PROUT EMPLOYER FiNUM.Finanzhaus
“FiNUM.Finanzhaus stands for openness, respect and tolerance.”
After her studies of mathematics in Bonn, Sabine Schmitz, the Rhinelander by choice completed her training as an insurance saleswoman at Deutscher Herold Lebensversicherungs AG – now Zurich Group – and then moved to the sales subsidiary Bonnfinanz. Since 1998, she has built up her own company, Obligo Managementberatung, with a focus on IT and organisational consulting. In 2007, she was involved in the founding of FiNUM.Finanzhaus. In 2013, she additionally took on a board mandate in the group at Jung, DMS & Cie. AG. Under her responsibility, Jung, DMS & Cie. developed the strategy to successfully connect major customers. Since 2020, she has concentrated entirely on the development of FiNUM.Finanzhaus AG as Board Member for Sales, Human Resources and Academy.
Sabine Schmitz, WHAT MOVED YOU TO BECOME A PROUTEMPLOYER?
Sabine Schmitz: FiNUM.Finanzhaus stands for openness, respect and tolerance. We live this attitude on a professional and personal level. Both internally among our employees and externally dealing with our customers, there is an absolute culture of welcome. As a holistic consulting firm, we have a dual interest in an equal society. On the one hand, as an employer and cooperation partner, we naturally want to be a role model in the equal treatment of all people. Both internally and externally, we live a corporate culture that is guided by the values of objective, demanding, human, passionate, virtuous, pioneering and focused. These values already indicate how important the issue of equal treatment is to us. We are firmly convinced that only teams in which people with the most diverse life paths and experiences contribute can be truly successful. That’s why we are a very open, fair and demanding company here. This open-mindedness is also reflected in our consulting activities, which are always empathetic and authentic. All customers should be able to talk openly and honestly with our consultants about any situation in life.
What kind of support from PROUT AT WORK do you wish for?
Sabine Schmitz: Many companies have been involved with PROUT AT WORK for a long time and have a lot of experience. We would like to share in this, be inspired and collaborate to make our world more tolerant and colorful. All the efforts so far to make a difference are impressive. However, we will only achieve the big step if everyone is willing to take a stand for the topic of equality and against discrimination. With the help of the network, we want to become even more active in the future. We are looking forward to learning and making contacts.
FiNUM.Finanzhaus AG belongs to the younger PROUT EMPLOYER with the start of cooperation in 2021. What activities have there been so far in your company on LGBT*IQ in the workplace and are there already plans for the current year?
Sabine Schmitz: We are just getting started in the collaboration. Therefore we are trying to participate in many events and to take part in many activities. So far, it has been enough for us not to live any differences internally in FiNUM.Finanzhaus: we have employees of all gender identities, old and young, many nationalities, people of different faiths and sexual orientations. Now we want to contribute to promote our lived basic attitude and to carry it into our society, where still too big differences are lived. To this end, we have started to fly the flag for diversity on our social media channels and also to position ourselves in customer communications with subtle signs, such as the rainbow colors in the email signature. Unfortunately, we are convinced that it still takes a lot of courage for many people to openly and honestly acknowledge their own identity.
“Our challenge is to show that FiNUM.Finanzhaus provides an open work environment where everyone is welcome just as they are.”
Where do you see the challenges concerning LGBT*IQ diversity at FiNUM.Finanzhaus AG in the coming years?
Sabine Schmitz:Too many people in Germany still don’t dare to come out at the workplace. Our challenge is to show that FiNUM.Finanzhaus offers an open working environment where everyone is welcome just as they are. We have put a lot of thought into our set-up here and see ourselves on a good development path. We would be pleased if we could find more people who appreciate our way and see their professional future with us.