Diversity Management for a strong team

Within the scope of diversity management, KUKA is working on further increasing the number of women in the workforce and in leadership positions.

Worldwide, the general share of women in KUKA Group was 19 percent in 2019 (VDMA Benchmark 2017: 16,5 percent). Globally, at the first management level below the Executive Board and Management Boards the share is 19 percent. On the second level it is 17 percent.

The share of female apprentices for commercial-technical professions at KUKA dropped slightly in 2019 to 13 percent after many years of above-average numbers. Overall, we had fewer applicants than in the previous year. With our annual events such as participation in Girls’ Day and with work experience placements for girls, practical days, robot days and our cooperation with girls’ schools, our intention is to appeal to more female students to increase the number of women working in industrial automation.

The internal women’s network orangeWIN was founded in 2016 with the aim of promoting women in the company and identifying female talent. Events in various formats - for example business lunches on various inter-departmental topics - were held at four to six-week intervals during the reporting year. In addition to discussing technical topics, these events were also an opportunity to network.

In 2019, the women's network OrangeWIN organised eleven events with around 200 participants. In the USA, on World Women's Day on March 8^th, a local branch of the women's network was founded and the vision, mission and values were jointly defined.  Three local events took place in 2019 with a total of around 130 participants.

The in-house mentoring program organized by orangeWIN is used to regularly exchange information between people with different levels of experience. It also facilitates the further development of skills and strengths through self-reflection. Furthermore, it supports the professional and personal development of the participating employees. In 2019, 23 tandems (pairs of women) took part in the program; in 2018 that number was 18.

The orangeWIN network is also well regarded outside of KUKA. In 2018, for example, orangeWIN was promoted at the “BayernMentoringProfessional” program for female students of the STEM faculties, which was presented at the Kempten University of Applied Sciences.

KUKA is also active in external networks, such as the "Women in Network" (WIN) corporate women's network from Munich and the surrounding area. These currently include 17 companies, whose representatives meet once a quarter. KUKA is also involved in a network with other Augsburg companies from various industries.

In addition, KUKA has been participating in the Augsburg cross-mentoring program since 2011. This program supports young managers with their professional and personal development and is designed as a company-wide cross-mentoring program. KUKA is also involved in the mentoring partnership MigraNet, which is committed to the professional integration of people with a migrant background.