First SAP, then Bosch: Two top managers stumbled this week. The trend of ejection seats for women in top management positions is becoming more and more entrenched. This is also due to the fact that the often male-dominated supervisory boards provide little backing.
Yes! German board members are more female than ever. Even if men still hold the top positions in the largest German companies and organisations: women are also becoming increasingly popular. That’s good. But they often fail. Not obviously, no. In declarations carefully formulated by employment lawyers, they are then not available for another term of office. Or resign early “for personal reasons” and in the “best mutual agreement”.
Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that! It may be that the top managers, unlike men, simply no longer want to put themselves through the stress of having to assert themselves time and again in the boy bands of the corporations – and set other priorities. A bitter aftertaste remains. Nobody likes to fail. Neither do women. The curse that women suffer from in the top management levels hit two proven experts this week: the contract of SAP CEO Sabine Bendiek will not be extended. And Bosch manager Filiz Albrecht even leaves the group “with immediate effect”. rums!
No isolated cases: Perhaps it is more noticeable when women retire from their top jobs because boardrooms are still male-dominated. The signal is still not good. Especially now that women’s networks are becoming more popular – and women are preparing to gain more self-confidence and to communicate this.
The list is long: Bettina Volkens (Lufthansa), Valerie Holsboer (Federal Employment Agency), Sabine Eckardt (Pro Sieben) and Janina Kugel (Siemens) only belonged to the top management circle for a short time. Tina Müller (Douglas) sat longer at the helm – in the end she went too. And even Telekom board member Claudia Nemat, who has been in office for years, is coming under media pressure from repeated speculation that she is hoping to succeed CEO Tim Höttges.
Little preparation, little support
The signal for the coming generations of top managers, who are also publicly in the starting blocks and are organized in initiatives such as “Mission Female” or “Generation CEO”, is devastating. Because: They often fail in the first contract period.
Is it the suitability? The expertise? The unfavorable environment? Missing networks? Or a prevailing anti-diversity corporate culture? Female top executives would never officially admit it. One hears behind closed doors: the often male-dominated supervisory bodies find it difficult to offer sufficient preparation and backing. Personal details are often about symbolism. Man(n) adorns himself with bringing women to the highest management body. That was it with the on-boarding. The women are now on their own.
This development is bad for Germany as a business location – especially now that the shortage of skilled workers is becoming an increasingly relevant competitive factor.