MBA Careers at Deutsche Post World Net: Interview

Adrian Barrett interviews the woman charged with ensuring that Deutsche Post World Net's workforce mirrors its international status - Susanna Nezmeskal, Director of Diversity.

With nearly 500,000 employees in more than 220 countries around the world and a turnover that exceeded‚ 52 billion in 2004, Deutsche Post World Net is now a global leader in the logistics sector. So how has a company which, until relatively recently was focused on one country, Germany, reacted to the challenge of becoming a truly international player? 

Can you tell us something about your own background and how you came to your present role?

Although I'm now based at Deutsche Post World Net's head office in Bonn, I'm from a mixed Italian, German and Czech background, so I guess that I have the advantage of being a walking example of diversity in action. A lawyer by training, I worked for a practicing law firm after graduation before moving into human resources with Deutsche Post World Net in 1999. I took on responsibility for developing our diversity policy in early 2005 and later in the same year I was also tasked with implementing the company's new code of conduct across all our operations. Around all this I've also found time to boost my knowledge with a business school education, taking an Executive MBA at Danube University in Krems, Austria.

Many organisations have come to recognise the economic business case for workplace diversity. What are your views on its value and how does it impact on Deutsche Post World Net's strategy?

While the elimination of prejudice and racism is a laudable aim in itself, we are clear at Deutsche Post World Net that recruiting and retaining a truly diverse workforce and allowing its members to develop their full potential is fundamental to our continued success. There are two main drivers behind this. Firstly, it's essential that a company like ours, which operates on a global basis, mirrors its actual and potential customer base. Why? Because people often choose individuals like themselves to work with and because we can only hope to really understand the needs and motivations of customers, if we have people like them working within the organisation. Secondly, we want the best people in their fields to be working for us at every level and we know that talent has no preferences when it comes to gender, ethnic background, nationality, age, physical ability or sexual orientation. Consequently we need to be recruiting from the widest talent pool and providing an environment that brings out the best in everyone we employ. Our diversity activities permanently support the group strategy of becoming (First Choice) for our customers.

How well advanced is workplace diversity in the company?

"Our diversity activities permanently support the group strategy of becoming (First Choice) for our customers."

We've been addressing the issue of workplace diversity since 1995, although originally our work was based around legislation dealing with women and disabled people. In Germany, we've created accessible working environments for individuals with special needs, bringing in dedicated equipment and instituting initiatives such as "the audio post news", a CD-based newsletter and information resource for blind employees. As a result, we've been able to exceed local targets for the employment of disabled people since 2003. In terms of women, Deutsche Post AG, our parent company in Germany, is the largest employer of female staff in the country and they now make up some 48% of the organisation's workforce. To help ensure that this high proportion feeds into senior management levels, we have created a tailored mentoring programme, which, over a two year period, aims to provide high-potential females with the leadership skills they will need in the future. We've also sought to create a working environment where all of our people can balance the sometimes conflicting demands of work and family life. That's meant bringing in flexi-hours, instituting a (Return) programme which helps those coming back from parental leave to re-integrate into the company and partnering with Germany's largest provider of nursery and other support services to working families.

"MBAs act as a catalyst for international integration"

Since I took over the diversity area last year, I've been looking at how we can expand its parameters and how we can build on our current localised successes and roll them out on a global basis. The women's mentoring programme, for example, will become a global one over the coming year and in the process will hopefully increase the very high proportion of women that Deutsche Post World Net already has at top management level - around 24% of our current senior management team is female. We're also working hard to develop genuinely international teams across all disciplines so that our people increasingly get used to the fact that they are part of a world-wide organisation, not one that is limited to national borders.

In what ways would an MBA recruit to Deutsche Post World Net become aware of the company's commitment to diversity?

We are a very pro-MBA organisation and, as well as providing places on executive MBA programmes for existing employees, we also recruit them into the company, either directly into the in-house consulting group or as interns, who work on projects across more than twelve countries in Asia, Europe and the USA. These MBAs act as a catalyst for international integration and because of the rich mix of backgrounds, nationalities and cultural backgrounds on top MBA programs, they find themselves acting as informal ambassadors for the value of diversity in the workforce. It's an initiative which is mirrored at more junior levels in the organisation through our work with the student network AIESEC, which brings us over 100 student interns from a wide range of countries every year. Any new recruit to the organisation will also now take part in an induction process which aims to foster the spirit of diversity. We bring new hires together in international groups and stage workshops and seminars which are designed to reinforce the fact that this company is, in effect, one team operating in over 200 countries and to highlight our commitment to corporate values which are focused on integrity, openness and equality of opportunity for all.

What does Deutsche Post World Net look for when recruiting MBAs from major schools?

This is an organisation that has gone through tremendous change in recent years, developing from a national player, into the world's leading provider of solutions for the management and transport of goods, information and payments. To sustain that momentum, we need people who are flexible self-starters with strong analytical skills, willing to learn and possessing strong entrepreneurial skills. In return we can offer them a fast-moving and stimulating environment, where they can further develop their skills and experience on an international stage.

Source: QS TopMBA Career Guide