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With Diversity & Inclusion to a strong team

Benefiting from and furthering the diversity of our employees is an important cornerstone of the success of our company. It is a source of creativity and innovation.


Diversity as a success factor

KUKA benefits from a variety of experiences and talents. It is our corporate culture to live and promote diversity. The appreciation of our diversity has a positive effect on KUKA as a company, on how we deal with our customers and on our role in society.

Our aim is to create a work environment that is characterized by acceptance and tolerance and is free of prejudice.

Diversity Management: Colleagues at work
Our declared goal: to further increase the share of women at KUKA

Diversity Management

Diversity is governed - among other things - by the Group guideline “Principles of cooperation within KUKA Group” which is part of the Corporate Compliance Handbook. One of these principles is “diversity and appreciation”. 

In 2018, as part of diversity management, a new reporting system was introduced, which now enables national and international analyses based on gender, nationality and age at any time. These figures are regularly evaluated and provided to management.


Diversity Management: KUKA Entrance
Diversity is a source of creativity and promotes innovation.

In a market such as ours that encompasses so many countries, industries and areas, a diverse team is an important success factor for the company.

Peter Mohnen, CEO KUKA AG

KUKA Diversity Principles

The introduction of Group-wide Diversity & Inclusion principles highlights KUKA's positive attitude towards D&I within the company. The principles contain a clear expectation from the Executive Board and top management to the entire KUKA workforce and clearly signal the binding nature of the content. In this way, awareness of the importance of diversity in the global working environment and appropriate action are to be promoted. The D&I principles create a transparent basis for dealing with diversity within the Group.

  • Diverse workforce
  • No discrimination
  • No harassment
  • Equal opportunities
  • Fair compensation system
  • Management commitment
The KUKA Diversity Principles ensure an equal and respectful cooperation at all functional levels. This is a requirement for achieving better decisions and results. Heterogeneous teams make efficient use of the diverse potential of employees. In addition to that, they create an innovative and creative environment in which different perspectives and ways of thinking, experience and knowledge can be exchanged and utilized.

As a global group operating in various business segments and uniting different corporate cultures under one roof, KUKA sees diversity and an appreciative attitude as well as cooperation between colleagues as the key to our success. The values of our company demand that all our stake holders (shareholders, customers, employees and suppliers) recognize, appreciate, include and benefit from individual personal differences. In a market that encompasses as many countries, industries and sectors as ours, a diverse team is an important success factor for KUKA. Employees at KUKA should find a working environment that is free of prejudice and characterized by acceptance.

Legal regulations such as the German General Equal Treatment Act are intended to prevent and eliminate discrimination based on gender, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual identity. The Group guideline "Principles of Cooperation within the KUKA Group" contains a clear ban on discrimination and the principle of equal treatment. As a signatory to the German Diversity Charter (Charta der Vielfalt), KUKA has committed itself to promoting these values in working life and has structurally anchored the issue of diversity and inclusion within the company.

Diversity at KUKA

Diversity in language

We all communicate in pictures and writing, verbally and nonverbally, in order to communicate. Out of habit and usually without giving it a second thought, we use established patterns of language and presentation. Because language transports and activates stereotypes, it is important to use them sensitively and to avoid "faux pas". Our goal is to address all people in all their diversity in an appreciative way. For this reason, KUKA has created an internal brochure with recommendations for appreciative communication in German-speaking countries and published it as part of Diversity Week 2021.

Diversity Charter

Intercultural understanding, tolerance and acceptance have a high priority in a global company like KUKA with locations and business partners all over the world.

Equal opportunities and gender diversity also play an important role at KUKA. Employees should find an environment free of prejudice with attractive working conditions and professional development opportunities - regardless of their origin, age, gender, sexual orientation or worldview.

By signing the Diversity Charter, KUKA has officially committed itself to these values.

KUKA has signed the Charta der Vielfalt.
Appreciation, equal opportunities and tolerance: KUKA supports and promotes the values of the Diversity Charter.

Great results in external studies on diversity in German workplaces

In the latest study on diversity done by the Financial Times, KUKA ranked 145th among companies in Germany.

According to another study done by Stern, KUKA ranks first among companies in the machinery and plant engineering sector with a score of 8.36.
Among other things, the studies asked about gender, ethnicity, age, disabilities and sexual orientation.

More female employees

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 2020 (VDMA Benchmark 2017: 16,5 percent). Globally, at the first management level below the Executive Board and Management Boards the share is 15 percent. On the second level it is 14 percent.

The share of female apprentices for commercial-technical professions at KUKA was 13 percent in 2020. 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.

 

Woman power at orangeWIN

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 the reporting year 2021, the Women's Network, which is under the patronage of KUKA CEO Peter Mohnen, organized twelve events with around 322 participants (2020: five events with around 60 participants). The local offshoot of the Women's Network founded in the USA in 2019 was severely limited by the COVID pandemic. It was not until the end of 2020 that two virtual events could be held and a digital handout created, targeting around 150 participants.

The internal mentoring program initiated by orangeWIN serves as a regular exchange of experience between different levels of experience and is open to all KUKA employees. Through self-reflection and exchange, participants can further develop their skills and strengths in a targeted manner. It also supports the personal development of participating employees. In 2021, 21 tandems participated in the program; in 2020, there were only four due to the Corona pandemic. By June 2022, a total of 82 tandems had participated in the program, which was launched in April 2017.

External networks

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.

 

 

Facts and figures on diversity

Facts and figures on diversity

The data refer to the KUKA Group worldwide (as of 31.12.2022).

Ratio

Proportion of women (General)                                                                                                                                 

20 %

Proportion of women (Supervisory Board)           

33 %

Proportion of women (1st management level*)

*describes first management level below the Executive Board and Management Boards

16 %

Proportion of women (2nd management level**)

**describes second management level below the Executive Board and Management Boards

22 %

Nationalities

109

Average age         

40,6

Offices           

35