Place of birth, religion, skin color or sexual orientation – on the pitch, it doesn't matter. Soccer unites. This is one of the reasons why Volkswagen, for many years, has been involved in soccer. It supports amateurs and professionals, men and women, adults and children. Since the beginning of the year, Volkswagen has also been an official partner of the German Football Association (DFB) and the German national team. The aim is to support German soccer across the entire spectrum. This ranges from sponsoring the national team to cultural projects in soccer. The best example is the women’s soccer culture festival “Discover Football” in Berlin. 100 women from all over the world took part at the beginning of August in order to discuss national, cultural, religious and language barriers – and naturally have a kick-around together.
Team spirit powers success
On Saturday, August 31, the German women’s national soccer team will begin their qualifying campaign for the European 2021 Championship, in Kassel. The city is located in the state of Hesse, about halfway between Frankfurt and Hanover. We spoke to an employee at Volkswagen Kassel plant about soccer, Volkswagen and diversity.
Infobox: The Volkswagen commitment for international soccer
Volkswagen and soccer – a successful partnership. In Germany, Volkswagen is the partner of the DFB (German Football Association) and clubs at the various locations where its facilities are located – from VfL Wolfsburg and VfL Osnabrück via Hessen Kassel to FSV Zwickau and Chemnitzer FC. In addition, RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen are also sponsored clubs. Since 2018, the Volkswagen brand has also been a partner of UEFA, in regards to its national team competitions. For example, the brand organizes the Volkswagen Junior Masters, Germany’s largest soccer tournament for C juniors, and sponsors cultural projects such as the 11mm International Football Film Festival. Volkswagen also supports deaf soccer at a regional level, the training of junior coaches in Lower Saxony and the German Academy for Football Culture. In addition to the DFB, Volkswagen is a partner of the national soccer federations of France, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Luxembourg and the USA. Additionally, in Sweden, Volkswagen is also a partner of the Swedish soccer leagues.
With the first European 2021 Championship qualifying match against Montenegro taking place on August 31 in Kassel, the focus will once again be on the German women’s national team. This is the perfect venue, especially for the employees at the Kassel plant, located in the federal state of Hesse, as soccer is played actively across all departments and genders here. A good example is Tina Lichte, who has been the Group’s IT sub-department manager at the location since 2014. She is responsible for IT service provider management and the IT budget for the parts business of the After Sales Group, one of the major business units in Kassel. In our interview, she explains why soccer can strengthen the feeling of diversity in the company and why team spirit is equally important in sport and at work.
Infobox: Tina Lichte
Tina Lichte, 38, has been sub-department manager at Group IT at the Kassel plant since 2014. She leads a team of eight employees. At the location, she is responsible for the IT budget of the business unit Group After Sales - Original Parts Sales and its IT service provider control. She has been playing soccer in her department team since 2008 and regularly follows the matches of the European soccer leagues.
Ms Lichte, Volkswagen has been a partner of the German Football Association (DFB) since this year. What does this mean to you personally?
It made me proud in many ways. On the one hand, soccer moves the masses. Especially at big tournaments like the World Cup, I feel like I’m part of a big family. And: Soccer is a team sport. A team only functions if it sticks together. Success depends on team spirit. On the other hand, I was so pleased with this commitment because this partnership works across all genders. Not only men’s soccer, but also women’s soccer is promoted. I am therefore all the more looking forward to the women’s international match against Montenegro that will take place here in Kassel on August 31.
How would you rate the development of women’s soccer?
In the past, women’s soccer tended to take place on the fringes of the mainstream. But this is changing with the success of female soccer players and their increased popularity due to an increased media presence. I think that is good and only fair. Because if women play a high level of soccer and with passion, why shouldn’t women receive the same attention as men?
At Volkswagen, you also play soccer as part of your department team in Kassel. What significance does soccer have at the plant?
Kassel is very passionate about soccer. Once a year the VO-Cup takes place here, a non-profit soccer tournament in which many different department teams come together. VO stands for Group After Sales - Original Parts Sales, which is one of two major business divisions at the site. I joined my team eleven years ago.
A somewhat exaggerated question: How does the company benefit from an internal soccer tournament?
A lot. The special thing about the VO-Cup is that we usually try to make sure that there is always a woman on each side of the pitch. So it’s mixed teams from different departments that face each other. However, the fact that employees from other departments also step into the team when someone is absent means that there is a constant exchange from various areas of the company. This creates a strong sense of community that can also be transferred to the world of work. For two years now, we have also been opening the VO Cup up to other sports, so that department teams that are not so interested in soccer can also participate. The whole thing is a huge success.
So soccer promotes a sense of openness and diversity?
Openness and diversity play a very important role in soccer and at Volkswagen. Regardless of a player’s birthplace, skin color, religion or sexual orientation – the coach will select the player they find strongest for their tactics or playing philosophy. We take this as a model for successful personnel planning or team composition at work. It should always be about people and their talents and how they can be put to best use. By meeting people or players with different biographies, you learn from different cultures, because everyone works or plays differently. Diversity is therefore one of our corporate principles at Volkswagen.
How can soccer help to develop a stronger self-confidence at the workplace?
I can build my self-confidence when I celebrate success at work and in sport. The same applies to talent. If everyone uses their talent and makes the right use of it on the job and on the pitch, you achieve success and self-confidence develops. But failures are also very important both in soccer and on the job in order to learn from them. Because if I’ve experienced that even after a lost match the world doesn’t end, this encourages one to persist, train even more intensively and then you’re successful again, which I think helps immensely in your job also. Because here too, you have failures. When I then learn from my experiences in sport that you don’t give up, but analyze what went wrong, discuss this together in the team, make changes and then become successful again, then that does a lot with my self-confidence. A functioning team that voluntarily supports colleagues in difficult situations and inspires each other – that’s what’s most important to me as a manager. Someone can always have a bad day. Then my team intervenes and helps so that the work is completed regardless. This ensures a healthy sense of equality.
What do you do to increase diversity and equality in your department?
In our department we already have a very broad mix of women, men, different nationalities and international projects. Soon, for example, two colleagues from India, for whom we have all been very committed, will start work. And my colleagues and I are very open with each other, discussing at eye level and accepting each other as we are. Of course, I myself am undertaking a role model position.
What does this role model function consist of?
No matter what I do, my employees see my actions in a role model manner, reflected in their own actions. That means for me, for example: If someone in my personal environment is discriminated against on the grounds of origin, religion or sexual orientation, then I have to take action and take a stand. And that is also the case in sport. One example: the last Women’s Soccer World Cup, held in France earlier this year. When the US team, led by their captain Megan Rapinoe, clearly stood up for diversity and equality and against racism and homophobia and refused to celebrate the title with US President Donald Trump in the White House, I found it remarkably genuine and honest.
Referring to the openly gay US player Megan Rapinoe: Would you say that women’s soccer is even further ahead than men’s soccer in terms of equality?
This is an interesting question. Women’s soccer, in this case, certainly seems to be a step ahead of men’s soccer. I think it has a lot to do with gender stereotyping. The example of soccer player, Thomas Hitzlsperger, shows what nonsense it is that only heterosexual men embody strength, physicality and endurance. He had the nickname “The Hammer” because he had such a powerful shot and has lived openly as a homosexual since the end of his career. It is precisely because in men’s soccer, the outward expression of sexuality during the active season is viewed with such fearful eyes that it is important to show all critics how misleading any gender stereotyping is. The best way is to show that background, religion or sexual orientation do not have any influence on the playing field – and at the same time you can rely on your teammates. This is what matters in soccer, at work and in life: strong cohesion.
