An equal chance

When it comes to diversity in business, Japan has some work to do. The country ranked 116th out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap report and women represented only 11% of executives in Japan’s major listed companies last year. There are few openly gay executives in major companies and same-sex marriage remains unrecognized legally, excluding LGBTQ couples from many companies’ family benefit schemes.

Yukiko Ozaki wants to help to create “an organization where there’s an attitude of accepting differences”

In April Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said that diversity in listed companies is key to “enabling innovation” and “achieving ‘new capitalism’ and an inclusive society.” But how do you change the mindset of a people? Yukiko Ozaki, Chief Human Resources Officer at Nomura Holdings, has spent her career promoting diversity. “Nomura is a Japanese company, but we have been globalizing our operations fairly quickly,” she says. To achieve further global growth, Ozaki wants to help create “an organization where all kinds of people can play an active role… where there’s an attitude of accepting differences.”

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, believes that diversity in the workplace is key to “enabling innovation” | Akson/Unsplash

To encourage diversity throughout the company, three new networks have emerged within Nomura: “Allies,” “Women in Nomura,” and “Life & Family.” Each runs several programs aimed at supporting minorities in the workplace and promoting allyship among employees. Ozaki believes that these networks have also helped show existing managers the benefits of diversity. “We need to be enlightening the bosses,” she says. “Communications and support should reach all employees, senior and junior.”

Getting even

As for gender equity, Nomura has set itself a target of increasing the number of women in management positions from 15% to 20% by 2025. Ozaki believes the goal is achievable but won’t be easy. “The number of women who say they want to be managers is overwhelmingly smaller than that of men,” she says. “You hear many women say things like, ‘It’s too much for me’ or ‘I can’t do this kind of role’.” To promote change, Nomura has implemented training sessions to lower such self-imposed barriers among women and build confidence. “We’re working to change the mindset of female employees. For example, mentors can show younger women how they’ve been able to balance work and family,” says Ozaki, who is keen to stress that male colleagues play important roles as well. According to figures from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, just 14% of eligible men in Japan took childcare leave in 2021 compared to 85% of women. “We’re actively encouraging our employees to take paternity leave,” says Ozaki. “We aim to have 90 percent of both male and female employees take parental leave.”

“Having an accepting environment and respecting privacy is really encouraging to our employees who aren’t part of the majority”

Nomura Holdings’ Allies program aims to support the LGBTQ community | James Molnar/Unsplash

The company’s LGBTQ program has a long history and is equally significant to Ozaki. “I have been involved in LGBTQ programs from when I was with Lehman Brothers,” she says. “I see the existence of Allies as very important in terms of creating a safe environment.” Nomura provides spousal benefits to LGBTQ couples and applications can be completed privately. “We are putting a lot of effort into fostering allyship,” she says. “Having an accepting environment and respecting privacy is really encouraging to our employees who aren’t part of the majority.”

Ozaki believes that if Japan is to achieve a more diverse future, established companies need to lead the way. “Companies should go about creating environments in which it’s considered OK to be yourself,” she says. “When big companies commit to do that things change, because they are influential. People will think, ‘If Nomura can do it, so can we.’ It’s all about maximizing everyone’s potential.”