By Anja Fordon, EMEA Staff Writer
Freudenberg Filtration Technologies is a global company producing air and liquid filters. It's part of the Freudenberg Group, a global technology company with 49,000 employees globally. We recently spoke with Edna Lauer, CIO at Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, about diversity, ‘do it yourself IT’ and her 18-year career in technology.
IT and technology aren’t at the top of career wish lists for many young women, or at least that's the common perception. What drove you to start a career in IT?
I've always been fascinated by how companies and their processes work, like how a customer order is processed by the entire company. And I've always enjoyed working with people. But I have to admit that bad processes have always annoyed me. I'm a lazy person and that motivates me to make processes better.
I thought about how I could contribute to making companies more successful, improving business processes and making customers more satisfied. So I decided to study business informatics. That was the perfect decision for me, because I get to work with people, I'm close to business and I help companies become better by improving their processes.
Do you have an example of how you are currently applying those principles at Freudenberg and helping to improve processes?
It starts with the fact that my department is not a classic IT department, but is called CPIM. CPIM stands for corporate processes and information management. We combine different disciplines. In corporate processes we apply lean methods to make processes more efficient, stringent clearer in terms of responsibilities. If these processes are streamlined, we use our IT expertise to automate processes as well. And so a colourful bouquet has emerged of how we create business impact for our customers every day, both internally and externally. That’s very motivating.
The more perspectives we use to design a solution,the better and more stable the solution will be.
The technology industry is much more diverse than we usually think. But how can we encourage more women to pursue careers in tech? Where are we today when it comes to diversity in IT?
I think it’s already evolved a lot. In my consulting career I’ve increasingly seen more women in IT. It’s not all positive experiences, though. I remember being at a project kick-off in the US where a male team member looked me up and down and said “let's see how often you have to ask your male colleagues for help today”. By the end of our time working together, his perspective had completely changed – he said he had never learned so much during a project.
It’s not uncommon to be confronted with these kinds of experiences. It happens. But I learned to see that these situations aren’t always conscious discrimination against women, but rather examples of unconscious prejudice. Behaviours like I experienced develop from it. And you can experience it from other women as much as men. I’m convinced very few people today actually believe in such antiquated stereotypes. What we do see though are unconscious behaviours which emerge from imprinted patterns from the past.
Do you think that we're doing enough to open doors for women in the technology sector?
Definitely not yet. I do think that many companies, Freudenberg in particular, are now doing a lot to get women into management positions, especially in tech. However, I also believe that discriminative behaviour originates much earlier. I feel it stems from our earliest childhood and upbringing. We act the way we do because we have simply been moulded that way. I believe the responsibility of companies has reached a limit in this regard.
Of course, companies can do a lot to encourage women to take up tech positions. I’m convinced we should continue to do so and intensify it. But beyond that, I do think that society as a whole has a responsibility to begin encouraging women, particularly in their childhood and in their upbringing, so following generations can be given a fundamentally different perspective.
Diverse teams perform much better. And by diverse, I don't just mean gender diversity but also cultural diversity.
You have many years’ experience in the technology sector. From your point of view, what are the advantages of having more diverse teams in tech?
Diverse teams perform much better. And by diverse, I don't just mean gender diversity but also cultural diversity. Today, many companies are positioned globally or operate internationally with different cultures and perspectives. And that’s great! The more perspectives we use to design a solution, the better and more stable the solution will be. However, multiple perspectives can also lead to friction. I believe the future belongs to those who are able to transform differences into strengths. Many women tend to have a good instinct for unifying teams and not allowing differences to be drowned in friction.
Many women tend to have a good instinct for unifying teams and not allowing differences to be drowned in friction.
What role do peer groups or female role models play in this context?
I don’t think we should underestimate this role. We’ve built up a network at Freudenberg called Women at Work. This is precisely where we’re looking to build solidarity. Different perspectives, from very young, talented women to experienced women, brought together simply to exchange experiences.
It’s easier when you know you’re not alone. The Women at Work network is really successful. It’s very well received and it creates a space for women to get to know role models personally, to exchange experiences and to support each other. I also think that it’s important to admit it’s our own responsibility to shape our careers. No one can outsource that. It doesn't matter whether we have a network or not. The responsibility is and remains with the individual.
What role can male team members play to best support women peers in the tech world?
I think the most important thing is actually awareness. In difficult situations I’ve observed, an overwhelming number of men were not aware of the impact of what they had just said or done. I have an example – a few years ago, we got a new team supervisor. We had our first team meeting and he looked around to see who was taking minutes. Of course, no one volunteered and I was asked to write the minutes, which I did. The second team meeting was very similar. Of course, again, no one wanted to take minutes voluntarily and again I was singled out. This time though, I immediately responded by saying I would be happy to write protocol if every male present also had the opportunity to take minutes once. What followed was a substantial pause and I never wrote minutes again.
The colleague who asked me to take minutes is definitely not prejudiced against women or women's performance. And yet, those were his actions. I think awareness is key. To be aware when you might act upon your unconscious bias or witness behaviours that may not promote diversity. Training in this aspect is something I would honestly recommend to everyone.
What role does technology play in all this?
Oh, that's a good question. First of all, technology is gender-neutral. I'd like to share a story from the Freudenberg Group. We introduced Workday globally as a HR tool, which enabled us – for the first time in our very long company history – to evaluate where we stand in terms of gender and geographical diversity.
With this transparency, we can now establish targeted recruiting, planning and more through targeted talent management. For example, we’re aiming for at least 25 percent of our managers to be female by 2025. The transparency that we’ve achieved with Workday plays a very important role in pursuing and achieving this goal in a structured manner.
What IT trends are keeping you busy right now? What do you think IT professionals should be looking out for in the future?
I think we should look very strongly at the market and our customers. Customer-centricity is what makes companies successful, in my opinion. And IT should simply be designed to make us successful. So how can we use IT and digitisation to help us act more successfully with and for our customers? That’s certainly a trend that’s part of my every day.
The second topic is what I call ‘do it yourself IT’. IT is often a bottleneck. We want to transform IT into an enabler for our company. To do so, I have to select technologies that enable my users to consume IT as easily as possible.
For example, in the past, we’ve seen IT prepare data structures and reporting. But for a business unit to formulate reporting requirements in a way that IT can implement takes time. We’re seeing more and more tech and products where IT provides data cubes or data in a way that allows business units to add their own reporting and dashboard. That generates tremendous agility because departments can simply implement their ideas themselves. That’s my vision of ‘do it yourself IT’. Empowering our users to consume IT themselves but also design it themselves within the framework of IT, governance and security, which must not be ignored.
What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self and other women, who are just about to start their career?
I’ve shared some experiences and one or two examples from my past. Such experiences can of course be unsettling and so I’d tell my 18-year-old self and other young talented women out there to stay bold and pursue your goals consistently.
There was a time when I would watch TV every morning to get the summary of the football results from the night before, just to be able to talk about it with my colleagues at work. Honestly, if you don't care about football, stay authentic and stay yourself. Don’t talk about football.
We talked earlier about how education is a very important element in why people behave the way they do. Often it's because girls are raised to be kind and polite. But, if you’re determined and persistent, it’s not rude and it's not just a male space. Keep at it. Stay authentic, be yourself and have fun doing it. Please don't let anyone dissuade you.
It's important to admit that it’s our own responsibility to shape our careers.
