Flashback
In the second half of the 1990s, I worked as a very young executive search consultant for a well-known Japanese Corportation.
This corporation wanted to build a team of Field Service Engineers from scratch in Dresden. The team of young engineers was to be responsible for highly complex technical equipment – the electrical and mechanical requirements were extremely demanding.
Recruiting on-site in Dresden was a unique and unforgettable experience for me, the HR Director Germany, and the (Japanese) Managing Director Europe.
All applicants were still shaped by the system of the former GDR (German Democratic Republic) – and what stood out in particular was the notable number of female engineers compared to West Germany.
An interview in English was not always possible at that time, as the candidates had only learned Russian at school. English was introduced only after reunification, through crash courses, and was naturally still rarely used in practice.
Despite some language barriers and interviews that had to be partially translated, the conversations quickly made a lasting impression – the university education in the GDR and in the still very "young" New Federal States was both theoretically and practically excellent.
Already after the first interviews, an unexpected conflict began to emerge.
Ultimately, five candidates were to be selected – from the point of view of the Japanese Managing Director, all male candidates, of course.
The reason was obvious: Japanese managers were still very conservatively shaped at the time, and women in professional life did not match their worldview – especially not in engineering, the traditional male domain.
However, it quickly became clear in the interviews that one young East German female engineer made by far the best impression.
This young female engineer also had a small child, and her husband was to take care of the child primarily.
This “complete package” was completely unimaginable and foreign to the Japanese Managing Director – he wanted to reject the female candidate on reflex.
What to do? 🤔
Fortunately, the Corporation also conducted a theoretical knowledge test (electrical engineering / mechanics) alongside the interviews to benchmark the candidates worldwide.
The result:
- All final candidates from the Dresden interviews ranked among the top 5% of candidates worldwide based on this test – impressive in itself.
- And who had achieved the best test result worldwide at that time?
The young female engineer! 🏆
The HR Director Germany and I were immediately enthusiastic about the candidate – without any doubt.
But the Japanese Managing Director struggled – with his traditional beliefs and values, and at the same time with the objective impressions from the interviews, which spoke for themselves.
Altogether, the interviews in Dresden lasted three days, followed by joint dinners.
It would go beyond the scope of this article to describe the intense discussions of those days and evenings – the conversations mostly revolved around the same topic.
Back and forth – always the same questions:
- Could the unthinkable become possible – hiring an excellent female candidate against all previous sociocultural norms of the Japanese corporation?
- What risk would it pose for the HR Director Germany and the Managing Director Europe if the hiring of the young female engineer had to be defended before the company’s top management?
There were many reasons to believe that such a personnel decision would be impossible and, at the very least, highly risky.
And yet – the engineer had made such a lasting impression that even the Japanese MD ultimately followed his inner conviction and took the full risk himself.
The hiring of the candidate was defended and enforced with the management in Japan.
With resounding – and above all sustainable – success! 🌟
The young female engineer became head of the rapidly growing Field Service team in Dresden in less than three years and thus took the next step, which had previously seemed impossible: becoming a female leader and thus a manager in a still very conservative corporation at that time.
And she is still a manager today – at the same company, which was rewarded for daring to step out of its own shadow.
Lesson Learned for me:
Gender plays no role in professional success – in the end, success is based on personality and expertise.
And what really matters is the opportunity to prove one’s abilities in the first place.
For me, the topic of diversity does not even pose a question – diversity is simply a given that I don’t need to think about.
That’s why I am deeply convinced of diversity – and also of DEI – and believe that we must not ease up on this issue! 💬
PS: Since 2001, I have been working with colleagues around the globe through Kestria - that’s diversity in its purest form. Extremely enriching and educating. 🌍