International Women's Day - Women at DRIVE

03/07/2023

March 8 is International Women's Day – a great opportunity to share some information about women at DRIVE. What does our structure look like?

The advancement of women and gender equality have been part of our culture since our founding. Wherever possible, we strive to incorporate the equality we have in our management into the entire agency. This is important because gender equality is still not a given, even in a modern and fast-paced environment such as the agency industry, and women still have to fight against barriers and discrimination far too often!

Our experience shows us that gender should play absolutely no role in who holds which position, which department they work in, or how much they earn. We all benefit much more when our teams are diverse and balanced. This enriches our daily work, creates new perspectives, and broadens our horizons enormously! It is therefore important to combat outdated and stereotypical ideas about the roles of women and men and to strengthen gender equality everywhere! This makes it all the more important that we take this day to reflect on what we are doing, what we can do, and what we should do to promote gender equality.

Women at DRIVE – Facts

DRIVE has a balanced ratio of female and male employees. Currently, the ratio is as follows:

	Percentage of women at DRIVE
Management, total: 2	50%
Managers, employees in management positions, total: 11	55%
Total number of trainees: 7	43%
Total employees, as of 1 March 2023: 40	45%

More women in management positions. Overall, the ratio in the agency has been fairly balanced in all years: around 50/50. Why is that? At our agency, important positions are always filled by competent employees. Knowledge, experience, skills, qualifications, and quality are our top priorities. We challenge and encourage everyone according to their abilities and with the desire to never stand still but to always improve.

Women in IT

We place particular emphasis on the topic of “women in IT.” Women enrich IT and significantly advance this “classic male domain.” Unfortunately, however, we believe that this topic is often given far too little importance in schools: too few opportunities, too little computer equipment, too few good role models—too little of everything that is needed. That is why we focus on this area in our training and continuing education programs. We introduce our new female employees in all teams to IT topics, let them work in this field, and develop in such a way that they become genuine experts in their areas of work, their projects, and with their clients. Because we know from experience that women who are well versed in IT are unstoppable.

work and life at DRIVE

It is important to us that work and life always go well together. This applies to leisure time and hobbies as well as to family and children. Yin and yang—everything must be in harmony so that you can develop well, not only in the short term but also in the long term. In practice, this means that we find flexible and individual solutions for all challenges that arise, for example:

Career advancement and continuing education, especially for women in IT
Coaching and support for individual, technical, and professional development
Flexible home office options and models with VPN and computer equipment
For families, mothers, and fathers: Individual working time models and flexible working hours, including part-time work, support in emergencies, vacation, and appointments, and childcare support
Sports and health offerings: DRIVE training with personal trainers for employees

https://www.drive.eu/en/agency/jobs/

For clients, employees, and the agency

All of this is important so that both women and men can work well for us and their families and communities are happy. And our clients benefit from this too. The flexibility in our work processes and the structures required to support this are very helpful in enabling us to perform well even when faced with short-term challenges.

“Women make the location”: Monika Probst from DRIVE for Hanover

Monika Probst from DRIVE has been named Entrepreneur of the Year by the city of Hanover: “Women make the location.” The award recognizes female entrepreneurs and their companies that have made a lasting and successful contribution to the location while adhering to and effectively implementing special principles, particularly in the employment and promotion of women and families. Here is some more information:

https://www.drive.eu/en/drive-blog-en/blog-detail/monika-probst-receives-award-women-make-location