To achieve success both domestically and internationally, Japanese companies need to develop a strategic mind-set that allows employees from various backgrounds — regardless of gender, nationality or age — to build their skills and confidence and apply them to their jobs, according to speakers at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Understanding of "diversity and inclusion" — a term that mostly refers to stronger use of women in the workforce — in Japan "has improved in recent years and corporations have started to use it as part of their strategic measures to foster global talent," said Hiroko Tatebe, founder and executive director of Global Organization for Leadership and Diversity, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization.
During the Oct. 28 symposium organized by the NPO, Tatebe, a former executive vice president of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank of California, cited examples of companies that have succeeded in beefing up their female talent through a program established by their female employees.