The Volkswagen Group is taking another positive step forward in driving its diversity agenda, spurred on by a successful kick-off event at its head office in Buckinghamshire.
One element of a truly diverse workforce is of course gender balance and there has been specific focus on inspiring young women to consider a career within the Volkswagen Group, developing and keeping those it already has, and increasing the number of women in senior roles.
To boost awareness and engagement, the ‘A Day in their Shoes’ event showcased the importance of gender diversity in the organisation, with a number of high profile guest speakers visitIng the Volkswagen Group’s headquarters to talk about the different approach that men and women have in business, and the results which can be achieved when an organisation embraces diversity as part of its corporate culture.
Human Resources Director, Penny Burnett, said: ‘The evidence is clear: when an organisation has a truly diverse workforce, it’s more innovative, better at responding to customerneeds and ultimately more successful. We’ve been trying to respond to this for some time now, but change won’t happen fast enough organically. We need to do more to accelerate the speed of change and that’s why events like ‘A Day in their Shoes’ are so important.’
During the day, employees had the chance to listen to a number of speakers and learn more about the different parts of the diversity project. These cover how the organisation is inspiring young women to consider careers in the Volkswagen Group, both from schools, colleges and through apprenticeships, developing people to take on more senior roles in future, and keeping employees within the organisation, for example following maternity leave and as their careers progress through different life stages.
Speakers included Julia Muir, CEO of Gaia Innovation and Founder of the UK Automotive 30% Club, a voluntary group of MDs and CEOs working to achieve a gender balanced workforce within the automotive industry. Commenting on the day, she said: ‘I’m delighted to attend the event and to see so many women and men keen to learn more about the importance of a diverse workforce. It is evident that the Volkswagen Group fully understands the business benefits of a gender balanced workforce, and the positive effect this will have on employee engagement and the customer experience, as well as the wider social impact. I welcome the fact that the Volkswagen Group is taking action and implementing a realistic, long term and sustainable strategy, and I am extremely pleased that the Group is a very active supporter of the UK Automotive 30% Club.’
Following the event, the Volkswagen Group has launched a ‘Take a Step in Their Shoes’ initiative, allowing women and men to pair up and spend some time working with each other to gain a wider understanding of each other’s strengths and skills.
Burnett concludes: ‘Like International Women’s Day or any other day, the event isn’t the start or the finish, and culture change doesn’t happen overnight. However A Day in the Shoes was a great opportunity to remind all employees to consider the importance of a balanced workforce and think about how every single one of our people can play a part in developing a truly diverse culture which is fit for the future.’
As part of its outreach programme, the Volkswagen Group will be the main sponsor of the UK Automotive 30% Club Inspiring Women in Automotive event, one of the highlights of the CDX17 event which takes place at Silverstone on 23 May 2017, also providing keynote speakers and employees to talk to girls from local schools about the industry. More details of this will be announced in due course.
