S5E6 | Driving Change: Hiltrud Werner Rebuilds Volkswagen’s Culture After Emissions Scandal

2021-03-26

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Hiltrud Werner, Volkswagen’s head of integrity and legal affairs, talks with LRN’s Ben DiPietro about the work to change the company’s culture after its reputation-damaging emissions scandal; how COVID-19 has made that task more difficult; about the need for quotas to get women on boards; and what E&C people can do to make themselves ready for board service. “Everyone has understood that it’s not enough to overcome the diesel scandal; we need to be a scandal-free company...so we have to make sure that our culture is strong enough to make us robust, and that p...

“Everyone has understood that it’s not enough to overcome the diesel scandal; we need to be a scandal-free company...so we have to make sure that our culture is strong enough to make us robust, and that people will speak out if they have the feeling that something is wrong.”

- Hiltrud Werner

Hiltrud Dorothea Werner, a German business executive, joined Volkswagen in 2016 as the head of group audit, and was appointed in 2017 to the company’s Board of Management, responsible for integrity and legal affairs. In her role at Volkswagen, Werner oversees the compliance and integrity teams, and legal affairs. She is tasked with restructuring the compliance culture.

Werner is a member of the supervisory board of Audi AG, Porsche AG, Seat SA, and Tration SE. She began her career in 1991 at the consulting firm Softlab Gmbh as a project manager, and moved to BMW AG in 1996, where she held various positions in IT and audit. In 2011 Werner joined MAN SE as chief audit executive for the MAN Group, then became head of group internal audit at car supplier ZF Friedrichshafen in 2014.

Werner was born 1966 in East Germany, and earned an economics degree from Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. She is married and has two children.

What You’ll Learn on This Episode:

[1:25] How has Werner’s career path led her to her current position at Volkswagen?
[3:47] What did Werner learn about VW’s culture in light of the emissions issues? How did she and the board enact the changes they did?
[5:21] What was the program that was in place at VW to encourage employees to come forward with concerns? How has it been strengthened?
[6:58] How challenging was it to get buy in at VW on these new programs? How is progress measured?
[8:47] How has COVID-19 impacted her planning and implementation of these goals?
[10:23] As someone who sits on a board representing ethics and compliance, what are some things the E&C community does well and what are some areas for growth?
[13:17] Germany recently passed a law mandating a percentage of board members be women. Are these laws necessary for diversification and why are so many companies resistant to this change?
[15:15] What advice does Werner have for E&C professionals for what they need to do to make themselves attractive candidates for board service?