Henkel Annual Report 2019
Proportion of women in the management levels below the
The Company
Shares and bonds
Corporate governance
Combined management report
Consolidated financial statements
Further information
Diversity considerations governing Management Board
Management Board
Based on the current personnel mix, the Management Board
has established the following targets for the first two levels of
management below the Management Board. These targets are
expected to be achieved by December 31, 2021:
• First management level: Proportion of women 25 percent.
• Second management level: Proportion of women 30 percent.
In accordance with the legal requirements, the point of refer-
ence for the definition of the management levels was based
exclusively on Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and not the Henkel
Group – regardless of Henkel’s globally aligned management
organization. As a result, the figures include only employees
of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA with management responsibility
who report directly to the Management Board (management
level 1) and those who report to management level 1 (manage-
ment level 2).
Separately from the targets for the first two levels of manage-
ment below the Management Board of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA –
and mindful of our globally aligned management organiza-
tion – it is our goal to increase our ratio of women at all levels
of management at Henkel in the long term. In 2019, we were
again able to raise the proportion of women in management
worldwide – to 35.7 percent at December 31, 2019.
Statutory gender quota for Supervisory Board composition
Given Henkel’s position as a listed corporation subject to Ger-
many’s Codetermination Act of 1976, the Supervisory Board of
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA must consist of at least 30 percent
women and at least 30 percent men (Section 96 (2) AktG).
Throughout the entire year under review, the statutory mini-
mum quota of both women and men was represented among
both the shareholder representatives and the employee repre-
sentatives.
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composition / Succession planning
Notwithstanding the key requirements of qualification, compe-
tence and professional excellence for the relevant areas of
responsibility on the Management Board, the Supervisory Board
of Henkel Management AG has specified the following criteria –
after consultation in the Shareholders’ Committee and its
Human Resources Subcommittee – that must be considered
when making Management Board appointments to ensure as
broad a spectrum as possible of knowledge, skills and profes-
sional experience (diversity) on the Management Board:
• Education / career experience
Overall, the members of the Management Board must
demonstrate knowledge, skills and professional experience
in the following areas in particular:
• Management / leadership experience: Experience with
managing globally operating entities, involvement of
employee representative bodies, leading and motivating
employees, succession planning.
• Business acumen: Knowledge of / experience in indus-
trial / consumer business areas and key markets in which
Henkel operates, including awareness of the social envi-
ronment, as well as knowledge of / experience in the fields
of marketing, selling and distribution, digitalization /
eCommerce, research and development, production /
engineering and sustainable management.
• Strategic expertise: Ability to develop and implement
prospects and strategies for the future.
• Financial expertise: Experience in accounting, auditing
financial statements, issues surrounding funding and
capital markets.
• Financial control / risk management: Experience in the
fields of internal control and risk management systems,
as well as internal auditing systems.
• Governance / compliance / ethics: Experience with interac-
tion among corporate bodies (governance) and in compli-
ance with statutory / in-house requirements; modern under-
standing of corporate ethics and how to implement them.