METRO hosts 7th German Diversity Day of the Rhine-Ruhr Network
28 May 2019Download as PDF
“An open and inclusive management style, ideally with a highly diverse team, is not only a basic requirement for good diversity management but also in general for a sound management –especially with regard to our very international workforce”, says Heiko Hutmacher, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labour Director of METRO AG. “It is a great pleasure for us to be the host of the Diversity Network Rhine-Ruhr this year”, continues Hutmacher.
Following the welcome address delivered by the Chief Human Resources Officer the expert and author Janis McDavid will present a keynote speech on the topic “There is no such thing as impossible”. In his function as motivational speaker for UNICEF and “YES, YOU CAN” ambassador, he inspires his audience not only by explaining that the boundaries exist only in your mind, but also through his own life story. Another dimension of diversity will then be addressed by Prof. Dr. Florian Kunze, holder of the chair for Organisational Studies at the department for Politics and Public Administration of the University of Konstanz. His lecture “You’re only as old as you feel. Successfully managing generational diversity” addresses the diversity dimension age and generation. After the lectures, the participants will discuss in workshops about the topics ‘Co-existence of Generations’ and ‘Disability’. The aim is to broaden horizons, to learn from other companies and to launch joint initiatives.
“Whether we are talking about a diverse workforce at all hierarchy levels of the group, about women in management positions, about the topic of inclusion in all its facets or about employee networks: we promote and support our employees wherever we can. That is because we have to foster a corporate culture where every employee finds optimal conditions that enable him to do his work in the best and most committed way possible. The dialogue that we are conducting here today will take us one step further in our efforts”, says Hutmacher.
Diversity Network Rhine-Ruhr
The Diversity Network Rhine-Ruhr comprises the member companies Deutsche Post DHL Group, Deutsche Telekom, ERGO, Ford, GEA, Henkel, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hogan Lovells, HSBC Deutschland, LANXESS, METRO, innogy, thyssenkrupp, TÜV Rheinland, and Vodafone Deutschland. All these companies are signatories of the Charta der Vielfalt (Diversity Charta). This year, the annual sharing of experience is organised for the seventh time already.
German Diversity Day already celebrated since 2013
The German Diversity Day 2019 is hosted under the motto “Diversity vs. simple-mindedness – I can do what you can’t do” and is organised at the initiative of the association Charta der Vielfalt (Diversity Charta). METRO signed this Charta already back in 2013. Since 2013, numerous companies and institutions from across Germany have participated in the German Diversity Day. In 2019, again more than 1,000 activities will be organised throughout the country.
About METRO
METRO is a leading international wholesale company with food and non-food assortments that specialises on serving the needs of hotels, restaurants and caterers (HoReCa) as well as independent traders. Around the world, METRO has some 24 million customers who can choose whether to shop in one of the large-format stores, order online and collect their purchases at the store or have them delivered. METRO in addition also supports the competitiveness of entrepreneurs and own businesses with digital solutions and thereby contributes to cultural diversity in retail and hospitality. Sustainability is a key pillar of METRO’s business. METRO has been the sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the last four years. The company operates in 36 countries and employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. In financial year 2017/18, METRO generated sales of €36.5 billion. In September 2018 METRO AG initiated the divestment process for the food retail chain Real with its 34,000 employees.
