Diversity at Würth Elektronik
Here at Würth Elektronik, we consciously live an open, friendly, and mutually respectful corporate culture. Spread throughout the world, we’re a large crew of special, unique people and personalities. We regard our differences in terms of gender, age, origin, inclusion, worldview, religion, or sexual orientation as enriching. It’s precisely our multitude of qualities, capabilities, and entirely personal experiences that we bring into our day-to-day work that enable us to make such an enormous contribution for our company – and ultimately for our own personal benefit too.
One important step towards our awareness of the issue of diversity and the open appreciation of the variety of each and every one of us was the signature of the Diversity Charta in 2015. Diversity can’t be carried forward by just a few people alone, but only by all of us pulling together on the same rope. This is why we directed a special appeal to all our employees to launch a large-scale project under the motto “Diversity”. Our message: no matter how small our interactions with one another in our day-to-day routine, each and every one of us contributes to diversity – even if it’s just to point out a minor detail that goes unnoticed by many others. Meanwhile, employees have come up with a number of initiatives on various issues within the project.
“The great gain in the “Diversity” project lies in the variety of nationalities, genders, religions, and attitudes, paired with international cooperation at the team level. With this project, we all profit from a wealth of mutual appreciation and the broad spread of points of view, factors that ultimately make the efforts of our teams even more successful. In my department, the principle of diversity is very much alive and enables us to achieve excellent work results.”
- Quote Dirk Knorr, CEO Würth Elektronik eiSos
Diversity is firmly anchored in our manifest "It's about people". Expressed through different personalities, experiences, perspectives and opinions, there are many facets of diversity at Würth Elektronik. The inclusion and cooperation of different characters creates new potential, which must be used and further developed.
It’s the human being, the person, who’s at the centre of our company – independent of gender and sexual identity. That is why our vision is:
Employees of all genders work together at all management levels to lead Würth Elektronik to a successful future.
There are today already a number of workgroups from all corporate sectors working together to realize this vision. Many ideas are already being implemented and the Executive Board is setting clear signposts to drive this trend forward.
At the outset, our focus initially lay on the aspect of gender. Since our motto is “WoMen – WE lead together”, we put our heads together in mixed teams to come up with new ideas. And so today we’ve got a whole range of different workgroups with just as broad a spectrum of issues, such as balancing family life and career, mentoring, career planning, role stereotypes, all the way to role models.
We are proud that we already have so many women among our employees, but that’s not enough for us. We want to install diverse teams at all technical and managerial levels.
For us, the topic is an absolute “must” – not only from the aspect of equal opportunities and social responsibility, but especially since for us it represents a very special benefit for our company. We are fully aware that mixed teams – especially in the decision-making functions – make us more innovative and successful.
“Having leadership positions occupied equally by men and women is not just a matter of justice and fairness, but also a question of the future sustainability of a modern company such as ours. Harnessing the variety of experiences and working together to overcome the challenges of the future – these are the things that have made us strong. This is why I will continue to rely on the diversity in our teams to make the best use of the resources of our people.”
Josef Wörner, CEO Würth Elektronik eiSos
It goes without saying that the needs and requirements of our employees vary depending on their age and their private and professional circumstances. It’s very important for us to react flexibly, offering suitable options for different life situations. In our cooperation, we profit from cross-generational teams made up of people who complement one another with their different outlooks and experiences.
“A particularly important aspect for me is that we as a company enable all employees – and in particular parents – to reconcile their family life with their jobs, with individual offers that are tailored to their specific needs. We want to be a caring employer in each phase of our employees’ lives.”
- Quote Josef Wörner, CEO Würth Elektronik eiSos
Strong international cooperation – with numerous examples:
Our country managers set the example – think globally and act locally! All over the world, our top management is intricately networked, and we know and appreciate one another unconditionally. Once a year we meet up to exchange ideas and opinions, to discover what we have in common and to experience differences as an enrichment, using the results to help develop our plans for the future. This form of cooperation creates the basis for mutual trust, and we remain in close contact throughout the entire year.
Even early on in their training programs, our young talents are already given the opportunity to visit one of the many international Würth Elektronik sites and forge contacts with the local employees there, giving them insights into other cultures and customs.
Another special example takes the form of our international cuisine events: on these culinary evenings, the employees meet to cook specialties for their colleagues, giving them an opportunity to meet people from other countries and exchange knowledge on each other’s culture.
For us it goes without saying that people with disabilities participate in the world of work. Diversity and integration mean not just showing tolerance, but actively accepting and promoting people with handicaps.
We at Würth Elektronik want to respect the skills and the potential of all people and to create a work environment that welcomes and appreciates everyone, giving them the chance to evolve and learn without hindrance.
Our Advisory Board for Employees with Disabilities is there to provide assistance to both employees and job applicants alike, representing their interests within the company. For instance, the Advisory Board helps job applicants in the recruitment process, since it’s a matter of great principle for Würth Elektronik to consider applications from people with disabilities when filling job vacancies – and of course we also warmly welcome them as trainees. What’s more, we’re also very glad to promote integration outside the company, and we take care to award contracts to sheltered workshops to ensure that people with disabilities can enjoy a secure workplace.
For many years now, the Würth founding family has set a shining example in the Würth Group. Bringing together people with and without disabilities, creating an atmosphere of understanding and acceptance – these are goals to which Carmen Würth has resolutely dedicated herself. For many years she occupied the position of vice-president of the SOD (Special Olympics Germany) organization. The trainees of Würth Elektronik also enthusiastically take part in helping run the Special Olympics.
A good example of their assertiveness is the Anne-Sophie Hotel-Restaurant in Künzelsau - Germany, where people with and without disabilities happily work together.
