on the supervisory board, Deutsche Telekom introduced a special training course for women in management position. This course addresses topics such as corporate governance, corporate strategy, and responsible leadership. Deutsche Telekom was the first DAX company to launch this program back in 2014. Since the start of the program, 22 graduates have been appointed to a Deutsche Telekom supervisory board (as of 2019).
Deutsche Telekom also promotes women in technical study programs, e.g., with the STEM Award that takes place each year. The target is to make sure that we provide more women with the expertise they need to play an active part in areaswhere they are still under-represented, for example, the STEM subjects. For this award, women submit their Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis in a STEM subject and the best ones receive an award.
Everybody can be integrated into the working world
The number of disabled employees working at Deutsche Telekom is constantly rising. In 2018, 7.6 percent of Deutsche Telekom employees were disabled, thus exceeding the minimum rate of 5 percent. In the case of equal qualification, disabled candidates are given preferential consideration at Deutsche Telekom. Depending on their degree of disability, they also have special vacation agreements and are subject to a special protection against dismissal. There is a Group on the Deutsche Telekom intranet where disabled people can connect and speak.
Of course, the workstations are designed for use by disabled people and the required equipment is installed. An accessible working environment is top priority. Interpreters will be made available to deaf employees for work and company events.
Deutsche Telekom has launched various projects to make the placement of disabled people easier. One of these initiatives is the “Alternative Employment Opportunities” flagship project. The objective of this project is to allocate disabled people new roles in the event of site closures or organizational changes within the company. It simplifies and makes job transfers within Deutsche Telekom easier.
A further initiative for disabled employees is the “Fair Play” project. In this project, employees have the chance to participate in targeted training courses in order to obtain the relevant qualifications for more complex tasks.
MagentaPride – vibrant diversity
Of course, we cannot speak about diversity and not mention our LGBT*IQ employee network (network of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and intersexual Deutsche Telekom employees and their friends and supporters). MagentaPride was established in 2002 and is committed to eliminating prejudices and promoting diversity. The network supports the LGBT community, answers questions, and assists with difficult situations in day-to-day life.
MagentaPride goes to pride parades together, organizes diversity days and workshops. Last year, 250 employees represented MagentaPride at ColognePride. With the MagentaPride flag, Deutsche Telekom represents acceptance, diversity, and equal opportunities.
A company that not only talks, but acts too. This concludes a brief look at some of the Diversity activities happening at Deutsche Telekom. Further information is available on our Corporate Social Responsibility site.
