Tokyu Corporation
President and Director
The social environment is changing due to the megatrends of a declining birthrate, aging population, technological advancement, and the recent spread of the COVID-19 infection, and people's values and behaviors are drastically changing along with these changes.
Founded in 1922, we have developed our business in areas closely related to our customers' daily lives, such as transportation, real estate, and life services, but for many years we were a male-dominated organization, and our internal human resources tended to be rather homogeneous. If the organization does not diversify, it will be difficult to create new approaches and ideas, and growth cannot be expected for the next generation. In addition, given the increasing number of people with diverse backgrounds who are potentially available as a result of changes in the social environment, it is now essential to promote diversity management (creating an organization that makes the most of diversity) in the company.
We believe that learning about and accepting the various differences in gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, family environment, experience, values, etc., will lead to new ideas and the growth of the company.
As symbolic numerical targets for promoting diversity management, we are targeting "more than 10% women in management positions" and "100% paternity leave utilization rate" by the end of FY2023. While aiming to achieve these goals, as a top leader, I will actively communicate to make our company a place where all employees want to continue working, and continue to be involved in diversity management.
One of the management philosophies of the Tokyu Group is "Value individuality and encourage the best from each employee."
Based on this, we announced the "Tokyu Corporation (Consolidated) Declaration of Diversity Management" in FY2017 with the aim of promoting diversity management throughout the Group and ensuring that it steadily permeates to all employees.
We are developing initiatives to promote diversity management from the three perspectives of "systems, culture, and mindset."
We believe that diversity management can be realized only when systems are in place to enable diverse human resources to play an active role, when an organizational culture that respects and accepts differences is fostered, and when employees have the mindset and consciousness to take advantage of their own strengths and play an active role.
In October 2014, a department dedicated to promoting diversity management was established within the Human Resources Division.
In addition, a diversity promotion working group has been established with the cross-sectional participation of diversity, human resources, labor relations, corporate planning, and railway business divisions to share initiatives and study issues in each division related to the promotion of diversity management. Once a year, the scope of the working group is expanded to include all divisions within the company to deepen understanding through case studies and other activities related to diversity. In addition, we regularly hold "HR Communication," a forum where the head of the Human Resources Division and the heads of each department discuss human resource strategies, including diversity.
Discussions held by the diversity promotion manager and working groups are reported to the "Advisory Board on Human Resources Strategy" as appropriate, and recommendations are made by the President and outside directors. In addition, the status of diversity management promotion is reported and discussed at the Management Meeting and the Board of Directors as needed.
As part of efforts targeting consolidated subsidiaries, information exchange meetings on personnel and labor issues are held twice a year to share good practices at each company and provide explanations of key points in response to changes in laws.
Licensed in-house career consultants and other staff members are available to address employee concerns about work-life balance and LGBT issues.
To enable people from diverse backgrounds to continue to work actively at our company, we have established systems related to working styles, including "Smart Choice (flexible working hours and locations)," and we are also creating an environment that welcomes diverse human resources.
With the passage of time, people from various backgrounds have started coming together in the same workplace. Nowadays, everyone continues to work while tackling some kind of situation, such as childcare, nursing care, or medical treatment. Therefore, we focus on creating an atmosphere that respects and accepts each other's differences.
＊1 "Infertility treatment" can be selected as a reason for taking saved annual leave.
＊2 From October 2020, the scope of eligible employees has been expanded to include those with company-issued mobile devices (PCs, iPads, etc.).
We believe that raising the awareness of managers is an important point in fostering an organizational culture, so since FY2015, we have been holding management seminars for all executive officers, including the president, and all managers. Each year, we invite experts from various fields to speak on themes related to diversity, such as the reform of work styles and the promotion of women's activities, and a message from the president is also delivered.
From FY2022, the seminar has been renamed the Diversity & Inclusion Seminar to provide an opportunity for all employees to deepen their understanding of diversity, and it is widely distributed online, including to consolidated subsidiaries.
A mentorship program has been in place since FY2017 to support employee career development and promote understanding of diversity management. The program is deployed in a three-tier structure: Director and General Manager level (those in management positions at consolidated subsidiaries), Executive Officer and Manager level, and General Manager and Assistant Manager level. Mentoring is provided on a wide range of topics, such as career and work-life balance concerns, according to the wishes of the mentees.
Almost all directors and executive officers have participated in the program in the three years since FY2017, and the directors themselves have become keenly aware of the diversity of the workforce. This program is also an initiative to reaffirm the importance of promoting diversity management.
We regularly conduct e-learning programs for all employees (those who have a company e-mail address) to provide them with basic knowledge about diversity and to create an atmosphere of respect for and acceptance of each other's differences.
＜Themes implemented in the past (examples)＞
From FY2020, we have published D Magazine (a media for receiving and disseminating diversity information for internal use) on the company intranet, with the aim of making diversity a little more fun and a half-step closer to home for employees. In addition to the more visible themes of diversity, such as gender and age, we also deal with less visible ones, such as LGBT, life plans, and values, and introduce employees based on the themes to raise awareness of diversity among employees. 毎号、経営層からのコメントも掲載しています。
Since FY 2020, we have been conducting online diversity events that focus on invisible differences in values and career. At each event, several employees of different genders and careers take the stage to talk about their own values, including how they deal with work, with the aim of helping the audience to reflect on themselves, understand others and discover role model within office.
Our predecessor, Tokyu Corporation, was a company whose main business was the railway business, and for a long time, due to the nature of its business, the number of female employees was very small. However, the gradual diversification of our business to include real estate and various life services in response to changes in the social environment and the needs of our customers has led to the demand for new ideas not found in the past. As a result, the diversification of the organization, that is, diversity management, has become indispensable. In particular, promoting the active participation of women is the theme that has had the greatest impact on our diversity management in light of our company's actual situation. In addition, we believe that it is natural to have women in our company as service providers, given that we are in the business of supporting our customers' lives in every aspect and that many of our customers are women.
We began hiring new graduates for female career-track positions in FY1988, and since then we have been hiring, assigning, and promoting women to management positions with full gender equality. In the area of training, we are working to cultivate the mindsets of female employees by providing them with opportunities through a variety of generous initiatives, such as holding seminars for women and actively dispatching them to outside training programs that are limited to women.
In addition, we have established goals for the ratio of women in management positions, with the aim of growing the company by increasing the number of women in decision-making positions.
＜Goals for the Promotion of Women's Empowerment＞
With the aim of building a network of female managers and finding role models, this event has been held since FY2014 for female managers and female managerial superiors of the Company and some of its consolidated subsidiaries. Each year, female executives from various fields are invited to speak about their career transitions and their own thoughts based on these transitions, and the programs are designed to empower the participants and deliver a message from the president.
From FY2022, the seminar will be renamed the Tokyu Group WE Seminar to provide an opportunity to rethink one's career regardless of position, and it will be widely distributed online, including to consolidated subsidiaries.
＊ WE：Women Empowerment
Roundtable discussions for young female employees were held from FY2015 to FY2018. Senior female employees, mostly in management positions, served as lecturers and discussed how to balance life events with work and their thoughts on their careers, helping to dispel vague concerns about the future of young female employees. From FY2020 onward, the event has been elevated to a diversity event that addresses differences in values, based on the desire to deepen self-reflection on careers and lead to the understanding of others, regardless of gender.
We believe that in order to create an environment where everyone can continue to work vigorously, it is essential to provide opportunities to deepen the understanding of women's health issues, and since FY2016 we have been holding regular seminars on women's health. The program focuses on topics specific to women, such as menstruation, menopause, and breast cancer, and has been held online since FY2020, with the hope that men will also be actively involved in the program.
We believe that it is important to provide a wide range of opportunities to build and foster human networks both within and outside the company to women, whose career development and life events tend to coincide with each other. Therefore, we dispatch our female employees to external training programs exclusively for women with the aim of expanding their career introspection and perspectives through active contact with women outside the company.
＜Major training programs to which female employees have been dispatched＞
We assign female employees regardless of gender, and female employees are active in many divisions.
Tokyu Corporation's female employees in action
Tokyu Railways female employees in action
Seconded to SHIBUYA109 Entertainment, Inc. President & Representative Director
Ayumi Ishikawa
After working for a telecommunications company, I joined the company as a mid-career worker because I wanted to be involved in urban development that is more closely related to people’s lives. I was involved in designing various services and building IT platforms to utilize customer contact points, such as railways and retail, as the Group’s customer base, and then worked in the Retail Business Headquarters, where I was in charge of developing mid-term strategies and promoting DX (Digital Transformation) in the retail business.
Under the vision of “Making You Shine! Making young people’s present shine and their dreams and wishes come true,” SHIBUYA109 Entertainment has been able to hear the insights of Generation Z through the operation of commercial facilities and various media and marketing businesses. We are also working on a variety of initiatives to transform ourselves into a “youth solutions company” that builds bridges between Generation Z and companies and society as a whole, bringing their enthusiasm and needs into the wider society.
"We want families to share the joys and difficulties of child rearing." "By actively taking childcare leave, we hope that fathers can deepen their understanding of those around them and create an atmosphere in the workplace that makes it easier for employees to take childcare leave." With this in mind, we have set a goal of "100% paternity leave utilization rate by the end of FY2023", and are promoting the utilization of paternity leave.
＜Main Initiatives＞
Target paternity leave utilization rate
Voices of those who have taken paternity leave (interviews and roundtable discussions with "ikumen")
Actual results of the paternity leave utilization rate and average number of days taken
We have employees with disabilities working in various departments. We consider disability as a characteristic of each employee, and they are active in areas other than their primary duties, such as holding sign language classes for information desk staff at commercial facilities and hospitality workshops for station staff to provide hospitality to customers with hearing disabilities.
In April 2004, we established Tokyu Will, a special subsidiary＊ to promote the employment of people with disabilities. The company creates employment opportunities for people with disabilities and helps them become independent members of society.
Tokyu Will is responsible for cleaning services in railway-related facilities, as well as bedding cleaning services and business card printing services.With the motto of “greeting each other cheerfully and energetically, following the procedures carefully, and helping each other,” each of us is motivated to work hard. As part of our efforts to create an environment where people with disabilities feel comfortable working and want to continue working, we have two job coaches (workplace adaptation aides) who have completed training to acquire specialized knowledge, and half of the staff who support the work of people with disabilities are certified as Working Life Counselors for Persons with Disabilities.
*Under the special subsidiary company system, if a subsidiary is established that gives special consideration to the employment of persons with disabilities and meets certain requirements, the employment rate of persons with disabilities can be calculated by adding the parent company and affiliated companies together. The employment rate of persons with disabilities under this system is 2.79% (as of June 1, 2022), which meets the statutory employment rate.
New employee entrance ceremony
Kanto Railway Special Subsidiary Liaison
Association Tee-ball Tournament
Tokyu Ekiden Relay Race
In addition, we have a wide variety of employees regardless of age, nationality, or other attributes.
For employees approaching retirement age, we introduced the "Active 60s System" in March 2021 to create an environment in which employees can continue to work stably even after retirement. In addition, for those who have reached the age of 64 and have been rehired after retirement, we introduce career registration on the Tokyu Group Recruitment website and consider the possibility that those who are willing to continue working after the age of 65 can demonstrate their abilities at the company where they are registered, thus providing an environment where motivated individuals can continue working for a long time, with an eye on the 100-year life period.
In addition, we also offer career planning seminars at the age of 50 and life planning seminars for employees in their late 50s to help them envision their post-retirement careers even before they reach retirement age.
In light of the current diversity of our customers and employees, we believe that LGBT people are "unique individuals" and that respecting their individuality and mutually enhancing each other will lead to the sustainable growth of individuals and organizations, as well as the development of a city that meets the expectations of people with various lifestyles and work styles. Since FY2016, the Company has undertaken various initiatives, including holding study sessions, opening a consultation service, and changing employment regulations.
＜Main Initiatives＞
