Females to take the lead

Danfoss is embarking on an ambitious plan to ensure that the number of female leaders increases significantly over the next five years.

Women currently account for over a third of all the company’s employees, but only 20 per cent of its leaders are women. The aim is for 25 per cent of its leaders to be women by 2022, and 30 per cent by 2025.

Danfoss CEO Kim Fausing says in a world where gender split is around fifty-fifty, they need to make sure that Danfoss isn’t missing out on the female gender side.

“We need to be a diverse workplace with the best employees who can challenge us, and who can come up with new ideas and approaches,” she says.

Danfoss is launching a large number of significant and concrete efforts to increase diversity and inclusion. There will be a stronger focus on the recruitment process, on retaining talented women, and on developing and empowering female employees.

Head of HR at Danfoss, Ilonka Nussbaumer, says the company has come a long way, but an extraordinary effort is required to achieve the ambitious target of increasing the female leadership rate by 50 per cent.

“We need to go new and unconventional ways, challenge ourselves and send an unambiguous signal … that Danfoss is an attractive company for both genders,” she says.

Plans to develop this new initiative include ensuring an even gender division in postgraduate and talent programs, mentors in senior management and career coaching.

“We must seize the opportunity to lead globally and show that more female leaders have and are of central importance to the future development of companies,” says Nussbaumer.

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