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Roland Auschel
: Counted but not substituted
The last time things went so mediocre for Adidas sales
director Roland Auschel
(59).
In the spring, the hapless ex-boss
Kasper Rorsted
sent him to a fire service in China, including quarantine.
Then the veteran Auschel, who had already worked under Rorsted's predecessor
Herbert Hainer
, had to witness how the bold Dane Rorsted's leadership over Adidas slipped more and more.
And now, as one of the few survivors of Rorsted's hectic hire-and-fire storm, Auschel faces harsh accusations from his younger colleagues: the Adidas veteran, they say, is no longer up to par when it comes to diversity issues currently.
What happened?
In a meeting of more than 200 managers, Auschel commented on the promotion of a black manager, saying that it was "Adidas' contribution to diversity".
Many of those present were outraged by the statement, reports the "Financial Times": to suggest that the manager was promoted more because of the color of his skin and not because of his skills was "completely inappropriate".
According to FT, Auschel's remark weighed all the more heavily because this was not the only lapse made by the sales director.
"Last warning" from the board of directors
Auschel received a "final warning" from the board that his repeated inappropriate comments on the topic of diversity were unacceptable, the FT reports, citing business circles.
There was also a compliance investigation into the incident.
The investigation revealed that there was a "need for training" for a senior employee, the FT quotes the sporting goods manufacturer as saying: In this coaching, which lasted for several weeks, the topics of diversity, equality and equality were "intensively addressed".
Auschel himself did not want to comment on the FT.
The fact that one of the highest paid Adidas top managers, who has worked for the group for around 30 years, attracts attention with such statements hits the group at an unfortunate time.
Just a few weeks ago, Adidas parted ways with its US partner
Kanye (Ye) West
, who had come under criticism for repeated racist comments.
The separation of West and the "Yeezy" brand has resulted in severe sales losses in the USA.
Contract extended until 2024
But Adidas veteran Auschel apparently gets away with a warning.
He is not taken off the field as a precaution after the yellow card.
On the contrary: at the beginning of 2022, his contract was extended until 2024.
In the same year in which the supervisory board issued the warning, Auschel also received a significantly higher bonus than in the previous year, according to FT.
Since the incidents criticized, there have been "no further signs of possible misconduct," the FT quoted a company spokesman as saying.
Possible background: The new Adidas boss
Björn Gulden
finally needs peace on the board - and above all a functioning board.
He is currently not presenting himself as a functioning team: Operations
Director Martin Shankland
(51) is hated by many top people because of his tough-guy attitude, CFO
Harm Ohlmeyer
(54) has been the compliant executor of Rorsted's savings targets for years.
Marketing
chief Brian Grevy
is considered to be as nice as he is overwhelmed.
A positive exception here: the veteran Auschel.
The enterprising head of sales has shone for years through his ability to suffer and survived the shoving around of the Rorsted era.
Apparently he was forgiven for not having been up to speed on the subject of diversity for years.
Because the training camp also had an effect on Auschel: Impossible is nothing.