Empower our diverse and engaged people worldwide
Siemens is a global powerhouse with a highly diverse workforce. People from 140 countries are working at our ten largest Regional Companies alone. That’s why we take a systematic approach to championing diversity at Siemens. Multifaceted teams of employees with a broad range of skills, experience and qualifications promote the wealth of ideas at our Company and strengthen our power of innovation. Our people also reflect the varied backgrounds of our customers, giving us competitive advantages – all over the world.
In our Guiding Principles for Promoting and Managing Diversity, we’ve formulated at the highest level clear guidelines that are binding for our Company worldwide.
One indicator of diversity is the proportion of management positions held by women. In fiscal 2011, this figure climbed to 14.6%. To support networking among female executives, we launched the Global Leadership Organization for Women (GLOW) in 2009. The organization’s members also serve as mentors for talented young female employees. Worldwide, more than ten very active GLOW organizations have now been founded by women in leadership positions.
For measuring our progress in the area of diversity, we’ve also developed five scorecard parameters: professional knowledge, employee diversity at all levels, the composition of our top talent pool, corporate culture and branding, and experience mix.
To continue driving diversity within our organization, we’ve launched a number of measures and projects. These initiatives include lectures and seminars on topics such as unconscious prejudices. In a first step, many of our 160 diversity ambassadors and GLOW members have been invited to attend these events. With demographic change also affecting Siemens, we’ve established special working groups and networks that promote cross-generational knowledge transfer, thus safeguarding existing knowhow for the Company.
Motivated employees are what make Siemens strong. And the countless ideas of our workforce are improving our organization all the time. Under our 3i Program, the employee suggestion system introduced in 1997, some 1.5 million ideas had been put into practice by the end of fiscal 2010 – resulting in savings of over €3 billion. Today, we’re implementing 400 to 500 new 3i ideas every day and working vigorously to anchor our culture of idea management – which has been a hallmark of Siemens for over 100 years – at our locations in growth markets.
To find out how we can further boost workforce motivation, we regularly conduct employee surveys worldwide in 39 languages. In fiscal 2011, the number of employees participating in the surveys surpassed the high level of the previous year. The survey input is systematically applied to enhance our processes. An internal network of experts helps our managers evaluate the results, deriving and implementing concrete proposals for improvements. First projects and initiatives spawned by last year’s survey show just how serious we are about putting our people’s suggestions into action. For example, in the U.S., we’ve set up a program to better recognize and reward employee achievements. In the Czech Republic, our Regional Company has launched a broad-based training program for employees and managers. In China, we’re expanding the expertise of a variety of specialist teams through specially developed training programs. And in Germany, we’re offering health management seminars for our employees.
Our success is based on a shared commitment. That’s why we’re particularly proud of the fact that some 120,000 employees – nearly a third of our total workforce – are Siemens shareholders. This is a clear sign of our employees’ trust in our values and vision and in the strength and future of our Company – a sign that has also attracted the attention of external observers. In the summer of 2011, the Global Equity Organization (GEO), an industry association, honored us with its highest distinction, the GEO Judges Award. The jury particularly commended our efforts to enable virtually every employee worldwide – regardless of job and location – to become a co-owner of Siemens.