Axel Springer’s D&I vision is to create a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone is respected, valued, and feels that they belong. We believe that a diverse and inclusive workplace is important for the well-being of our employees and for the continued success and growth of our business.
From bottom-up efforts to holistic strategy
At Axel Springer, we have a rich history of bottom-up D&I efforts, for example through our Employee Resource Groups such as queerseite or Axel Springer Women. We acknowledge, however, that there is room for improvement, and therefore we have decided to create a clear strategy to accelerate the progress towards our D&I vision.
We approached diversity and inclusion in the same way we would any other business challenge. The Global Diversity and Inclusion office kicked off a project (“Project Octopus”) with the largest units of the Axel Springer group which were interested in pushing the topic forward on a common ground. The project team focused on understanding the problems and the barriers that prevent us from being where we want to be and devised a plan to address them.
Here you can read more about Project Octopus which led to the final D&I Strategy.
D&I Strategy goals and commitments
With our D&I Strategy, we aspire to integrate D&I into our employee experience and business strategy. We aim to achieve this by the end of 2026. To meet this aspiration, we will focus our efforts on five different areas:
Leadership Activation
Credible Efforts
Inclusive Careers
Talent Experience
Data as a Leverage
For each of these areas, we have defined specific commitments that will allow us to see if we’re making progress. Overall, there are 15 commitments across all areas. These commitments will be fulfilled on the group level as well as on the unit level, depending on the scope. In some cases, we will combine the efforts between the group and the respective unit.
1. Leadership Activation
We want to grow our leaders’ D&I knowledge to foster inclusive behaviors and increase diversity in the leadership:
1.1 By 2022, our Top Executives will have completed primary D&I leadership trainings
1.2 By 2023, the performance review and reward processes for our Top Executives will include D&I expectations
1.3 By 2026, we will reach 40-60% GBL at Top Executives positions. By 2023, we will introduce measures to increase the diversity of Top Executives leaders beyond gender
2. Credible Efforts
We are committed to raise the credibility of our D&I efforts and encourage employees to participate:
2.1 Starting immediately, we will be making clear to our employees which behaviors we foster as part of our inclusive culture
2.2 Starting from 2023, we will publish an annual group-wide D&I report
2.3 By 2023, we will evaluate and communicate the business potential of increasing the diversity and inclusiveness of our products (B2C/B2B)
2.4 By 2023 we will provide access to D&I learning materials and upskilling to raise employee awareness and empower inclusive behavior
3. Inclusive Careers
We will challenge perceptions and beliefs about the existing single archetype of a successful employee:
3.1 From 2022 onwards, we will tackle language as an obstacle to career progression
3.2 By 2023, we will develop systems that reduce biases in the process of evaluating and promoting people
4. Talent Experience
We want to offer equitable and transparent career opportunities for our current and future employees:
4.1 From 2022/2023 onwards, we will offer and promote working models accommodating different personal contexts
4.2 By 2024, we will have audited and redesigned people processes, policies, structures, and tools along all stages of the ELC (Employee Lifecycle)
4.3 By 2023, we will help our employees take advantage of all career opportunities across the group
5. Data as a Leverage
We aim at making data-informed decisions as a way of reaching organizational and individual targets:
5.1 By 2023, we will roll out and analyze Self-ID survey
5.2 By 2024, we will improve our people data accessibility and quality
5.3 Starting from 2026, we will conduct a yearly pay gap analysis
Strategy execution
It’s important to remember that while our strategy is a plan for the entire Axel Springer group, it is not a one-size-fits-all approach. It provides an overall direction for efforts that mostly need to happen within our units in a way that makes sense there. That’s why we are working closely with the units to align their work with the group’s commitments.
We have a clear roadmap of what we want to achieve by when. We know that this will be a marathon, not a sprint. To keep us focused and motivated, we have created a governance structure comprised of the following:
The D&I Leadership Board with the Executive Board and CEOs
The D&I Council that brings together the D&I leads from our units, and
The Global D&I Office that will support the journey on the operational level and engage with the entire workforce.
We’re grateful that so many of our employees have already helped advance our diversity and inclusion efforts. We are looking forward to welcoming more allies interested in supporting the execution of the D&I Strategy.
