[Grandpa's Observations!] Part 2: Where are the FY2023 'Nadeshiko Brands'?
My heart is Gen Z! My body is a Showa-era person past sixty! I'm Grandpa, the Gen Z supporter!?
Since 2012, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in collaboration with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, hasbeen selecting listed companies that excel in 'promoting women's empowerment' as 'Nadeshiko Brands'.
Since the Nadeshiko Brandrevamped its survey content and evaluation criteria in FY2022,I have chosen the 'Nadeshiko Brand' as my theme this time.
This is the second part of the series.The first partI would be happy if you read it first.
✅ What is so amazing about the companies selected this time?
If a company founded by an entrepreneur has developed significantly, the leader of that company almost certainly possesses charisma, and many of the employees areoverflowing with empathy for the leader, making it a company where engagement with employees is working well,I believe.
While there are many companies where a charismatic leader becomes self-righteous and fails, Japan's post-war recovery was driven by charismatic leaders who anticipated the future, made proactive investment decisions in new businesses, and were passionate about employee development.
However, in many companies that have become public entities where the charismatic founder has stepped down and a salaryman president has taken the helm,unlike the era of the charismatic leader, the focus shifts to short-term profits—a report card everyone can understand—tending to lead to myopic management.
Yet, the companies selected as Nadeshiko Brands seem to think that such short-term profits are merely consuming the legacy of the past, and rather than being distracted by such things,we, as managers, must sow seeds for the future.
Sowing seeds for the future requires time for the seeds to sprout and grow into flowers. In some cases, they may not sprout while you are still in charge. However, such seed-sowing seems to lead tocreating corporate resilience that can adapt to environmental changes.
Saying 'diversity is important' is just the beginning and is easy. However, increasing the ratio of female employees from 10% to 50% is not something that can be declared today and achieved tomorrow without continuous, long-term effort.
In other words, unless you implement women's empowerment into your management strategy,position it seriously rather than just as a facade, and continue to hire women consistently,you will end up with management that only aims for short-term profits like a 'talk-only' leader,and you will never achieve the performance required to be selected as a Nadeshiko Brand.
I believe that such selected companies are those that have becomefirst movers (first penguins) who make decisions and execute them early, even when the correct answer is not apparent at first glance.
Let's look at two examples.
✅ Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
It is easy for a leader to say 'diversity is important' in 2017.
But at that time, the ratio of female directors was 11%, and the ratio of female line managers (organizational heads) was 0%.Such a companyleaped to a 36% ratio of female directors and a 14% ratio of female organizational heads by 2022.This cannot be achieved just by wishing for it in your heart.
Furthermore, in an engagement survey,the fact that the 20-point gap in empathy toward the company between men and women narrowed to a 10-point gap in just five yearsdoes not happen through passive management. It does not happen unless the manager intends it and follows through with execution.
What specific actions have they taken?
1. Career Workshop: A once-a-year (2-hour) lecture.
General female employees and their supervisors participate with the aim of deepening mutual understanding through a 'common language.' By declaring individual action plans after the session and reviewing them at the end of the fiscal year, the initiative leads to changes in the mindsets of female employees and supervisors, as well as an increase in opportunities provided in daily work.Over the past three sessions, approximately 400 people of a wide range of ages, up to their 50s, have participated.
2. College: An annual (about half a year, one full day per month) mini-MBA training program.
This is a selective leadership development training program aimed at early career formation, primarily foryoung female employees up to their 10th year with the company.It providesbusiness skills training from a high-level perspective, such as management strategy, and in the final session, participants propose projects to management.In addition to skill enhancement, the goal is to form horizontal connections among the same generation, reduce career anxiety, and increase self-efficacy. Now in its third term, there are active applications at 2.5 times the capacity each year. Of the 25 participants in the 2020 college, 5 were promoted to management positions in 2021, improving the promotion rate, and the number of applicants for the management reserve exam has also increased, showing a remarkable change in consciousness.48 people have completed the program in two years.
3. Mentor Program: Implemented ahead of schedule starting in 2018, with approximately 110 people participating by fiscal year 2022.
Female employees have multiple interviews with two executives who are two levels above them and in different business areas, gaining high-level insights into daily operations and career planning, whilethe mentor executives can identify hidden talent, leading to development plans based on multifaceted perspectives.The ratio of female organizational heads increased from 0% in 2017 to 14%.
4. President Dialogue Session: A total of 13 sessions held over two years, with 217 young employees participating.
5. Unconscious Bias Training: Approximately 2,070 people from management, the HR department, and the sales and research departments, where initial assignments are common, have participated. Currently being rolled out to the production department.
They are doing it properly, aren't they?
I think that changing 'education' isvery important. The positioning of each program is also systematic and wonderful.
Splendid!
✅ Shiseido Company, Limited
If you thought, 'It's a cosmetics company, so there were many women to begin with, right?', you are greatly mistaken.In the base year of 2005, the ratio of female managers was 5.3%, and even Shiseido was an organization dominated by Showa-era men.
However, as a global brand, Shiseido has reacheda 37.3% ratio of female managers in 2022, with 38% executive officers, 28% department managers, and 39% section managers.
They are working toward a goal of having an equal number of men and women by 2030.
I think it's truly amazing.
There are surely some women who will grow on their own.
But in a Japanese society that has been dominated by Showa-era men, there were men who would admonish women, saying, 'Why are you sticking your neck out like that?'and women themselves had unconscious biases like 'What if everyone looks at me coldly?', so wasn't it a situation where it was difficult for women to play an active role?
If companies all over Japan were overflowing with companies like 'Ajinomoto' and 'Shiseido' that give such women courage and planned development opportunities, and continue to show a stance of encouraging men to participate in housework and child-rearing by having the company as a whole urge men to take 100% paternity leave and cooperate in child-rearing without working overtime, and that push women to truly demonstrate their abilities,then Japan's revival is guaranteed.
But the walls of vested interests and the wall of hating large corporations while glorifying small and medium-sized enterprises are high, aren't they?
And there is the wall of short-sighted managers who are all talk and no action.
But, good luck, Gen Z!
Thank you for reading to the end.
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