Succeed – Women in Leadership

The initiative “Succeed - Women in Leadership” highlights the fact that ERGO promotes and backs the many successful women who take on career responsibilities within the company. In leadership positions, they make important and decisive contributions to the success of our company.

With their skills, performance and commitment, our female managers considerably advance the performance of ERGO. Accordingly, we are promoting further diversity in the workforce, one aspect of which is increasing the percentage of women in management positions to 40 percent by 2025. One of the various steps ERGO has taken in order to achieve this goal is launching the initiative “Succeed – Women in Leadership”. As part of the initiative, we portray some of the many successful female managers at ERGO. Our aim is to inspire even more women to pursue a management career at ERGO by showcasing the diverse role models and providing insights into their lives and their development paths.

Succeed - Women in Leadership: A Best of for International Women's Day.

Lena Lindemann and Oliver Willmes
World Women's Day 2023: "We think it's important to create equitable opportunity."

It is the first International Women's Day for Lena Lindemann, ERGO Group Labour Director, and Oliver Willmes, Chairman of the Board of Management of ERGO International, since they took over the sponsorship of women@ergo 2.0. In this interview, they talk about diversity as an important part of ERGO Ambition 2025 and what equality means to them personally.

Linda van Dijk

At DKV Belgium, she is responsible for the three main areas of data science, data governance and business analytics. 

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Christine Kaaz
Christine Kaaz

At ERGO Group, Christine Kaaz is responsible for the global P&C business segment together with the local CEOs and COOs.

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Surbhi Goel

Surbhi Goel is Head of Non-Life Client Management at Munich Re Singapore for the Southeast Asia region.

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Karin Brandl
Karin Brandl

Karin Brandl goes her way -– always with a passion for claims. At the age of 18, she completed her training as an insurance saleswoman and is now responsible for the entire claims organisation at ERGO.

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Annie Bernays
Annie Bernays

She is the Head of Strategic Change at DAS UK. There are two parts to her role: Change and Strategy.

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Ilona Dreska

As Head of Finance International ERGO Group, she reports directly to the Group CFO and is in charge of steering the International CFOs.

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Erika van Dyck

As the CEO of D.A.S. Belgium since September 2017, she likes to view herself as the “Chief Empowerment Officer”.

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Job vacancies

Inspired to take control of your own career? In our job market we show you our vacancies. Find the challenge that suits you best.

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ERGO offers women opportunities and support for their professional and personal development. Our promise: we provide the frameworks and clear the path to enable all committed and ambitious employees to advance.

Diversity and equality are fundamental elements of our corporate culture. Open-mindedness, creativity, reliability, mutual respect, appreciation and the courage to try something new defines how we view ourselves as a brand, an employer and a reliable partner for our customers in national and international business alike.
You can find out more about how diversity is really practiced and lived within ERGO on our Diversity page.

Dr. Markus Rieß
Dr. Markus Rieß, Chief Executive Officer ERGO Group AG

“With the initiative “Succeed – Women in Leadership” we want to showcase our many talented and successful female leaders around the world with even greater confidence, in turn inspiring current and future employees to take the next step and empower them to fully tap into their potential at ERGO.

Women in focus – Our commitments and projects at a glance
  • Mandatory quotas for women in various trainee and leadership programmes
  • Mentoring programme for women – offered for the 11th consecutive year in 2022
  • The “women@ergo” network
  • Opportunities for greater flexibility in terms of workplace and location
  • Support and advice for parents employed as back-office staff and salaried sales staff in Germany
  • External certification of our family-friendly personnel policy through the “BerufundFamilie®” audit; the “top4women” seal from the “women&work” career hub
ERGO relies on mentoring for ten years
In Cologne this year, there was a big “thank you” to everyone involved – and a spirited look ahead with 22 new mentoring tandems. The afternoon in Cologne was a very special event, and not just for Katrin Weitz: after all, the ERGO Diversity Manager had already welcomed the first participants at the premiere back in 2011.
Dorith Bröcker
Dorith Bröcker

“My motto: Life should be fun and never monotonous – that’s why I like new challenges.”

Laurence Cornaert
Laurence Cornaert

“I am passionate about my job. I appreciate the insight that statistics and mathematical models provide into our economy today. This is what I find in my current position.”

Heike Wiegmann
Heike Wiegmann

“My motto: act as an entrepreneur in the company and think in terms of solutions, not problems!”

Janna Nguyen
Janna Nguyen

“It makes me happy when I can help my employees grow and overcome challenges they might not have felt confident with before.”

Petra Schönbauer
Petra Schönbauer

“Leadership is the ability to trust and develop trusting relationships, and the capacity to exhibit empathy and attentiveness.”

Jurate Kucinskiene
Jurate Kucinskiene

“My strengths are finding solutions, cooperating and building teams, taking on responsibilities and seeing the big picture.”

Ulrike Timmer
Ulrike Timmer

“My best career decision: Not deciding between career and family, but choosing to have both.”

Dagmar Weinfurtner
Andrea Weinfurtner

“My recipe for success: Determination, humour, communication”

Andrea Rohr
Andrea Rohr

“Don’t just get women into positions, but continue to support them once they are there. Look beyond appearances at the quietly achieved success.”

Katerina Nikolaeva
Ekaterina Nikolaeva

“My career at ERGO led me from Russia via Germany to Austria.”

Birgit Biewer
Helena Biewer

“My motto: Great things never come from comfort zones.”

Ursula Clara Deschka

“The will to succeed, a proven track record, and a stable, comprehensive network – three things that are indispensable on the way to a management position, and once you’ve arrived there.”

Cornelia Röskau

“My motto: Never despair; tackle things head-on, and you can solve even the most unpleasant problems.”


Elisavet Kokkinou

“Learn how and when to say no, delegate and set appropriate expectations.”

Tinne Maes

“I try to inspire and guide my team via confidence, trust and mutual respect.”

Duong Minh Ngoc

“Being a leader does give one the opportunity to help people, and it is up to each leader to use that opportunity wisely.”


Pilar Madre

“I celebrate successes and learn from failures.”

Anja Berner

“My tip for women on their way to leadership positions: It is essential to know and use your own strengths!”

More profiles will follow soon!

We will regularly publish new profiles on this page as part of our “Succeed - Women in Leadership” initiative.

 

Contact

Any questions about the initiative “Succeed – Women in Leadership” or feedback you would like to share?

Please get in touch with our project lead Clarissa Gutzmer, who is happy to discuss your suggestions.