Diversity & inclusion

Statutory provisions in recent years have led to an increase in the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion.

Leadership Position Act II

The "Leadership Positions Act II" represents the third round of the legally required gender equality. The proportion of women on the Supervisory Board is currently already 45 percent (as of 12/2022) and, with two female members on the Board of Management, the required minimum participation is also met here. For this reason, new target quotas have only been decided for the two management levels below the Executive Board in 2021. The target of 25 percent applies to both management levels by the end of 2026.

Accessibility Strengthening Act

The "Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz", which was introduced in July 2021, obliges companies to offer their products and services largely barrier-free by mid-2025. With the Action Plan for Inclusion based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which we published in July 2018, the topic of inclusion of people with disabilities has long been on Commerzbank's agenda. With a bank-wide project, we will also implement inclusion for our customers. The bank's online applications and our ATMs are already largely barrier-free.

Company agreement

With the amendment of our company agreement on partnership-based behaviour in the workplace in 2021, we have extended our rules and values to all areas of action in diversity management. In particular, the bank's stance on the issue of racism was clarified in light of global events.

Personal Status Act

The "Personenstandsgesetz" was expanded some time ago by the possibility to choose a "third option". To this end, Commerzbank has, for example, adapted the application portal and the approach concept in job advertisements. In addition, Commerzbank supports transgender employees, colleagues, HR managers and supervisors in procedural and organizational issues related to the topic of trans identity. We would like to include the diversity of people who work for the Bank and are connected to the bank in the language as well. Therefore, the bank has decided to recommend the use of inclusive language in internal communications, initially for a pilot period of one year.

Women are equally well qualified in all aspects relevant to employment. Gender-mixed teams - especially in management - show outstanding performance and are also indispensable for corporate success in view of internationalization and demographic change.

At Commerzbank, we therefore strive for gender diversity in all functions and levels of the bank. In the interest of equal opportunities, all career paths should be open to all Commerzbank employees - regardless of whether they are specialist, project or management careers.

In 2010, the bank launched a Group-wide project to promote women in management positions. At the start, the quota was around 23 percent. By the end of 2023, we have achieved a Group-wide quota of 36,1 percent of women in management positions and have set ourselves a new ambitious target of 40 percent by the end of 2030.

In the Boston Consulting Group 2023 Gender Diversity Index, we are ranked second out of 100 German Companies, declaring us as the best bank in the index. We are proud of this and will not let up on the topic of equality.

Inclusion breaks down mental barriers and creates organisational conditions for successful cooperation between people with and without disabilities. Inclusion is directly linked to our efforts for Diversity and our contribution to ESG not only as a pioneering role but as a role model in the economy Inclusion is a central component of Commerzbank's diversity strategy.

Since 2016, Commerzbank has defined the inclusion of people with disabilities as a new field of action in Diversity Management. The goal is to rethink the topic of inclusion. Together with employees from communications, purchasing and the committees, we are developing communication concepts, optimising processes and bundling these activities under one roof. This has resulted in the "Action Plan Inclusion 1.0 - Different together" (german only) based on the UN Disability Rights Convention of 2009. With the action plan, Commerzbank was the first bank in Germany to commit to implementing key goals and measures to improve the situation of people with disabilities at Commerzbank.

With the current update of the ”Action Plan 2.0- Sustainably Inclusive“ , we are expanding the fields of activities to include health prevention, activities on customers, inclusion to secure skilled professionals and the implementation of the Accessibility Reinforcement Act beyond the legal requirements – for sustainable inclusive coexistence.

Commerzbank is an internationally active bank with a presence at many locations worldwide. People from about 130 nations work for Commerzbank in around 50 countries.

We consider the diversity of our employees as an advantage and actively shape the way we work together. This is because teams with broad linguistic and intercultural expertise exchange ideas, learn from each other, and are thus predestined to think and work in international contexts. The cultural diversity of our employees is therefore invaluable for the success of the bank. We draw strength from our own cultural identity. Origin, language, traditions and values give us support and orientation and determine the way we think and act.

Our goal is to make the best possible use of the different perspectives and backgrounds of our employees to create innovations from ideas. This enables us to work together safely and successfully across borders. The prerequisite for this is the competent and conscious handling of the diversity of languages, cultures, values, and working and communication styles. Exploiting this potential requires a willingness to learn from one another and mutual respect.

In 2013, we founded the intercultural employee network Cross Culture. The aim is to promote understanding for other cultures.

In Diversity Management, religious and ethnic diversity are also among the characteristics that we want to recognise and utilise among our employees. In this context, affiliation with a religion, a belief, or a specific worldview should not lead to either preferential treatment or disadvantages for our employees in their working environment.

Within the scope of its possibilities in the operational environment, Commerzbank permits the personal implementation of religious rules and customs. Our guiding principle is to treat each other respectfully and in a spirit of partnership, regardless of religion, belief or ideology, and not to violate each other's feelings and rights.

As a sign of appreciation, the bank publishes the diversity calendar of "Charta-der-Vielfalt e.V." (German Diversity Charta) on the intranet. The calendar provides an overview of all holidays of the major world religions.

The Christian network "Ichthys", an employee network of employees with the same religious affiliation, was founded in 2018. The members of the network are committed to good cooperation at the bank on the basis of their faith.

Welcome, just as you are!

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer (LGBT*IQ for short) or straight - all people are welcome at Commerzbank, just as they are. Everyone experiences respect and appreciation regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

Openness and team spirit count for us

We are proud of our long-standing active commitment to LGBT*IQ diversity. This is because Commerzbank has been committed to an open approach to sexual orientation and identity for more than 20 years. In 2010, Commerzbank was awarded the Max Spohr Prize for our commitment to LGBT*IQ Diversity. The prize, awarded by Völklinger Kreis e.V., has been recognizing companies in Germany for their work in the context of LGBT*IQ Diversity since 2001.

Commerzbank also takes a clear stance in public and underlines this with the visualized self-image "We live 365 days of diversity". For example, during Pride season, the Commerzbank skyscraper and the bank's logo are regularly coloured in rainbow colours on all digital channels and applications. The rainbow flag stands for respect and promotion of diversity and the freedom of all forms of coexistence in our society. It symbolises how we treat each other - with understanding and respect for each other, without discrimination and exclusion.

Commerzbank - Co-founder of the PROUT AT WORK Foundation

In 2013, Commerzbank joined forces with other companies to found the PROUT AT WORK-Foundation, which is now the leading think tank and advisor on LGBT*IQ issues in the working environment. It works across corporate boundaries throughout Germany to promote equal opportunities for people of all sexual orientations and gender expressions and characteristics.

Commerzbank works closely with the PROUT AT WORK-Foundation to break down unconscious prejudices and reduce fear of contact in society. We want to further anchor the self-image of our diverse society in the culture of Commerzbank.

Our engine: the Pride Network Arco

The engine of our work is Arco, our Pride employee network, which has been actively working since 2002 with about 450 employees for a visible and tangible normality of LGBT*IQ diversity in the workplace and beyond.

Our common goal: to reduce prejudices and promote mutual acceptance at all levels

Our common goal is to reduce prejudice and promote mutual acceptance at all levels. For example, we succeed in this by using common awareness formats that replace assumptions with knowledge.

External impulses are regularly received and panel guests from other companies are also invited for exchange formats. Awareness formats, for example, explain terms and what they mean for queer people. However, concrete options for action are also provided, such as helping those affected by the coming out.

Another example is Arco's "Ladies Lunch" initiative, which promotes the visibility of women in queer networks and whose work has sparked a nationwide movement outside the bank as well. In 2022, Arco was nominated for the German Business Communication Award (German only) in the special category FLINTA (Empowerment Communication) for this initiative.

Children & career

Our diversity strategy is based on trust and appreciation. The focus is on people with their different perspectives and talents.

At Commerzbank, we promote a working environment in which the compatibility of family and career is self-evident . That is why we support our employees with a wide range of offers to help them balance their private and professional lives.

For more than three decades, we have been continuously expanding our activities around the topic of career and family. Today we offer targeted services for every situation. For example, we support parents - mothers and fathers alike - with flexible company childcare facilities, but also with regular childcare and vacation care in exceptional cases.

The range of childcare services in Germany is complemented by virtual childcare. Parents can choose from a variety of offers, from fairytale lessons to age-specific group offers to one-to-one care, for example, to help with homework.

Our employees can take advantage of different working time models and work locations in order to be able to combine their private and professional lives as well as possible. For those returning to work after parental leave, we offer the KIT (Keep in Touch) program with part-time options of 10, 20 and 30 percent and a return guarantee to the previous position after parental leave.

Among other things, we support parents with subsidies for childcare costs, if material help is sensible and necessary, and offer exchange formats, lectures and workshops on the topic of parenthood and children.

Investing in a family-conscious HR policy, in our mothers and fathers and their family skills, is an added value as well as a success factor for our company. With its modern, family-conscious HR policy, Commerzbank is helping to give parents more scope for their professional ambitions on an equal footing.

The Commerzbank fathers' network Fokus Väter (Focus Fathers) enables all fathers in the bank to exchange ideas in and outside the bank as well as activities around the topic of fatherhood. Since 2004, the network has been committed to a sustainable balance between work and family life and demonstrates the potential of corporate competencies that develop through an active paternity. In 2023, the network launched new initiatives with various exchange formats, including panels with board participation. Regular father talks highlight important topics such as children & depression, puberty and much more.

Care & career

Our diversity strategy is based on trust and appreciation. The focus is on people with their different perspectives and talents.

At Commerzbank, we promote a working environment in which the compatibility of family and career is self-evident . That is why we support our employees with a wide range of offers to help them balance their private and professional lives.

For more than three decades, we have been continuously expanding our activities around the topic of career and family. Today we offer targeted services for every situation.

Commerzbank supports employees with family members in need of care and tries to create a more sensitive environment for caregiving employees. To this end, it facilitates the reconciliation of care and work with numerous measures.

For example, Commerzbank provides the option of taking caregiver leave/family care time with additional benefits. These options go beyond the requirements of the legislator. Immediate leave of five additional days is also possible in the event of a care emergency. The bank continues to make contributions to the BVV Versicherungsverein des Bankgewerbes a. G. during the care period.

Through our long-standing cooperation with pme Familienservice (Germany only), our employees can access information free of charge via an online portal and personal advice/mediation related to the topic of care. The advisory services include, for example, information on long-term care insurance, individual advice on accommodation suitable for the elderly family member, care aids, or support in finding and selecting care providers and supplementary services. A homecare hotline is available free of charge 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A homecare hotline is available free of charge 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Support in the form of grants is available if care courses are attended from health insurance companies and private providers.

In addition, there are regular events on the topic of care. Among other things, our employees can use an online platform to use tutorials, podcasts according to their own needs, and the extensive range of events offered by pme Familienservice.

In particularly stressful situations, employees and family members living in the same household can take advantage of support from an EAP hotline ("Employee Assistance Program").

Since 2013, Commerzbank has had the care staff network, in which those affected can exchange ideas and share their experiences.