Henkel strives for gender parity by 2025

Henkel has announced its ambition to reach gender parity across all management positions by 2025. The proportion of women is to be significantly increased both at the top management levels and in junior and middle management. With this ambition, Henkel backs its clear commitment to a more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization with concrete ambitions and actions.

“At Henkel, we see it as our responsibility to ensure equal access to opportunities for all people, embracing all diversity criteria,” says Carsten Knobel, CEO of Henkel. “We are deeply convinced that gender diversity plays a crucial role for our future business success. Our purposeful growth agenda is built on the foundation of a collaborative culture and empowered people. Embracing diversity and strengthening our inclusive culture are key elements that allow us to collaborate effectively, include different perspectives and empower each other – not despite of, but because of our differences.”

Over recent years, Henkel has steadily increased the proportion of women in management positions. Today, the level has reached 38 percent. “We have made good progress, but more needs to be done. Reaching gender balance across all management level is a truly ambitious journey. We are fully committed to further accelerate and step up our efforts with concrete programs and actions to leverage the full potential of our diversity,” says Sylvie Nicol, CHRO of Henkel. “We will foster more inclusive mindsets and relationships and build even more equitable and transparent structures and processes.”

Action plan for more gender diversity

To strive for more gender diversity, Henkel will further accelerate its programs and measures along the whole employee lifecycle – from recruitment to development and retention. This includes gender inclusive recruitment and talent attraction, a thoroughly monitored promotion and succession plan, intensive internal upskilling on diversity, unconscious bias trainings and inclusion programs, exploring new working formats such as shared or part-time leadership roles, as well as further leveraging Henkel’s numerous mentoring and networking initiatives for diversity worldwide.

Diversity, equity and inclusion

In 2007, Henkel was one of the first German DAX companies to establish a dedicated global diversity team. Today, diversity, equity and inclusion ‏(DEI) is deeply anchored in the company strategy and corporate culture. Striving for more gender diversity is a key element in the company’s holistic diversity strategy which includes further dimensions such as internationality and ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities as well as different generations working together. Henkel has the aspiration to significantly drive progress across all these dimensions. To anchor this in all areas of the company and to put it into action, the company has also established a company-wide DEI network which works collaborative across all departments and regions.