Fostering a more inclusive workplace – from reactive to proactive | #Nissan #DEI
Hello ladies and gentlemen and thank you very much for signing up to view the Nissan sustainability seminar 2023 diversity equity and inclusion session I am Ohara with Global Communication Department of Nissan Motor Corporation and I’m happy to be serving as vmc today’s seminar is divided into two parts keynote speech and panel discussion
At the outset founder and managing director of TDC Global Miss Sarah Liu will deliver a keynote speech thereafter we will invite experts for a panel discussion under the theme of fostering a more inclusive workplace from reactive to proactive now over to you Sarah
Thank you so much for having me to share a topic very close to my heart this morning firstly I want to give a massive thank you to Nissan for having me today but also for creating space for such an
Important conversation around diversity equity and inclusion my name is Sarah Liu I’m the founder and the managing director for TDC Global we are a diversity equity and inclusion our consulting firm we are headquartered in Sydney Australia but we actually operate globally working with multi-national organizations around the globe particularly APAC region to
Help them advance around diversity equity and inclusion so having worked across almost 18 different locations around the world the common question we get asked by our clients and partners all the time is what are some of the commonalities or differences that you’re seeing with all the
Different work that you’re doing around the region and wealth local culture and nuances might be different what we are seeing is a increasingly diverse workforce and companies a recognition of the increased need to harness a diverse workforce diversity is the reality of our world and our
Community today but specifically there are three types of diversity dimensions that’s influencing our workforce today gender 50 of our population is actually female talent and in locations like Japan where we are currently experiencing unprecedented Talent labor shortage how do we actually harness
A traditionally underutilized and underemployed gender segment has become one of the biggest problems for us to solve generational diversity is also a key one for the first time in history we have four generations and some countries even five generations working together how do
We make sure we optimize the effectiveness of this multi-generational workforce is something top of mind for leaders around the world and last but not least is cultural diversity as we live in an increasingly diverse world and as organizations looking to diversify and globalize
How do we attract retain and advance culturally diverse talent is something that we absolutely need to get right but diversity is only part of the equation our role as leaders leading businesses to actually cultivate an environment where diverse talent can truly thrive diversity
Is about having different representations around the table Inclusion is when everybody around the table is invited to have have a voice and Equity is everyone given equitable opportunities and the tools they need to have airtime and to speak up and to be heard and belonging is when
People truly feel that it can speak up share true thoughts without any repercussions and our role as leaders is to cultivate this environment and when we get all these components right numerous research and studies have demonstrated the value that it delivers for businesses there
Are a lot of different researchers and studies that’s been conducted around the world already but I find the study done by Deloitte in 2022 actually sums up particularly well it reported that organizations that have a diverse inclusive workforce are 42 percent more likely
To innovate and that’s both pace of innovation quantity of innovation and quality of innovation they also found that when you have a diverse and inclusive workforce employees are 46 percent more likely to put in discretionary effort and that’s measured by their ability and willingness to go above
And beyond what’s in their job description and what really fascinated me is also for a diverse inclusive workforce there are 31 percent faster to collaborate with each other and actually over 30 percent faster in their responsiveness to client problems and needs as well
The business case of getting it right is there but sometimes they can appear to us to be just numbers on a page so today I want to also share with you some really practical examples of when we implement that in our workforce the true benefit it delivers for the businesses so in the
U.S the Boston Consulting Group BCG actually surveyed 350 companies that were involved in the same startup challenge they evaluated their investment and their return on investment for each of these 350 startups what they found was that for every dollar that was invested in a female founded
Startup it returned 178 cents on each dollar and for male-funded startups it returned 31 cents on every dollar what that has demonstrated is that femail founded businesses and diverse teams deliver 2.5 times higher return on investment and this actually goes beyond just gender a really great
Example when it comes to generational diversity is the story at Virgin Atlantic so when they try to innovate and try to expand their customer base to attract younger demographic they decided to actually include young junior graduate students into part of their innovation process beyond their
Usual engineers and product designers and so what happened in that Innovation process was that young junior graduates came up with the idea to install different colored lighting in the airplane cabin as passengers were boarding the flight and with such a small and cheap innovation Virgin Atlantic
Actually back in 2012 actually saw a 18 percent sales increase the year after we’ve talked about the value of getting it right and now what is the cost of not getting it right not only we risk employee retention engagement and performance we actually compromise our shareholder value
Return and what’s more importantly is that it’s important for business to recognize that diversity and inclusion is no longer a nice to have it’s become a community expectation a must-have when we want to meet where our community is at and when these are translated to real stories when we don’t
Get it right the impact is actually significant the first story I want to share with you is when the automatic water tap sensor was created black people and people of color actually couldn’t use it because the sensor the proximity sensor was not programmed to pick up dark pigments in their skin
Does our team reflect our customers and that’s such an important question for us to constantly ask ourselves in a report done by University of Sydney it actually worked with a company that is creating autonomous vehicles and the company actually approved the autonomous vehicle after
It did a safety testing in the US and it was approved for preliminary global release but what it did was that they took the same car into India and did safety testing and what happened was that actually failed the testing so imagine if our thinking does not reflect the world we live in
What is significant and sometimes dangerous risk and could create for our business and for our society and the third story I want to share with you is when the airbag first created in the 1970s when it actually was first created women and children were more likely to be injured when
Involved in an accident compared to men why is that because the testing safety testing dummy was created based of the size of an average adult men without taking into consideration female body size and actually children this our design protects and advances everyone it’s an important question for
Us to solve and not only creates strong commercial return but it actually has a direct impact to the society that we serve diversity has always been there we just haven’t always included them so at
This point in time you might be asking okay Sarah I’m sold okay I know DEI is important and I want to be part of it how do I be more inclusive and what do we need to do and the first thing we need
To recognize is that the biggest influencer of inclusion is actually leaders what leaders say and do make 70 percent difference in terms of how people felt whether they were included in a workforce or not and practically what does that look like it looks like four things and that’s the four behavioral
Tips I want to leave with you today number one make people feel welcomed actively invite for their opinion listen to them welcome people into your circle make them feel safe avoid blaming framing mistakes as learnings and recognize your own biases thirdly valued acknowledge and
Appreciate contribution be open and transparent in your communication and decision making and last but not least respected welcome invite invite diverse perspective celebrate rather than dismiss people’s differences make people feel welcomed safe value and respected is the
Key to unlock an inclusive workforce and with that I hope as an organization as a team as a society we can truly progress beyond reactive DEI into proactive DEI and into aspirational DEI where we can build cultivate and sustain a true diverse equitable and inclusive workforce if you would
Like more resources I would invite you to visit our website at tdcglobal.jp where a lot of this case study reference today are in the resources center so with that I want to thank you once again for having me today and together let’s build best practice and diversity equity and inclusion
Sarah thank you very much we’re now moving on to the panel discussion let me introduce the panelists from Takeda Pharmaceutical company limited we are joined by the global head of diversity equity and inclusion Mr. Hayden Majajas from TDC Global the founder and managing director Ms. Sarah Liu
From Nissan Motor Corporation we have Ms. Michelle Barra in charge of global HR management and diversity equity and inclusion the discussion will be moderated by representative director and founder of the NPO ReBit Mr. Mika Yakushi all the panelists are leaders of DEI in their respective sectors
We hope to host a panel discussion that will offer clues to the audience for new ideas and discoveries I now will hand over the button to our moderators Yakushi-san hello everyone and thank you for the kind introduction I am Mika Yakushi representative director and founder of NPO ReBit thank you for inviting me
To the Nissan sustainability seminar 2023 I’m honored to be given this opportunity now the theme of this panel discussion is diversity equity and inclusion so let’s talk about that fostering a more inclusive workplace from reactive to proactive is the title of the panel discussion
And under that title I intend to have a great conversation with the panelists I’m going to ask you each to self-introduce yourself but let me introduce myself first of all once again I am Mika Yakushi representative director and founder of NPO ReBit LGBTQ and diversity are areas we specialized in
And we offer training to companies and education institutions like schools for recommending the inclusive society and we’re not just engaged in education and environment but LGBTQ or developmental disorders people we offer career support to those people and more than
9,000 people have been enrolled in our training so far so LGBT is one area I specialize in but today we’re going to talk about DEI in general and I’m looking forward to this panel discussion thank you
For joining me I am so honored to be having three wonderful panelists so I’m going to be asking you to introduce yourselves and also what you think about DEI=Diversity Equity and Inclusion and here
In after I’m going to be using the acronym DEI but for each of your companies why is DEI so important if you could comment on that as well now Hayden would you like to go first please thanks and
Thanks Nissan for hosting today’s event great to see everyone here my name is Hayden Majajas I am the global head of diversity equity inclusion for Takara Pharmaceutical I’m based here in Tokyo why is DEI so important to us well this is not just about our people this is about our patients the
Communities that we serve it’s about making sure that internally within the organization all of our people can achieve their full potential and when it comes to our patients that our patients can also achieve their full health potential so thank you again for having me today
Thank you very much then Sarah you’ve already delivered a great king of speech but can you once again introduce yourself thank you so much for the encouragement and thank you so much to my esteemed panelists for joining this conversation today so my name is Sarah Liu I’m the founder and
Managing director of TDC Global we are a diversity equity and inclusion consulting firm working with global organizations to help them either create and develop diversity and inclusion strategy or creating programs to actually help them embed in creating a sustainable impact from achieving DE&I
And it’s a topic really close to my heart and so important because like Hayden mentioned before if we if our workforce doesn’t actually reflect the diversity of our community it actually has a business impact it has individual impact and as I reference in my presentation earlier on it has
A societal impact and so it’s not only one thing that we do have a lot of benefits and value from it but there’s actually risks associated with that if we don’t get it right so absolutely important for leaders and businesses to focus on harnessing a diverse and inclusive workforce
Thank you once again thank you for reminding us the importance of diversity and Michelle thank you again to your company for hosting this wonderful event please introduce yourself yes and welcome to my co-panelists to our global headquarters here in Yokohama Japan and thank
You for joining us to have this very important discussion on DEI and I think many of you have already touched upon why this is such an important topic in your opening comments Sarah about and yours as well Hayden about you know we need to reflect our customers need to be reflected in
The work that we do and to best do that we need a diverse workforce that represents the same as our customers but key when one of your comments is innovation for us the automotive industry is going through tremendous amounts of change their innovation is key to success and to the future and
To really get breakthrough innovation you need all your employees engaged and comfortable and feeling like they belong so that they’re going to bring their best ideas without fear of that they have to withhold or or hold anything back so it’s fundamental it’s fundamental
To the success of any company not only now and it’s just going to become more in the future thank you very much diversity and inclusion is very important in the innovation context as you said and it’s even important for risk mitigation so that again reminds us of the importance of DEI everyone talks
About its importance but it’s quite difficult to really trickle down DEI into your personal behavior so how do you how what triggered you to think that DEI is personally important for your personal life let me make a comment on the instance I found DEI as an important thing for
Myself I’m a transgender I was one as a girl but from 17 years of age I’ve been living as a boy NPO is my full-time job but when I graduated from University I joined a web advertising agency and usually there’s unofficial acceptance by a few companies I received acceptance from the few
Companies but I chose that company because the HR manager gave me a phone call and he said you told me you’re a transgender but are you worried for working with our company because if you have any
Concerns about joining our company you can call us anytime and consult with us so I realized that this is a company that places importance to each and every employee it’s important for transgenders but that’s not all the problem you face there are other kinds of problems so I thought that the it’s
A workplace that’s easy for employees to consult and I was a sales person but they were sexuality agnostics I was just one salesperson and grew as a salesperson as one member of the team so in my formative years in my early career that was an invaluable experience so diversity and inclusion
As a theme is important I understand that it’s in the panel discussion but it’s something very personal to me so that’s my relations with myself and DEI so Michelle when was the instance you feel DEI as your personal thing or for something for your team yeah well I I think everybody has
Experienced some point where you don’t you feel like an outsider right you feel like you’re not included you react to that in different ways I know you know working in the automobile industry which is a male dominated I’ve certainly had many instances of being the only female in the room
And you know I’ve experienced it in different ways even things as casual as on Monday morning and we’re at the staff meeting and it’s clear everybody went golfing with the weekend and they were talking about it and joking and the boss was there too and of course I wasn’t
There and I didn’t go and you know you wonder like okay well now they’ve built some sort of camaraderie and you know network and I’m outside of that and how’s that going to affect me and my
Career and then of course there’s also you know instances of where you make a comment in a meeting or a suggestion or an idea and nobody really quite listens to you and then you hear somebody
Say something really similar to it who happens to not be you know be a male and it’s a great idea and it gets built off of so you know those and I think about how I feel in those moments and I made
It my kind of personal goal that I don’t want to make other people feel that way and I think it’s important you know that all leaders as you said part of the the hardest part of DEI is the eye
Because the eye happens every day in every interaction it’s not an HR initiative it’s not the DEI officer’s job it’s happening every day in every meeting in every interaction and so how we actually you know wake up to realizing that just because of a person’s being particularly
Quiet or maybe you know isn’t part of the the friend network how do you bring them into that conversation and get them proactive and engaging and so that’s become very you know personal to me to make sure we’re using all of our employees and making them for comfortable because we need all
Of them to really achieve our company goals so yeah I’d say I draw upon how I felt when I was excluded and I always remember that and try to be looking and watching and then also to
Have those conversations to help the rest of the leadership remember it’s all of our job to do this thank you so in order for the voices of all people to be reflected and for everyone to come to the table DEI is very important I was reminded of that thank you and Hayden
Check your last comment and go a little bit further having difference around the table is great but it’s not enough there’s a big difference when we talk about inclusion in terms of having a voice having the voice is important
But it means nothing if you feel like you’re not being heard and that doesn’t mean that everything you say has to be translated and implemented into an action but having a voice is very different from feeling heard and and everything that you just said Michelle resonates with me
Because this is about behaviors it’s about how we feel every day but how we make others feel every day and we’re talking about personal stories and I’ll share one you know I grew up here in
Japan I’ve been here for a long time it feels like and I remember starting my career in Japan and at that time I was very open with my sexual orientation as a gay man in the workplace and
I think at that time in Japan it still wasn’t so much accepted or so accepted to truly be yourself in the workplace but the company I was working for enabled me to and my team knew who I was
But I remember each time we would go to client dinners for business development one of my bosses would pull me aside and say people are going to be interested in who you are they’re going to ask questions about your life are you married and they’ll make assumptions about you and I’m
I’m prepared for that that’s I think something that happens every other day and I’m comfortable talking about who I am but I was warned or encouraged not to share the fact that I’m gay that maybe our clients our customers are not ready for that conversation it might be a bit awkward
Uncomfortable so when you get that question are you married how about you just say no and then move on rather than saying actually I’m gay and I have a male partner at that time it seemed like it was a difficult conversation for us to have and this is psychological safety yeah because I
Was getting that message literally direct to myself that it’s not okay to be yourself now over time that changed and continues to change but I’d suggest actually not much has changed in the world we don’t have true psychological safety everywhere and that comes back to the
Point of having a voice and being heard of very different things but also your points around innovation as well you can’t have innovation if people don’t feel like they can take a risk and every day I take a risk to be myself but it also translates to work I’m not going to
Feel comfortable to take a wacky idea to you as my manager which might lead to a cost saving or benefit for the environment if I’m getting these signals that it’s not okay to take risks unless you heard just get sitting at the table isn’t sufficient it’s not inclusive and also
Internal relations matter but external relations as well everything has to be inclusive or else it’s going to be uncomfortable to work once again thank you for reminding us that important point how about you Sarah so hearing the stories from everyone that actually really pulled a heartstring
Because I just think about just the amount of stories that’s out there when people don’t feel they truly belonged so for me as well I was born in Taiwan raised in New Zealand I studied in Japan
Briefly and I started my career in Australia and I had always been very ambitious and wanted to climb the corporate like very quickly and I’ve actually had seven seven recruiters and hiring managers telling me that hey Sarah if I was you if I were you I would actually just manage your
Expectation about how far you can go your Asian young female in Australia just don’t think you’re going to get very far and when you have people say that speak that over your career and your existence it’s really hard to not take that in and like internalizes and shut down
As a result but you know I’ve always been very rebellious ever since a young age so whatever people tell me that I can’t do I’ll end up doing it anyway so I said okay you can say what you want
To say but I am actually just went and changed companies and aligned myself with organizations that actually created that space and that rule for me to grow so a really big learning for me is that diverse talent will choose an environment where they can thrive if you don’t create an inclusive
Environment for them if you don’t make them feel heard they’re going elsewhere and you were going to miss out so it’s actually once again it comes to so much of the benefit is there but also like why would you create those missed opportunity for yourself and then another key
Lesson I think from my own story and hearing from everybody’s story is the importance of leaders and allyship all of our experiences were shaped by the behavior and the language from someone else so just think about the impact of our own behavior on others whether they can feel included and
Whether they’re hurt today we hold the key to that so like it’s actually a really empowering thing when you think about the power that we have to influence people’s sense of belonging 100 percent agreed one of the factors that’s important diversity is great talent choosing that as a
Workplace and I think that’s a very important factor it’s important for a company but it’s important for a community for even a country and rather than institution or regime creating that I think it depends on each person to create such an
Environment thank you for mentioning that so I heard your stories why DEI is important why you realize DEI is important but let’s expand upon that what are you paying attention to in terms of DEI what’s your favorite key word today there’s diverse sectors represented on this session so
Nissan’s keyword is this and that this is the key word that we are paying attention to can you mention a few key words and we are running short of time in fact we want to continue to listen to
You but maybe brevity would be appreciated so Michelle can you mention a few key words yeah the key word is culture for us and we are working on many elements of the culture but the real goal is to create that kind of that work environment where everybody feels they can be their greatest
Version of themselves and bring their greatest effort again you mentioned a lot of the benefits of when you really wmbrace DEI that’s that’s what it returns and of course it is it’s key to retention if people ultimately don’t feel like they’re belong they will go somewhere else where
They do feel like they belong but we are on a journey of trying to change our culture there’s many elements of it but the DEI is a key pillar of our culture initiatives and so we’re doing a lot in discussions like this and providing trainings providing tools creating awareness how
To handle those situations like you were coached very wrongly back at that moment how do you you handle that in a better way and we’re also trying to make people aware right culturally DEI isn’t
List of oh these are words you say and these are words you don’t say right or a do’s and don’ts list or a you know okay I’ve done the training check done move on it’s that trying to change
Those mindsets to create that culture to make everybody realize we all own this we all need to work together to to create that work environment because ultimately that’s what we need to bring the products and services to our customers to keep our employees engaged and retained and to
Create value for our shareholders so all ties into that culture and DEI being a key piece of culture and we’re really looking for everybody to have that in their mindset all employees all leaders thank you culture is important
And that also matters to innovation and stakeholders how about you Sarah do you agree any comments yeah 100 percent and I think what I would also add and build on that is how is culture created is actually created by action so I think my key word is rather than intention
Look at action so I hear so many leaders who said oh I believe in DEI I believe doesn’t matter what’s your action and so what cultivates culture to Michelle’s point is how we show up is the behavior and so I would encourage everyone um who’s here today and who’s listening in to
Move beyond intention and actually ask yourself what is the consistent action I’m bringing to my workforce by deliberately including people because human nature is that we will gravitate with people who are like us right so it’s actually really important to be intentional in including others
Can I just build off something Sarah said because it’s so important is many think okay the the thing to do here is just treat everybody the same okay and so that’s it and if I do that
I’m good on all these DEIs and it’s so much more than that and that’s why this isn’t just a one training or a list of do’s and don’ts it’s really realizing as a leader you’ve got to recognize the
Situation recognize when you need to understand and learn a little bit more and take the it realize those individual situations and adapt your leadership behaviors for that right situation and so it is not a one-size-fits-all so once someone says I don’t have anything to
Worry about I treat everybody the same I know we’re still on a journey with that person so if you ask me for some keywords there’s so many that jump out I’m thinking overwhelmed is a key word because people managers get this message that I can’t treat everyone the same way
Not everybody needs the same development or the same level of exposure or skill sets understanding that we need to look at people as individuals translates to a sense of overwhelming like when am I going to get time to do all this but I think more enlightened leaders would see that
As well that’s the key as you said the key for us to performing better but for me I think the real keywords I’d like to use are belonging I think this is one of the biggest keywords of the moment
I keep getting asked are we going to change the name of DE&I or our team to DE&I&B and I’m like actually you know what no let’s I think once we start doing things like that it help
People start to think this sense of we’ve done it now yeah the name is there so we’ve done it yeah so I’m I’m a bit hesitant to do that but the other key word of behaviors really is key to all
Of this you said before Sarah we the people we are the key but the way that that key turns is able to turn the lock is purely through our behaviors as you said inclusion is not a checklist of policies
And words actually it’s your behaviors every day and how you make other people feel you know this sense of belonging is feeling valued feeling respected having a voice but feeling like you’re heard and also a sense of psychological safety if you’re constant if you’re consciously thinking
About the behaviors that you role model every day that already gives you a head start as to where I could focus because there is just so much research out there that proves over and over again that the same behaviors that drive an inclusive culture drive Innovation the simple solution
Here is if you truly are an organization that is aspiring to innovate and create the culture of innovation guess what at the same time as focusing on that you can also drive a culture of inclusion they work together and to me that comes back to the first key word
About overwhelming well actually it’s not that overwhelming when you understand that the key to innovation and the key to inclusion are the same if I can just add it’s such a good point about the overwhelm so much of being inclusive is actually so simple it just requires
Intentionality so a lot of times we get asked by leaders and organizations you know give me like your top strategies and you know like action plan but you know sometimes it’s as simple as when you are in a circle talking if somebody comes into the conversation you step back actually invite
Them into the conversation give them a space it’s actually when someone is being interrupted to go hey let’s just pause the second do you want to repeat that comment again it’s as simple as that so I just want to reinforce and sort of build on Hayden’s comment that yes like the
Sense of overwhelm from people and businesses are so strong but it doesn’t have to be thank you very much belonging is important as you said but for that of course top leadership is important the behavior of each and every employee is important so in order to be inclusive of course there has
To be the top leaders message and recognition but and also the system is important and that has to be created by each and every stakeholder or employee and for each person to create a DEI culture there could be various initiatives but recently ERG Employee Resource Group
ERGs are much talked about and there’s attention paid to ERGs many Japanese businesses are engaged in ERGs and in the western world in the US and Europe many companies have established ERGs and your companies probably have ERGs
Nissan of course is promoting ERG can you talk about that yes this is again with the the culture initiatives and DEI being a key part of that we’re trying to and have been trying to foster that sense of belonging so many people will come and they join a company and they’re on a work
Team and there may be nobody on that work team who they really relate to and so ERGs employee resource groups and in the Americas we call them BSTs = Business Synergy Teams it’s the same thing they provide an opportunity for employees to find a group of co-workers who have same interests or
Characteristics or beliefs that they do and it creates an environment where they can go and be psychologically safe but it’s just not to get together and talk they really are become a valuable part of our business because they really serve three things one they create that
Inclusion that I just mentioned because they come together and work and get to know each other outside of their immediate work circle and then but they also use it as an opportunity for career development so they have speakers come in other executives come in and give coaching
And advice so it’s the sense of finding your team and then working together and giving each other career advice secondly in the Americas where the BST Arts are they have been very heavily engaged in the community working with non-profits we actually probably have some pictures here that
I think is me speaking to a group we had many panelists there that day we’re actually working with young African-American men give who are in the community giving career advice and helping with resume building for those who may not have someone who can relate to how you enter into the
Business world also you see groups there where I’m addressing the BST group so that kind of community connection and what whatever is relevant for that country or region is another opportunity for these ERGs or BSTs to really connect and then the third is there can be
Well before I go to the third there can also be a fun element too we actually have a funny picture here of me I’m actually in a fundraiser there that’s me I’m in a tank and people are
Paying money to throw a ball and if they hit the target I fall into the water and it wasn’t just me that did this it was many executives and we did it as a fundraiser to help support these ERGs to
Raise funds for whatever resources they needed to deliver their goals and the lastly the third real benefit of this is there’s business value too we had the women’s group the product planning and design people have had the women’s group come in and look at the Interiors of the vehicles and the
Colors and say we want the female perspective how does this look how does it feel you talked about the color as you enter on an airliner that kind of benefit we the business the advertising has you’ve gone to some of these ERGs to get their perspective on advertising campaigns
That they are doing so there’s many values that come back to the business and so what’s key is this is not a side activity this is part of running our business and leaders need to support
These as well so when someone wants to engage or get involved that needs to be supported as well we’ve had them in Japan here we’ve had a working parents group we’ve had a women’s group we’re just now formalizing them to give them the executive sponsorship
And the advertising and some of the resources so they can really build and be more visible and contribute more to the company and of course give employees that sense of belonging thank you for introducing those wonderful projects may I ask you for a few questions
You said it’s not a side event but it’s the mainstream in their working time many employees can engage in these activities so what’s the kind of system that supports and allows the employees to do that and there are themes different themes so what is
This cross-ath thematic linkage or intersectoral crossing what kind of exchange or relationship is there thank you for the question so the ERGs need to be supported from the top so the tone at the top that this is important and it’s part of the culture and that work environment we want to
Create so tone at the top is very important to say these are important we encourage employees to join and then we will support when they need to go to be part of some activities many activities are
Planned during the lunch hour and you know and they’re they’re open to many and all to join so that’s a key part so the tone at the top for supporting and then of course they don’t become full-time job it’s something they do but they’re also organic I mean they come the
The employees themselves drive this it’s not HR HR might help to start get them established and facilitated but they organically are put together an executive champion who can is there to support them to say what do you need for resources are there any issues and help them work through that
So that’s a key part of making them successful and so it has been extremely successful as you saw from some of the pictures and a great resource for employees a great resource for the company the executive support these activities that makes it easy for the employees to participate
So team formation is great and you have time keeping system that allows for every employee to participate and another question after ERG was commenced did you see any changes within the company what were the changes that you thought were positive what were the changes that you had wanted to see but haven’t seen
I would definitely say after their establish and the help with their kind of advertising about the activities that are going on it just gives you a sense of belonging and that there’s something here at this company just beyond you know my day-to-day work and I have
This sense of a family and inclusion and really getting to that b and that they help you raise that makes it more palpable just in the day-to-day you see these are out there to join if
You want to or participate if you want to so that is absolutely a change we’ve seen the drawbacks I wouldn’t say there have been that many drawbacks in the Americas where they established this over
15 years ago I think they have 10 or 12 now I mean there is a one that is a multi-faith base where people come together and they want to share and experience and understand different
Face one of the most popular is that we actually have a BST in America that says around the Indian population employees and one of the most attended events is this lunch they provide with this great food and there’s lines waiting to join in and we go sit together and they have some Bollywood
Movies playing and it’s and you and they have dress and it’s just fun to learn about the other cultures so it there’s so many benefits to it you know to the company to the employees to society thank you so much there’s so many benefits
Hayden, what about your company there are many belonging initiatives that are created by your employees please give us a few examples I think there are a range of initiatives that we look at but if I continue the conversation of ERGs employee resource groups and and think about
How we’re talking about and approaching belonging at Takeda one of the things that stands out to me is originally ERGs are were created as affinity groups to be together with people who are like me people who will understand maybe some of the challenges that I’m facing and have had a similar
Experience and perhaps might value from a voice or an opinion of somebody who’s faced something together but what we’re seeing now is that that idea of affinity is going beyond our office walls or our Zoom walls we’re seeing that we’re able to leverage our employee resource groups
To connect in particular with underserved patient communities and I was speaking this week with our team in Australia who is doing some incredible work around patient access and this is really a literally about how do we help more people get access to life transforming treatments
And medicines but we’re dealing with some fundamental societal issues such as trust or mistrust which marginalized communities often feel towards the healthcare sector that doctors have been imported they don’t understand our culture our language we’ve been there before
In terms of what we’ve been told to do around medical medicine and treatment and we don’t believe that that’s that fits with us whereas now we’re being invited into for example First Nation communities to spend time we have one of our senior leaders spending six weeks in one of
The first Nations communities in Australia to learn more about how we better connect how we bridge some of these gaps around understanding of medicine mistrust or distrust of ecosystem the health ecosystem and what is best for those communities so for me it’s how can we turn those
Opportunities that we already have like our ERGs our resource groups how do we connect that with the sense of belonging and how we make an impact in the communities that we serve because truly when our people hear these stories or a part of these initiatives they feel we generally
Feel much a stronger sense of belonging with the organization we feel like we’re having an impact and that’s just one element of belonging as I said before you know feeling valued respected I think part of feeling valued is knowing that the work that we do is having an impact
I think both the examples provided by Hayden and by Michelle actually sums up the beauty of ERG really powerfully when we get approached by clients on hey like what is our strategy and what are some of the advice that you can give us as we create our impact
With our ERGs a couple of things we share with them are really important to keep in mind one is stop just thinking about why would they come but think about why would they stay so most companies when they create ERG precisely it’s about affinity shared identity shared passion
And that’s why would they come they need to move to why would they stay which is what is the impact precisely what they are creating and needs to be impact for their immediate community and circle the employee group yes but business impact and external community impact and that is the beauty
And the essence of ERG when we can actually translate the infinity into impact and going from internal to external and one last comment I will add which probably sort of ties into what could be some of the pitfalls is when companies place a over reliance on ERGs sometimes
Companies says oh you know we’ve got great ERGs so you know they will like make the happen but that’s not the case firstly it requires investment and intentional effort sponsorship from the executives but also more importantly is for the business leaders to be thinking about how
Do we support the ERGs how do we invest in them how do we come alongside of them and enable them to do the great work that we’ve heard just then that can be achieved through ERG Taking Sarah’s comment were you persuaded and do you have anything to add
Something that I’d like to say because you talked about what keeps people here I think this is a really important element of corporate culture or a company’s culture which is actually it’s not about the good things it’s not
About the best things what defines our culture is actually the worst things about us so if we flip it around a little bit you know going from this notion of what keeps people here actually if we start thinking about what are the worst things like what are the things that that we
Hear from people because inevitably this is part of what defines our culture externally focus on those elements then we can answer that question and respond to you know what keeps me here and actually that’s one of the questions I use quite frequently when in particular when I’m talking
With or working with groups of our employees around issues that we’ve seen is asking that question so what keeps you here let’s talk about those things but at the same time that doesn’t mean that we should ignore the things that need to be addressed because absolutely as
I said those are often the most important things from a culture perspective that is key that you’ve got to keep looking in the mirror and understanding where we are and what we can do better and the surveys and listening to the voice of the employees and having a way to collect that
And really hear it is key to the success because you can’t just again treat this like a checklist okay we’ve done these things we have ERGs good done it’s ongoing and you have to keep listening I wish it was a check the box like I really wish DE&I an inclusive culture
I wish I was a check the box like can you imagine how much easier this would all be you probably wouldn’t be here if it was yeah yeah but I keep saying like somebody will find the answer please
Find the solution the golden bullet to DE&I we’ll sell it on Amazon and make it available to everyone but it comes back to exactly what you said before Michelle around solutions need to make sense locally there needs to be a local nuance to them but also understanding what each individual
Needs and that doesn’t we can’t possibly have fifty thousand variations of how we engage but we can have more than one one size fits all I think it’s organizations it actually it’s so important that we have the courage to be honest and I think to your point
About uncovering the like why do people leave not just like what keeps them here but like why do they leave and I’ve actually heard that the most powerful thing that you can learn by your organization is asking questions you’re afraid of getting the answer to so ask those
Hard questions because they will give you so much insight so much learning and it’s so important for leaders to be aware of it and to have the courage to receive that to go okay now what are
We going to do with that and that is when like a really powerful transformation can truly happen complete agreement Hayden you said you wish DEI was just a checklist thing and that’s often frequently said by people in charge of DEI
Diversity could be taken up by each team but what about inclusion or equity you can’t divide them into themes so where do you start from and what do you need to do in the next three years it’s
Really difficult to build an effective scheme and also how do you measure impact it’s a compound to think so it’s difficult to define a yardstick how much investment do you need to do and then what kind of impact can you expect it’s difficult to see how would you answer to that question
For me I think let’s start with values I think for many organizations the entire conversation around DE&I can seem completely overwhelming where do you start I think one of the reasons why I use the keyword belonging before is because that gives us a an indication of
Where it might be easier for us to start let’s start with behaviors I say that connected to values because every organization has value so whether you are a two-person organization or a 200,000 person organization we all have values I think that we can probably put companies into
Two schools one would be values are written on the wall when you walk into the office the other one is the values come to life through people’s behaviors and I think as the world evolves we’re
Moving more into this world of majority of people want to be in this bucket where we see the values come to life every day so back to my easy solution rather than looking at strand by strand or stream by stream or dimension by dimension of diversity equity and inclusion start with behaviors because
This is a non-threatening way for us to have these conversations because I’ll acknowledge some of the conversations we’re having today around the globe are very complex and not everybody is equipped to have those conversations and not everybody is comfortable but there is one common denominator
That everybody can galvanize around and that’s our company’s values and how we bring those values to life through our behaviors because that’s the only way values become visible so that’s my hint to to our audience is start with behaviors and behaviors have to be connected to your values
Exactly within company value of DEI must be sitting at the core you can’t just refurbish and attach it later on why it’s installed but why I think it has to be embedded in the true core of the organization and also behavior realizes that and Sarah
Changing behavior is the most difficult part culture and penetration of the culture is very important how can we do something so difficult yes so again I wish there’s a silver bullet there isn’t but one it starts with intentionality nobody suggests by accident organically
Fell into a super inclusive leader so it’s so important that we start with intentionality building awareness and creating accountability for each other so I think intentionality for everybody not just HR department and not just DEI partners a lot of times what we really believe
Is that HR and DEI are not your owners of your DEI results they steward and they support and guide business leaders but really DEI should be shared by absolutely everyone so intentionality shared by everyone and I think also a really important element for us to consider is to make
Sure that there is accountability so leadership accountability is absolutely critical because you can’t one be what you can’t measure but also two is that what gets measured gets done right and what doesn’t get measured gets forgotten a lot of the times so I would say making sure that it’s
Measured and making sure people are accountable particular leaders are accountable for having visible actions it’s important to drive and to sustain continued and ongoing behavioral change and can I add to that because when we’re talking about measurements I think in the business World
We’re focused a lot on numbers measurements KPIs but don’t lose sight of the fact that oftentimes it’s how we’ve touched one person or their lives that is actually the biggest and most important KPI because when Michelle was talking about the ERGs at Nissan for example I can
Feel those stories we have the same examples of just one employee feeling brave to step forward and share with us a challenge that they’re facing let me be very tangible about this in a very difficult jurisdiction somewhere around the world where being LGBT is really not accepted
We had an employee step forward saying that they wanted to apply for Equitable benefits for them and their partner now even though we may not have the right access to the to equitable products or insurance products in a certain jurisdiction that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a solution and we
Will find a solution working together with the employee but for me the most important thing in that conversation was the fact that the employee felt brave enough and confident enough to pull someone aside and have a conversation because if we have a culture where people feel like
They could never do something like that then that shows that we’re failing so to me that’s one of the biggest KPIs is how are we having a positive impact on our people and our patients lives
And that that tone at the top Sarah that you mentioned is so key and the values on the wall but it’s the behaviors you know the values are under the water people can’t see your values
They feel your behaviors and so having that kind of tone at the top and then role modeling and of course it’s a lot of pressure right I mean and everybody has moments when you aren’t the best leader you should be or the best colleague that you should be and it’s how you react
To that and how you learn from it and and have those discussions versus just going quiet or worse not even realizing it wasn’t a good moment in repeating it and that’s the accountability and how do we all hold each other accountable to do that and that sometimes having
Conversations that aren’t so easy to have but it starts with that just you talked about an employee being very brave to come forward and say I want this benefit you know we all have to
Be brave and help each other other because this is such a complex topic with not one book or one training class you can do then you’re done it’s an ongoing learning experience and we all have to keep learning and trying to do better we sit here as supposed authorities or
Experts that we were invited here but I’m sure every day you think about something you could do better you could have done that differently and that’s part of the realization of improving on that Journey yeah I couldn’t agree more because it’s so important also to create room
For mistakes and be okay with it and accept our own mistakes other people’s mistakes and actually creating what we call a safe and a brave space to make mistakes because when we talk about behavioral change change requires courage and so we need to actually just be okay and be comfortable
With not getting it right but acknowledging that we have our own biases and shortcomings but we are together on the journey yeah it’s really an opportunity for genuine authentic leadership when you know maybe you say hey I probably didn’t handle that so well what did you think what ideas
Would you have for me to do differently the next time that’s it’s as easy as that sometimes but you gotta like be brave enough and have the courage to go yeah I probably didn’t handle that very well
How could I what do you suggest I do differently or ask for some coaching or some mentoring I think that to me it’s oftentimes some of the challenges is not just someone saying how could I have done
That differently but actually I don’t know how to respond yeah and that’s really technology I’m lost in this situation and I think that’s something we need to keep in mind with leaders our global leaders is that there are still no business schools around the world that are teaching
Leaders currently and future leaders how to deal with diversity equity and inclusion topics and really going deep but as shareholders as members of communities as employees we feel that our leaders have to have the answers and so we put this disproportionate amount of pressure on our
Leaders to have the answers and I think what it sometimes translates to is well I either just make it up on the spot or I don’t say anything it’s being quiet or that I treat everybody just exactly
The same you go you run back to that for I don’t want to get in trouble so I’ll just be quiet exactly so I think we need to have a little more understanding and support our leaders a lot more on this journey because I think I love I’d love that it’s always
This experience of leaders saying maybe I could have done that better help me but I think at the moment we still don’t have that level of constant or consistent engagement and calls for coaching and I think in these roles in our roles coaching is probably where we’re
Going to have the biggest impact because it’s not our small diversity teams that can do everything actually it’s through our operating bodies the way that we operate that really we’re going to have the biggest impact and also becoming aware that the coach could be one of your
Own employees being courage and brave enough to say hey clearly I need to understand more can we talk right it’s not their pro that’s not their job to teach that person whatever the issue might be but sometimes realizing coaching may become from all areas not necessarily just
A professional coach or HR or the DEI leader coaching can come from all areas of the company DEI leadership you don’t have to understand everything there are many parts that you don’t understand but that’s what you need to disclose and that actually leads to psychological safety and creation of a
Team based upon psychological safety so a diverse workplace it’s not that difficult good morning do you say good morning every day do you say you don’t understand when you really don’t understand and you’re not criticized even when you say you don’t understand so it’s just those little
Everything everyday things when you have a little problem I have a little problem LGBTQ you have impairment you have to take care of your elderly parents so I think that is what DEIs all about so DEI workplace provides psychological safety and it’s not just for a
Selected number of people it’s for all so I think everything is connected and sorry for going back to what you said hey KPI is important but what’s more important is changing the life of the people and I truly agree that resonates with me when you look at a global perspective
Is it a country or region where the diversity of the person is accepted it depends on the country or region and maybe that applies to the workplace the workplace may lead to the psychological safety of that person or the community or society at merge so workplace DEI
Is for that person for the team and for the society at large would have an impact I agree I think we look at diversity equity and inclusion topics as being something that’s primarily internal to an organization and I think that’s where Takeda like some other
Companies are quite different in our approach to diversity equity and inclusion is that we have made a sustainable societal impact a core pillar of our strategy understanding that well first of all first and foremost our job is to serve patients across the globe but also understanding that we
Are an influential voice in a health ecosystem you know we deal with nurses researchers clinicians doctors clinics hospitals insurance providers governments we may be a company of 50,000 people operating in 80 countries across the globe but if we think about the health ecosystem
The number of players that we are stakeholders that we touch directly is in the millions and hundreds of millions so if we can understand that we haven’t we play an influential role with the health ecosystem then leading with DE&I is actually helpful for us in making an impact more
Broadly because as long as it’s just one company and one entity looking at how can we change attitudes towards gender equity in Japan we’re actually not going to get there we’re more likely to be successful when we have partnered with the government when we have partnered with NGOs and we
Have partnered with hospitals healthcare providers clinics insurers etc. and are on that same journey together and to me that is the most exciting thing about my role is taking that pressure of first of all the global DE&I team that we can’t solve everything but second of all reminding
Ourselves it’s not just us as one organization one entity we must partner I think that’s why things like that like today’s session for example is really powerful because I know in the next two weeks we’re going to catch up and we’re going to talk about so how are we going to change things
Here and I know that we’re going to have a conversation about what did you learn from your clients and I’m we’re going to connect the dots and I think that’s really important so for people who are listening today and definitely the audience here think about that ecosystem that
You have access to remind yourself it’s not just you it’s about who can we partner with diversity is brought about through collective impact and we think that the business world is an important sector and there could be collaboration between the private and public sector and that’s
Important and one person can change the company one company change the society and I was able to see that connection it’s about time so final words from each of you before we close the session what was impressive what was the key message that you wanted to truly deliver
So your final words please then in this order from this side Sarah would you like to start great so four behavioral tips to create an inclusive workplace make people feel welcomed safe valued and respected it can feel overwhelming at times but it doesn’t have to be and be
Intentional in your effort show up consistently and remember that action over outweighs intention every day so what is the action that you and I are going to take and embody every day and I’m just going to sound like a broken record so I’m going to say the same thing I’ve said seven
Times which is it comes down to our behaviors it comes down to us how we choose to interact with people every day whether it’s the language we use the way we connect who we include
In meetings how we follow up whose opinion we ask for it really does come down to our own individual behaviors because that’s what truly drives the culture of inclusion and a culture of innovation and building off that innovation word you both kind of went on the how how you tried to create
That DEI welcoming environment and I’ll go back again to why this is so important and this is not just a maybe fad or that’s going that the world’s going through right now and it’ll be gone in five years no this is reality we know we need the whole workforce
Population engaged and contributing in order to remain competitive in whatever industries that we are in and that we need those talents to come and then feel they belong and they stay and they really develop great products and services but yes beyond just kind of the capitalist if you
Will view of it is yes absolutely you saw some of the work they’re doing with the what we call the BSDs or ERGs these are also opportunities to connect with closer with society of course working with governments and then collectively
We start to evolve and it’d be great that if in 10 years we don’t have this panel there’s no need for this panel because everybody’s naturally doing it I that would be wonderful and I hope that happens but until then I think we have to keep talking and
Realizing it’s a intentional effort and you have to keep at it thank you very much once again I would like to thank Nissan for hosting this wonderful panel and including the audience we’re all connected and we’re all connected and we should collaborate to create inclusive society and companies thank you once again
Thank you for such a wonderful panel discussion full of valuable insight this is the end of Nissan sustainability seminar 2023 DEI session for your information Nissan Motor Company YouTube channel offers streaming of the circular economy session that focuses on sustainability so enjoy that session as well once again thank you for your attention
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Join us for the Nissan Sustainability Seminar 2023 to hear from thought leaders on how making the shift can lead to new opportunities.
#NissanSustainability #Sustainability #DEI #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion
Nissan hosted its third sustainability seminar, with global experts in different industries providing insights on the circular economy and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). In the DEI session, following the keynote speech by Sarah Liu, founder and managing director of TDC Global, Michelle Baron, corporate vice president in charge of DEI at Nissan, participated in the panel discussion to discuss promoting and implementing changes to support DEI, and how a proactive approach can offer new opportunities.
More on Nissan’s sustainable approach, here: https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/SUSTAINABILITY/
Moderator and panelists:
Mika Yakushi (moderator) – Representative Director and Founder, ReBit
Michelle Baron – Corporate Vice President, Global HR management and diversity, equity and inclusion, Nissan Motor Corporation
Sarah Liu – Founder and Managing Director, TDC Global
Hayden Majajas – Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Chapters:
00:00 Opening
01:47 Keynote speech by Sarah Liu, TDC Global
12:37 Panel discussion introduction
19:28 Theme 1: The importance of promoting diversity, equity and inclusion
30:15 Theme 2: What’s next for diversity, equity and inclusion
38:32 Theme 3: Employee-driven diversity, equity and inclusion
01:13:06 Closing
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