30 Perspectives on How Siemens Supports Women in Achieving Their Best

"There is no reason to feel inferior just because you are a woman! Anyone, regardless of gender, has the same right to achieve success. At Siemens, you can speak up without feeling afraid, because your superiors will hear your voice. You can also pursue a career as high as you want! YES YOU CAN DO IT!!”    

"During my time at Siemens, I have been fortunate to work with managers who have acted as mentors and provided me with room to grow and explore my potential. They champion giving me a seat at the table and encourage me to always speak up and make my voice heard. A key enabler for my growth has also been the conscious trust in my abilities despite coming from a non-engineering background. 

Over the last 8 years at Siemens, I have been afforded opportunities for professional development both locally and abroad, which enabled me to further build my network and showcase my capabilities in different environments.”

“Empowerment does not come out of fancy women-friendly facilities or special privileges. For me, it's all about the intent – the support and the conducive culture that helps to build a career that I deserve. Siemens gave me the flexibility to pace my career without shunning me out of contention when I needed to focus more on raising my three kids. 

After 15 years, with more capacity to give undivided attention to my work, Siemens has put me on track with a BU leadership role and accelerator grooming programs. This is real empowerment!"

“I am thankful that I have been receiving equal reception for the majority of my time at Siemens. Many improvements I led were well accepted, not because of my gender identity, but because of their usefulness. It is Siemens’ people recognition that has empowered me so I don't feel ostracized at work.”

“From being a trainee in a graduate program to being a Sales Specialist, Siemens has helped me develop by trusting me and giving me the freedom to do my responsibilities at my own pace and using my own strategy. 

My female colleagues and managers also empower me to be brave in facing the everyday challenges of being in sales. From them, I’ve learned that we are stronger together.”

“In 2011, Siemens ASEAN Lead set up a new department, Partner Management, and I was appointed to head this department in Malaysia. This department appoints local business partners through geographically mapping, implementing partner channel strategies and executing the partner management master plan.

As of today, I have successfully driven this partner business to achieve more than 450% revenue growth from 2011 to 2020. Looking back, it’s clear to me that these changes had a real impact on our business results. Siemens’ ‘empowerment’ initiative has given us opportunities that led to higher levels of job satisfaction, boosted productivity and increased retention rates."

“I have Siemens’ full support to own my career. Having worked here for three years, I’ve benefited from the company’s support of young talent development. Everyone is encouraged to get deeply involved and given the chance to contribute. It’s been an exciting journey and I hope to see our great culture continue.”

“I can strongly say Siemens is a company where people are the most valuable asset. Our leaders know that nurturing their people is critical to growth. They let employees know how valued and important they are to success – in actions as well as in words. 

Siemens has given me the opportunity to be part of the New Horizon program, where I have been exploring new ideas, meeting new people across the organization, enhancing my skills and finding my strengths and areas to improve. This definitely helped me build my confidence level, which I am very passionate about.”

“Along my career at Siemens I’ve met great colleagues and leaders who empowered me to trust in my own path. It is about ownership and simply making it happen – trust in yourself and own it."

“During my career with Siemens, I have been given the opportunity to excel in the male-dominant engineering field. I started my career in Siemens many years ago and I was assigned to lead and commission one of the first Siemens IEC61850 Substation Control System (SCS) Project in a rural area deep in the Borneo forest in Sarawak. 

Based on my technical experience, in my current role I have the responsibility as the customer’s liaison for technical support. It is a challenge juggling work and being a mother of three girls, but fortunately, I have the support of superiors and cooperation of my team members.”

“I am glad to be in a company that drives an inclusive culture for transformation that supports the employability of our people. 

True to our strategic priority of driving progress through empowerment, our culture is both empowering and encouraging of all our people.

That’s something about Siemens that I am really proud of.”

“My superior is a great leader, and she is also my role model at Siemens. She is an executive and always shows me a ‘can do’ attitude to managing things efficiently, even in tough situations like COVID.

By empowering and supporting me to do new tasks and trusting my capability, Siemens has given me the confidence to move forward, learn new things and work efficiently on my career path.”

“During a time when I was the only one handling products belonging to two business units (normally handled by three people), the Heads of both business units gave their full support and trusted my decisions. Working together, our targets were over-fulfilled. That was an encouragement and evidence that at Siemens, every individual is empowered to excel – all that is needed is a commitment to succeed.”

"On 1 February 2001 I set foot in the Siemens Singapore office, the start of a career filled with trust, empowerment, empathy and a focus on outcomes. ‘You can do it’, I remember my first boss saying when he sent me as Management Consultant after just three months on the job to Tokyo to work with the Siemens Japan office on the development of their e-business strategy. And I did and this fueled my belief that anything is possible and that I can learn and grow every day. 

What followed in the years to come were exciting professional opportunities to work at the frontier of bridging humans and technology and creating value for our customers in the amazing growth region of Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.”

“At Siemens, I am given the freedom to be in control of my work environment and know that I am trusted by my manager to make decisions about my responsibilities. This is further made possible by the tools provided by the company. 

Technology is increasingly part of everything we do at Siemens. For example, through our Communications Automation platform, I have the efficiency, flexibility and insight to succeed and make confident decisions on how best to contribute to the company.”

“Having been at Siemens for close to three years, the company has encouraged me and given me opportunities to engage in open and friendly dialogues with fellow peers and managers. 

One example is being selected to be part of the DI SGES team, where I am the voice for my fellow colleagues and engage in discussions with our senior management. New initiatives and events that have been created from these discussions have led to a more inclusive, positive and happy environment. This experience has certainly empowered me to be more confident as a woman in a predominantly male industry.”

“In my career at Siemens, I have had the opportunity to challenge myself and move out of my comfort zone from the technical realm to sales to expand my career path. Each role I’ve taken on has been a whole new learning journey and adjustment. My managers and colleagues have trusted me, given me space to learn and fall, and allowed me to take charge of my work. 

Siemens has given me a platform to explore, develop myself and achieve many milestones of success.”

“Siemens has offered me a positive work environment where team spirit is of utmost importance and where employees are valued, respected and empowered. During my 13 years with the company, I have been given significant opportunities to extend my professional expertise and broaden my knowledge in areas beyond my background. 

I believe that by bringing to work my finest talents and engagement, I will make a difference to my work, excel in my career path and, together with the team, continuously contribute to the development and success of Siemens.”

“At Siemens, ‘taking ownership’ of your career is part of our company culture. In my experience, taking the initiative to ask for new responsibilities and stretch assignments have always been treated with respect and given support when possible.

I’ve since gone on several international assignments from the Philippines, to Singapore, Germany and Indonesia where I found not just challenging and fulfilling work, but also an abundance of inspiring colleagues. Being empowered to drive my own career and being surrounded by incredible people at Siemens have truly inspired me to excel in my own path and keep going.” 

“Siemens gave me the opportunity to develop my own business plan as the owner of Digital Twin in Singapore, ASEAN. As I hold a Ph.D in industrial engineering, I was very interested in maintaining my research community regarding industry 4.0 innovation, and Siemens helped me to join Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) as an adjunct professor, where I am able to educate the next generation of engineers on industry 4.0."

“Siemens has given equal opportunity and that makes me empowered to perform well in the workplace. My contribution and voice are always appreciated, and I never feel as though I’m underestimated because I’m a woman or young. 

After completing Siemens’ graduate program, I got a new full-time role as project manager, which involves leading a team consisting of few senior engineers. I’m lucky to have such a supportive team who respect me even though I’m the youngest member of the team.”

"There are many great top female leaders at Siemens, which are so inspiring. There are many learning and training paths to encourage us, where we are acknowledged and recognized for what we do for the company. There is no stopping us in achieving successes for ourselves and for Siemens!”

"Being a woman born between the time of the Baby Boomers and Generation Jones in the ASEAN region isn’t easy as there hasn’t always been many opportunities around. However, at Siemens, female employees have the chance to be the leaders of today and tomorrow. For example, I was recognized for my capabilities and empowered to lead a team of ten people, where every record was broken."

“I started my journey at Siemens without any experience or industry knowledge. I was worried and struggling at work in the beginning. However, my colleagues are very friendly and they gave me a lot of advice and support. 

Since then, I have been given opportunities to join technical conferences and training, where I’ve gained invaluable insights from people who are giants in the industry and expanded my professional network. Siemens is a great company that provides me a lot of opportunities to develop my career.”

"Siemens has given many chances to join training programs, which makes it easier for me to understand the working principles of Siemens products.”

"After four years working in HR at Siemens, I moved to Global Business Services as a Business Excellence Professional. I wasn’t confident that I could manage a process improvement project as I had no previous experience with it. However, I had an open discussion with my manager and I suggested joining some tactical training programs to bring me up to speed with the latest tools used in the industry. Then I took on a small project in Malaysia before taking on some more in Indonesia, and now I am starting to manage projects for the Philippines and Singapore as well. Basically, I gradually increased my responsibility, giving myself a chance to learn as I went along.

From HR Professional to Business Process Consultant – nothing is impossible when your employer provides you with the resources, opportunity, and motivation to do your best!"

"There have been many challenges and constraints in my career, however I have been empowered with tools and knowledge, together with the full support from my managers and fellow teammates, to overcome all these obstacles.

I have been encouraged to communicate and collaborate better with my customers, so I’m not afraid to voice my opinions and have open, productive conversations. I have also learnt the importance of being grateful and giving teammates the encouragement they deserve."

"As we started exploring more 3D design-related solutions, some challenges began to surface, specifically around user experience and interface design for 3D applications. From there, I decided to pick up user experience (UX) design.

My team in Singapore has been very encouraging, enabling and supportive in this pursuit. Along this learning journey, I got exposed to different UX communities in and outside of Siemens, got to work on projects together with some and even collaborate on giving talks to bring awareness and share our design knowledge. It has been enriching, being able to exchange and work closely with other product designers.”

"I used to see the Siemens logo when I drove around South Jakarta, and I would think ‘How does it feel working there?’ Never did I imagine that I would become a part of the team myself.

When I first joined Siemens seven months ago I was quite surprised to find out that I am the only woman and the youngest member of my business unit in Jakarta. At first, I was so nervous talking to my colleagues – some of them very senior – but after receiving so much support from my manager, all my hesitation is gone. He always reminds me that I am not alone and Siemens will always support me. One thing I know for sure is that I can excel in my career if I believe in myself. And I appreciate all the women working at Siemens. We are in the right place."

“I started my graduate career at Siemens and it’s been a great experience. The company has a great working environment, which allows me to learn how to work effectively and think outside the box to create more opportunities. 

Fortunately, I never had difficulties making my ideas become a reality as my bosses are always supportive and sending me constructive feedback. On top of that, Siemens also provides employees with specific training and a website full of learning materials. I’ve had so many opportunities to grow here!”