Nissan Speaking out on Diversity at Work
Berlin (ots/PRNewswire)
Nissan Motor Company is participating in the 2007 Global Summit of Women held in Berlin, Germany from June 14-16th. Ms. Yukiko Yoshimaru, general manager of Nissan's Diversity Development Office, today spoke at the "Leaders' Voices in the Work/Family Debate" dialogue session, highlighting Nissan's diversity practices at the workplace within the context of Japan's corporate environment.
Ms. Yoshimaru also drew on some of the key learnings and synergies derived from the Renault-Nissan Alliance that has benefited Nissan's diversity efforts.
"At Nissan, we have taken a conscientious and deliberate effort to promote diversity because the company firmly believes that diversity can be leveraged as a competitive advantage that could contribute directly to the company's growth and profitability," said Yoshimaru. "This commitment to diversity is clearly demonstrated from our senior most management and our CEO Carlos Ghosn in particular is a very proactive champion of diversity."
In Japan, cultural norms have influenced the traditional role of women with societal expectations focused on the role of women as the "care-giver" within the family unit. Moreover, the automotive industry is still very much a male-oriented, with women at management positions representing 0.8% of Japan's auto-sector.
"The combination of these factors creates a very challenging environment for an automaker in Japan, in terms of changing mindsets and attitudes within the workplace," observed Yoshimaru. "You need to demonstrate and quantify how diversity can add value to the organization as a whole."
At Nissan in Japan, the ratio of women at management level is 4% (as of April 2007), which although higher than the current industry average does not, according to Yoshimaru, represent the potential of Nissan. The company continues to take active measures to improve this ratio and to create more opportunities for women to advance their careers in the company.
Some of the diversity initiatives already implemented at Nissan in Japan include:
- Maternity leave policy above the legal requirement (up to two-years of age for the child)
- Shorter and flexible working hours for mothers (up to 3 hours reduction per day)
- Day-care nursery centers at the workplace
- Mobile/tele-working arrangement
Nissan's diversity initiatives have resulted in significant improvements:
- Number of women employee attrition due to marriage, child-bearing and childcare reasons has dramatically decreased by half in the past three years.
- The percentage of female decision makers at management levels is expected to triple from 1.6% to 5% within three years (FY2005 - 2007). This figure is significantly higher than the overall manufacturing industry's average for women managers at 1.9%.
In Japan, Nissan is already well-acknowledged as a leader in diversity advocacy. Amongst its many accolades, Nissan has been awarded by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for its contributions to the advancement of women and is a recipient of the reputable "Nikkei Childcare Support Award".
Note to Editor: The Global Summit of Women is celebrating its 17h year of bringing together women leaders in business, government, the professions and enterprises of all sizes. Informally called the 'Davos for Women' by past delegates, the Summit is basically a business meeting with a development angle, and it so happens the participants are women. The Summit focuses primarily on promoting women's economic advancement and provides the forum for exchanges of winning strategies and successful best practices rather than exploring well-known and well-researched barriers that women face. The audience divides evenly between corporate executives, women entrepreneurs, government and business NGO leaders. For more information on the 2007 Summit in Germany, please log on to www.globewomen.com.
For more information, contact:
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Communications and CSR Department
Global Communications and CSR Division
Tel:+81-(0)3-5565-2141
http://press.nissan-global.com/ENContact:
For more information, contact: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd, Communications
and CSR Department, Global Communications and CSR Division,
Tel:+81-(0)3-5565-2141, http://press.nissan-global.com/EN