Cornelia Horsch, managing director of HORSCH France and marketing director at HORSCH, gave a speech on women in business.
In Cornelia Horsch’s view, men and women should work together, because they complement each other’s skills. Her professional career has always been in harmony with her family and personal life. Her husband’s support helps her with that.
What makes women different is their strength
Women are generally more sensitive, have a different management style, and think differently. Men, on the other hand, are mainly interested in facts and the objectivity of every decision. Since these skills complement each other, women shouldn’t try to be like men. The traits that set women apart are exactly what a team needs.
Female persistence pays off
In 2002, HORSCH’s shareholders decided to close our French branch due to its poor profitability. Since Cornelia Horsch considered this decision wrong and irresponsible, she decided to take her children and move to France to take charge and turn HORSCH France into a thriving enterprise. Her success proved she was right: France is now HORSCH’s largest export market. The whole company still benefits from the knowledge and experience gained during that recovery period.
Employees with a balanced life are essential for the company
Since Cornelia Horsch can’t know everything about her employees’ families, she insists that all senior staff care about their employees and their problems. Cornelia believes that only people who feel good at work and have a harmonious life at home can excel at their tasks.
For many years now, HORSCH has offered its employees various training courses, during which everyone gets the chance to learn more about their own personality, their strengths and weaknesses, and also learns how to handle their colleagues’ strengths and shortcomings. As a result, tension in relationships between employees has significantly decreased, improving the working climate at the company.
Flexible working hours – a model for the future
Although part-time work wasn’t popular among workers at first, it’s gaining support from many women returning from maternity leave. Time spent at work at the company boosts their self-confidence and adds variety to their family life at home. What’s more, more women will be needed for technical roles in the future. That’s why HORSCH recruits such staff not only for offices, but also for positions in the customer service department and even in production.
No to women’s quotas!!!
Cornelia Horsch considers “women’s quotas” demeaning and even shameful. In her view, competence is what matters most. Nonetheless, decision-makers need to change their attitude toward women: in 2007, McKinsey calculated that companies with women in leadership positions earn almost twice as much as companies led exclusively by men.
