Driving change in Japan: DEI leadership and NTT’s ambitious vision
This article is an excerpt from our research publication SJ3: The pathway to regenerative business. A Japanese version is available on Note.
Introduction
From its ‘remote standard’ system encouraging teleworking, to meetings for the LGBTQ+ community and even avatar robots providing jobs for people with disabilities, NTT has taken a multifaceted approach to promoting Diversity and Inclusion (D&I). We interviewed Madoka Ikeda, General Manager of the Diversity Promotion Office, who is one of the driving forces behind this pioneering effort. Ikeda-san shares her personal story, the value of D&I, and the challenges that lie ahead.
Embracing change to strengthen employee engagement
Firstly, what was your path to becoming the General Manager of the Diversity Promotion Office?
Despite NTT being the first company in Japan to introduce a childcare leave system, it was not considered a leading company in terms of D&I around the time of my appointment in 2019, including in terms of women’s empowerment. Even if there were women in management positions, it was difficult to balance work and childcare, and there were no role models for younger employees to look up to.
Since I had the experience of being posted to the US with my partner and two children, I felt that I was in a good position to help overcome gender barriers and stereotypes, and promote diverse ways of living and working.
What is currently your main focus?
Our current focus is to improve employee engagement. Since 2014, we have been regularly conducting an employee satisfaction survey. Amidst the pandemic, we introduced remote working and for the first time, witnessed an increase in satisfaction across all survey categories. However, we noticed that the survey did not capture an accurate representation of productivity and ‘yarigai’ (motivation). To address this gap, we began two years ago to examine whether individuals and organisations within NTT felt like they were working collaboratively and supporting one another.
What did this reveal?
It became clear that there is a strong correlation between employee engagement levels and workplace improvements such as work-life balance, stronger diversity and training opportunities, which have a positive impact. Conversely, what came to light was the importance of creating a more challenging work environment, promoting strategic alignment, and addressing human resources-related issues.
The results indicated that undesirable staff transfers, archaic values like mandatory attendance at drinking parties or playing golf, excessive work hours, and inadequate promotion opportunities due to childcare or nursing care leaves or shortened work hours negatively affect employee engagement.
Therefore, last year we eliminated the promotion by seniority system and changed the criteria by which employees are evaluated. Previously, generalists and people with strong leadership qualities were promoted, but now there is more emphasis on evaluating employees based on their unique strengths and characteristics. Furthermore, an open recruitment system was introduced and expanded for training and promotions; previously, these matters were decided solely by management.
We aim to create a highly engaged organisation — one that is autonomous and enables employees to think independently, plan the way and process effectively, discuss openly, and contribute to society leveraging their capabilities without the fear of failure. By fostering these principles, we believe we can drive the company’s growth.
Creating change can be a complex undertaking for larger companies, particularly when it comes to altering established systems. Could you share more about this?
There are more than 900 group companies under the holding company, and so of course there was some opposition.
Nonetheless, I believe we were able to realise this vision because we established a frequent, ongoing dialogue with executives and HR departments of each group company (such as weekly HR department chief meetings). This collective effort reinforced our sense of collaboration to design a new system, while also keeping pace with contemporary global trends.
Regarding the implementation of new initiatives and systems, such as remote work, NTT received significant attention from various government agencies and numerous companies who sought to learn from our experiences. Additionally, after disclosing our engagement figures and other relevant information, we got positive feedback from investors. D&I shouldn’t be treated as a competition between companies. Rather, we can all benefit from sharing best practices and building a better society together.
The true value of D&I
What impact has D&I had on the business?
Although the number of employees working reduced hours has decreased since the introduction of remote work and super flex-time systems, and employee satisfaction has improved, a more detailed analysis is necessary to fully comprehend the impact on business. We have been monitoring profitability, work hours, the number of employees experiencing mental health problems, the number of harassment cases, as well as what changes occur in organisations with more female managers, mid-career hires and non-Japanese workers. We are considering analysing the relationship between various data and engagement surveys. Although we haven’t seen the results yet, we believe that it’s very worthwhile to test the hypothesis that diversity can bring more dynamism to a company and its employees.
The results will undoubtedly offer a lot of insights. What in particular are you looking out for?
Through this kind of monitoring, we’re really trying to understand more about how we work as an organisation. For example, when we examine time spent in meetings, we find that although the working week is supposed to be up to 35 hours, in some departments large numbers of people are meeting for 40 hours a week, with people doing other work whilst attending these meetings. This leaves inadequate time for doing focused work, leading to an increase in overtime hours and tunnel vision.
We expect that if there are employees with prior experience in other workplaces, or who have time restrictions due to childcare and caregiving duties, the team is more likely to be able to work efficiently and change work styles, such as turning what used to be done on an individual basis into manuals and open resources. These kinds of changes should have a positive impact on both performance and productivity.
Could you share some particular challenges you faced during your initiatives?
Low engagement among 30-somethings in our group has become a concerning issue. Early analysis of the problem reveals a stark disparity; while over 50% of men in their 30s aspire to managerial positions, the figure for women hovers around the 20% mark. The hesitation from women to enter management positions doesn’t necessarily stem from a lack of confidence in their abilities. Instead, this is due to a perception that they do not want to work in traditional managerial roles based on the conventional image of managers, which seems to exacerbate the gender gap.
D&I in companies can be a driving force to “update” Japan
Are there any technologies or resources that you would like to use more in the future?
I believe that technologies such as AI could make a significant contribution to promoting D&I. For instance, we can use AI to notify our teams in case there is unconscious bias or discriminatory language used in documents or meetings. Similarly, when building websites, automatic checks can ensure that there are no accessibility issues for those with visual impairments. AI can also be used to review word choices and identify challenges for people with cognitive disabilities.
Wellbeing is also considered one of the important pillars of sustainability. How are you integrating wellbeing into your initiatives?
We evaluate mental health using the Pulse Survey weekly, offer fitness-related services, encourage the use of wearable devices for health monitoring and offer information on healthcare and D&I topics to employees. However, we understand that wellbeing cannot be achieved by these actions alone. To me personally, wellbeing is a combination of two crucial ingredients: the usefulness of my work and actions to society, and the sound health of myself and my loved ones. It encompasses much more than just our physical and mental states and the state of wellbeing varies for each individual.
To cultivate stronger relationships, we will introduce a team building workshop with a ‘Wellbeing Card’ this year. This card allows employees to jot down what matters most to them and open up during collaborative workshops. We believe that sharing wellbeing and empathising with one another’s aspirations is key to effective management. Using this as a guiding principle adds value to the way work is allocated and assists in driving career development too.
Finally, what is the meaning and true value of promoting D&I?
Put simply, prioritising D&I is critical to effective management. It is essential for continued growth and is one of the most important parts of our corporate strategy. Last year, we introduced a new set of standards for our supply chain partners as a part of our sustainability initiatives, and we intend to expand these kinds of reforms throughout the entire industry to contribute towards a better society.
For me, D&I is a tool to change Japan. The expectations of traditional gender roles still present many challenges in society, and while urban areas are in the midst of change, rural areas are yet another decade behind. With this backdrop, I am convinced that it is highly worthwhile for us, a traditional large company with offices across the whole of Japan, to communicate and update these old values, culture and ways of working that hinder D&I initiatives.
D&I is not just about implementing top-down initiatives in the workplace. What is important is to visualise and understand key challenges the company faces, and transform relevant systems from within. This will gradually strengthen employee engagement, which is critical to achieving work style reform.
For genuine, sustainable transformation across society, companies must adopt change, rather than adhering to outdated business practices and norms. NTT is transparent about its challenges and generously shares its insights with other organisations to foster greater growth.
The highly detailed analysis of D&I in relation to its core business, as presented in the case of NTT, will no doubt prove to be a valuable reference for companies, both now and in the years to come.
Fabric is a Strategic Design and Sustainability consultancy helping businesses move towards more innovative, sustainable futures. Based in Tokyo, we’ve been consulting with global and local companies since 2004. We have extensive experience bringing together design thinking, sustainability, and human insight to deliver good strategy for clients.
