#33 DIVERSITY ROLE MODEL - the perks of being a working parent with Isabel Hochgesand

Isabel Hochgesand's meteoric career took her from Managing
Director and Procurement VP at Procter&Gamble to Chief
Procurement Officer at global skincare company Beiersdorf. She
says she “didn’t have any career goals when [she] started" - but
when her role was moved abroad and friends pressured her to stay
with her partner, something shifted. “This was the first time I
felt a bit of a revolution within me.” 


 


Ever since then, she took the path less trodden. In 2001, she
turned down a highly sought-after position in Geneva for a
location-free job in Frankfurt to be with her husband. “I was
first the guinea-pig and then the role model for working
location-free,” she says. So she made the option available to
others, and built "the best, closely-knit virtual team.” 


She shared some great leadership and life lessons - my main
takeaways: 


 Embrace innovative working models,
such as job tandems. “Best for parents who want to work part-time
and also progress in their career and development.” For companies
it’s also a way to retain talent and boost motivation and
loyalty.


 Don’t bow to societal pressure. In
the U.S., Isabel’s 4 months maternity leave was considered long -
in Germany people felt it was too short. Expectations differ from
country to country and even from person to person, so don’t sweat
it. 


 The importance of networks. Isabel
has created networks for women and stresses the importance of
peer coaching. Since we do both at MyCollective, it was great to
hear this from someone with her experience 


 Be confident! After our podcast, she
told me that she recently had two women apply for a job in her
team - both returning from parental leave and aiming for
higher positions. She was really impressed by their confidence -
and then realised that they came straight out of the
MyCollective programme ️️️ 


 


I’m so happy that Beiersdorf’s collaboration with MyCollective
includes all parental leavers all over the world - if anyone
from Beiersdorf reading this is on parental leave and wants to
join the programme, please let me know! 


 


PS: Our programmes are also open for DADs! As we all know,
the more dads take parental leave, the more it normalises a
return to a career for everyone. We also have a close cooperation
with @Volker Baisch and his Väternetzwerk conpadres - and since
he is also active with Beiersdorf’s @DAD.icated network, the
circle closes
here. #ChangingTheNarrative really is
a collaboration!


 


Speaker: @Isabel Hochgesand - Chief Procurement Officer
@Beiersdorf AG


Interviewer: Dr. Ricarda Engelmeier - Founder @MyCollective


Photo: Isabel Hochgesand 


 


#getinspired #podcast #MyCollective #femaleleadership #womeninpower #equality #flexiblework #newwork #diversity #changemakers #equalopportunity #getinspiredpodcast #ImpulseSessions #parenthood #parentalleave #elternzeit