Corporate culture
Diversity makes us strong
People differ from each other. The diversity of their views, ways of working, solution strategies and outlooks is a gain for our corporate culture and a key factor in our company’s success.
Conformity, uniformity and sameness – Bibiana Espinosa-Garcia has never seen the point. “Look at me,” laughs the 39-year-old. “I come from Mexico, work in Germany, am bringing up my eight-year-old son on my own, and have earned a doctorate. That’s not exactly what you’d call commonplace.” Espinosa-Garcia has worked as a breeding information scientist in cereal breeding at KWS since 2017 and, as of last year, has worked intensively on exploring the advantages of diversity as part of her job.
In July 2019, she began working in KWS’ Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Team together with Lucas Vogt, Etienne Despicq, Urs Fischer and Inga Jürgens as part of our International Development Program (IDP). Its objective, says Lucas Vogt, is to ingrain the importance of diversity in employees’ minds. “It’s our conviction that diversity has a positive effect on our corporate culture, innovativeness and attractiveness as an employer in competing for the best talents,” emphasizes the 32-year-old, who works for KWS in Basel, Switzerland.
“What brings us together is important, not what makes us different.”
Bibiana Espinosa-Garcia
Melanie Eisinger, our Head of Global HR, reinforces that: “Diversity is at the foundation of KWS and should be second-nature for us.” She draws parallels with our company: “Plant diversity is the foundation for our business – breeding and developing varieties. That is what enables us to deliver new, improved traits in our products. Diversity also lets us achieve new and even better results in our teams.”
Advantages of diverse teams
Occupational scientists worldwide have long concurred that diversity – differences between people and the heterogeneous composition of the workforce – is an enrichment and a genuine competitive advantage for companies. Age, gender identity, origin, worldview, cultural, social and religious influences, physical impairment: People have different experiences and skills. And it’s precisely this diversity that enables innovations and new processes and products.
“The results diverse teams produce are more resilient, deeper, sounder and more creative,” says Lucas Vogt, and Bibiana Espinosa-Garcia adds: “If you bring together people with different backgrounds and outlooks, you get more holistic analyses and solutions.”
That’s also proven by the numbers the D&I Team presented in its “Diversity Report” at the beginning of this year. It comes to the conclusion that diverse work groups achieve far better results. Success increases in line with the team’s diversity. If there are only men in the team, for example, the success rate is 58 percent. If women are also in it, the figure rises to 73 percent. And if its members are additionally of different ages and nationalities, the team makes good decisions in 87 percent of cases.
“Working in diverse teams is an enrichment, but is also time-consuming and certainly strenuous, but definitely rewarding in view of the good results,” says Lucas Vogt from experience. Getting to know and understand each other, leaving the beaten track and questioning your own ways of seeing things – all that costs time and energy, but is worthwhile. “My colleagues might not always agree with my ideas and I might not always agree with them,” says Bibiana Espinosa-Garcia, “but we respect each other. Together, we find solutions for just about everything.”
Generational diversity at KWS
Source: www.cloverpop.com
Source: www.cloverpop.com
KWS is this diverse
The breadth of diversity at KWS is impressive. The workforce comprises people from 63 different countries. Around 80 percent come from Europe and the remainder from North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. And the age structure is highly diverse (see the graphic). Millennials, i.e. 20- to 35-year-olds, now account for 40 percent of KWS’ global workforce and so are the largest age group.
And they are precisely the ones, as employees who are in the middle of their professional career and are shaping KWS’ future, who attach great importance to a corporate culture founded on non-discrimination and equal opportunity, according to the findings of the D&I team. They want space to develop as individuals and an inspiring workplace with supervisors and colleagues who value diversity. In a survey conducted by the D&I Team, 47 percent of millennials agreed with the statement: “If I were to look for a new job tomorrow, a diverse and inclusive workplace would be important for me.” That figure is the highest of any generation before them.
Example of the gender ratio: These are our targets
A key aspect of diversity is a balanced ratio between the genders. Women account for 39 and men 61 percent of our total workforce; no data on employees with a non-binary gender identity is yet available in the system. The forerunner is Switzerland, where 60 percent of employees are female, followed by Germany (48 percent). However, the gender ratio is not yet balanced in the management tiers. Two-thirds of our managers are male, while just one-third is female.
Yet there are management tiers that have even surpassed the targets they have set themselves. On the other hand, there is room for improvement elsewhere. The ratio of women on our Supervisory Board is currently 50 percent, while it is 20 percent on the five-strong Executive Board. However, the target formulated by the Executive Board for the ratio of women in the two management levels below it – a ratio of female employees of 15 percent in management tier 1 and of ten percent in management tier 2 by 2022 – has been exceeded: The figures in June 2019 were a ratio of 15.08 percent in the first and 13.6 percent in the second tier. “That shows we’re making good progress, but also have to keep on addressing this issue intensively,” emphasizes Melanie Eisinger.
A team of five nationalities (from left to right): Urs Fischer (Sweden), Etienne Despicq (France), Bibiana Espinosa-Garcia (Mexico), Lucas Vogt (Switzerland) and Inga Jürgens (Germany)
“Respect all people”
Diversity doesn’t happen by itself, as KWS’ everyday experience proves. Whether in overcoming language barriers or shifting toward a global, international perspective – the work of the D&I Team shows our employees want support. The results reveal that language courses and training in intercultural communication, more information on diversity and inclusion, international job swapping between colleagues and even more diversity are at the top of the wish list. The insights gained by the D&I Team will therefore be followed up holistically by our Employer and Talent Marketing unit.
Bibiana Espinosa-Garcia has a very practical tip for anyone wanting to take the issue of diversity seriously and put it into practice in their everyday work: “Respect all people, ensure everyone feels at home, and be fair in a conscious manner,” she urges. “What brings us together is important, not what makes us different.” |
▶ Cultural diversity with a sense of humor
Director of the Charta der Vielfalt (“Diversity Charter”) association
Three questions for Aletta Gräfin von Hardenberg
1. What benefits does diversity deliver for employees and companies?
Mixed, diverse teams are more innovative and more successful economically. The corporate culture must allow and respect diversity so that these benefits can be reaped. That means employees can be themselves and pitch in with their own background and skill sets without being afraid of prejudice from colleagues.
2. What can companies do to promote workforce diversity?
Companies must ensure that all employees are accorded respect and recognition. It’s also important for companies to consider specifically why they need diversity. It should be a business case – tapping new markets or the objective of teams finding more creative solutions, for example.
3. What is the level of diversity awareness in our society? How great is understanding and acceptance of this issue?
Our society is becoming more and more diverse, which also means prejudices are on the rise. That makes the situation more difficult initially. However, you only learn that diversity is something positive and enriching by encountering people who are different from you. |
© KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA 2025
