"So I only know the role of a senior manager from a part-time perspective. New to the role of mother, new to the role of manager: the start was a little bumpy, mainly because I had very high, perhaps too high, expectations of myself as a mum and as a senior manager. I then subjected myself to a "reality check" and reflected: Do others have such high expectations of me and my roles? Or am I putting myself under pressure because I want to fulfil them all?

My senior managers, for example, had no problem at all with me working part-time. The support from my team of 22 also helped me to find my way into my role. It was also helpful that - given my 28 hours per week, spread over four days - I set very clear priorities and communicated transparently. For example, my team knows when I am available, what I can do and that they have my full trust. Of course, being a part-time senior manager requires flexibility, given the diverse demands of our day-to-day work. But the same applies to my employees.

I'm not just a part-time manager, I also manage part-time employees, including more and more fathers who work between 60 and 80 per cent. I think that's a nice development. Part-time employees have many strengths; they work in a more focussed way and are role models when it comes to setting priorities. And they are often happier because they can balance their private and professional lives.

I've been a senior manager since 2023 and a participant in Women's Drive Advanced since autumn 2024 (see box). When I see how much power comes together there and how much we learn from each other, it gives me a good feeling. In Women's Drive, I am a mentee, a mentor for my female colleagues in my day-to-day work, who I consciously and proactively support in becoming aware of their strengths, developing themselves further and taking space for themselves. A programme like Women's Drive takes the issue of promoting women seriously, and we are on the right track here at REWE Group. Nevertheless, we still need more role models internally - including part-time ones - to empower us women. I hope that more and more women will have the courage to go their own way."

Dunja Surendran, Engineering Manager in the Agility division, REWE digital and participant in Women's Drive Advanced.

"Two years ago, I was able to take part in Women's Drive Start. On the one hand, to develop myself personally, and on the other, to be able to support my employees even better in their further development as a senior manager. Support and empowerment, especially for female employees, is also important to me in my immediate working environment. Every four weeks, I have a dialogue meeting with each of my 30 or so employees. I also use this to motivate them to regularly think about their next career steps. I make my network available to them and recommend that they network well within REWE Group, for example via our internal women's network f.ernetzt.

I want everyone to be given the best possible opportunity. This also includes regularly providing my employees with offers for further training or internal job advertisements. This close-knit support definitely pays off, many of my employees have moved on to other product teams, other technologies, higher positions..

As a senior manager, you can't have any barriers in your head when it comes to employees. Everyone can develop. You just have to find the right approach and recognise their strengths. For me, employees are an important and valuable asset that needs to be encouraged and challenged. If you build teams according to their strengths, they are highly efficient. Then it works. This is a crucial key to success. It sounds simple, but is often ignored.

There are also part-time employees in my team, both men and women, who are able to combine work and childcare or caring for relatives, for example. These employees are often particularly well organised and efficient. I have had very good experiences with regularly asking them whether they can imagine working two, three or four more hours because their private situation has changed and their children have become more independent. I prefer to let my good, proven and well-trained employees increase their hours before I recruit new ones."

Monika Ringart, Engineering Manager at REWE digital, is registered for the Women's Drive Advanced programme and will soon be mentoring a Women's Drive participant for the third time in a row. Her first Women's Drive participation has resulted in a "valuable professional network".

"I found that exciting, because during that time the logistics divisions of PENNY and REWE separated and I set up the central process and IT management for all ten PENNY logistics locations in Germany. Ten years later, I had the opportunity to move to the larger REWE logistics unit and became Head of Transport Processes and Systems. In the same year, I became a mum to a three-year-old daughter - and since the end of 2023, I have been the central contact person for Retail Germany Logistics in the NEO programme.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the challenging triad of department management plus NEO plus child, it became increasingly important for me to find time for my family and myself. That's why I decided to reduce my working hours to 80 per cent at the beginning of 2025. My team and I prepared for this step for around six months and found solutions for how I could relinquish some of my management roles. Fortunately, we developed and promoted a colleague from my team to team leader. And another colleague at NEO is actively supporting me.

Since I've been in logistics, in other words since 2011, I've hired a majority of female project managers, six of them, and all of them are still working in their teams. And I'm happy to see more women in logistics. There are many opportunities here, both in the regional logistics locations and in the central units. Good structure, organisational talent, a spirit of innovation and effective teamwork between the regions and the central units play a major role in creating optimal logistics solutions. In other words, a very exciting field of work for women.

My tip to interested female colleagues: Be courageous and open. Take a look at logistics. There are interesting jobs at the logistics locations and also in the central areas. It's worth it."

Ina Meyer, Head of Transport Processes and Systems, REWE Markt GmbH. As a mentor at Women's Drive Start, she accompanied a mentee because she considers a strong women's network in the Group to be very important.