BASF to increase the number of females in leadership teams

BASF has announced it is to raise the overall number of women in leadership positions within the company as part of an initiative to increase diversity within the business.

By 2021, the company aims to raise the overall proportion of women in positions with disciplinary leadership responsibilities from today’s 19 percent to 22–24 percent globally, a share that reflects the percentage of women in BASF’s global workforce.

This, BASF says, is an “ambitious goal”, given the relatively low turnover rate in the organisation’s leadership team.

The Group has also announced it wants to further increase the number of senior executives from countries other than Germany, the proportion of which was 34 percent at the end of 2014, as well as the number of senior executives with international experience.

“Our markets are becoming increasingly global in character. In order to better understand the diverse requirements of our customers around the world and develop solutions for them, we need to be an attractive employer for the best people in all markets. Our goals are an incentive for us to become even better in promoting diversity,” explained Dr. Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE.

The goals to promote greater balance in terms of gender and nationality in BASF’s leadership team extend across the Group worldwide and levels of management as a whole. In other words, says the company, the goal for the percentage of women in leadership is not meant to be reflected in each individual country, company or management level; BASF will ensure compliance with national and local laws.

In Germany, BASF SE will implement the ‘Act on Equal Participation of Women and Men in Executive Positions in the Private and the Public Sector’ as follows:

• If new appointments to the Supervisory Board of BASF SE are necessary, the proportion of women will be raised to at least 30 percent in accordance with the legal requirements. This figure is currently 25 percent.

• In addition, BASF’s Supervisory Board has determined that at least one member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE shall be female. Based on currently eight members of the Board of Executive Directors, this corresponds to 12.5 percent. This share has already been achieved today.

• The Board of Executive Directors has furthermore determined target figures for the percentage of women on the two management levels directly below the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, in accordance with legal requirements in Germany. These are 9.4 percent for the proportion of women on the level of BASF SE’s management directly below the Board of Executive Directors, and 11.8 percent for the level below that. This corresponds to the current percentages.

• The period to achieve the targets for the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE and the two management levels directly below the Board was set for December 31, 2016. The company will review these figures at the end of 2016 and again decide on goals for BASF SE.

The company will report on its progress toward reaching these goals on an annual basis.