Whether from Italy, South America or Turkey – an international workforce is part of everyday life at Michelin in Bad Kreuznach. Liesa Rauchhaus works here, and she is proud to be part of it. “My colleagues come from 41 different countries,” she says. The 42-year-old has been working for a few months as Employee Experience Manager, focusing on how diversity within the company can be further enhanced and leveraged.
The diverse workforce of more than 1,400 employees produces car tires in a wide range of sizes and types. Rauchhaus herself has been with Michelin since 2009. Before that, she worked in team development and noted that “the more diverse the team members are, the greater the dynamic that can develop within a group.”
With nearly 130,000 employees worldwide, the company is committed to diversity – creating an environment that encourages new ideas from a wide range of perspectives. Top management is convinced that this stimulates innovation.
Getting to Know Colleagues Better
One example of this philosophy is a cookbook put together by employees in Michelin’s “Northern Europe” region. All employees were invited to contribute a personal recipe. The result is a collection featuring dishes from Sweden, Morocco and many other countries – from hearty Yağlama (a type of Turkish lasagna) to Swedish coconut cake.
What makes this book special is that every recipe comes with information and a photo of the person who contributed it. “That gives the book a personal and emotional touch,” says Rauchhaus.
At Diversity Day in May, the roughly 140-page cookbook was sold for 10 euros at several Michelin sites – including Bad Kreuznach. “The demand was tremendous,” says Rauchhaus with a smile. All proceeds were donated to local food banks.
Training Leaders to Be Unbiased
Michelin offers special training for managers to help them work as free of bias as possible – for example in recruitment or customer relations. Among other things, they learn to recognise unconscious thought patterns in themselves.
In terms of inclusion, Michelin cooperates with the inclusive career platform “My Ability”, which actively supports the company in recruiting employees with disabilities. At the Bad Kreuznach site, there are also work areas designed to provide lighter conditions for employees with health limitations.
Michelin is a signatory to the German employer initiative “Charta der Vielfalt” (Charter of Diversity – see page 19) and has even established a Diversity Committee.
This 20-member body, composed of colleagues from different countries, coordinates all diversity-related activities. One example is the Women in Motion project, which aims to make it easier for women to enter technical professions. In Bad Kreuznach, the “Women in Industry” working group is committed to addressing all the concerns of female colleagues in the various production areas.
“We open our doors and show women our production process"
Liesa Rauchhaus is currently working very intensively on this: “Unfortunately, the proportion of women here in production is still very low. We are determined to change that.” To this end, there have already been several women's recruitment days at the plant. “We open our doors and show women our production process and workplaces.”
And there is much to see: tire production in Bad Kreuznach covers most of the process chain, from compound preparation to quality control. Employees of all ages work hand in hand here – from 16-year-old apprentices to long-serving colleagues, some of whom have been with the company for 50 years.
About Michelin
In Bad Kreuznach, Michelin operates its largest production site in Germany. With skilled, flexible teams and state-of-the-art manufacturing systems, the tire plant serves as a benchmark within the Michelin Group. Michelin is one of the world’s most successful mobility companies and a pioneer in innovation and sustainability. Since its founding in 1889, Michelin has been advancing global mobility – with tires, services and solutions as well as travel, hotel and restaurant guides. The company relies on the strength of diverse teams and is a signatory to the German employer initiative “Charta der Vielfalt”.
Read this article in German.
