Participation of diverse human resources 1 (Women)
Initiatives by job type and grade
In 2007, we established a dedicated organization within the Human Resources Department.
In addition to Company-wide education and specialized training according to occupation, we aim to create a workplace environment that nurtures female employees and the continued development of their abilities. As part of our active empowerment of female employees, we are implementing initiatives for female employees and their supervisors according to the issues relevant to each occupation and job grade.
Training and strengthening of managers
To diversify decision-making in management, we have set a numerical target for female managers at each Group companies, and are working to train and strengthen female managers.
DE&I by numbers (Social data “Human resources base”)
Manager training
Since fiscal 2010 we have carried out training in awareness, assessment and related matters for female managers, including having such managers attend lectures and study groups at outside the company. These initiatives are aimed at nurturing them to become members of upper management, with the goal of greatly increasing their number among the management class as a whole.
Development training for management candidates
We have been implementing training for female candidates for management roles since fiscal 2011. The training covers areas including the mindset and the expanded range of duties needed for management, and the assignment of such roles. It is carried out together with supervisors, on the job, over six months to nurture through practical experience the professional development needed for management.
Training tailored for female managers
Departmental initiatives to expand work areas
To respond to diverse market needs and secure sufficient human resources against the backdrop of a low birthrate and aging population, we have been actively assigning female staff to job roles that they have traditionally rarely held in the construction industry, and have been supporting and training them to stay in those roles and improve their skills.
Due to these initiatives, female employees’ awareness of managerial positions and roles has been increasing.
Female sales staff support program
In sales, we have introduced the female sales staff support program as we strive to create a work environment that nurtures female sales staff and their supervisors.
- Sales support
Since 2007, we have carried out information-exchange opportunities and training for women in sales, aimed at interaction with role models, creating career-life plans, and building networks among them, etc. Furthermore, aiming for more finely focused training, from 2014, we added content related to issues in each division, such as strengthening of lifestyle proposal capabilities, and cross-industry exchange.
Our initiatives have extended beyond our company. Viewing the retention and abilities in the field of female sales staff as a common issue for the housing industry, from 2007 we have held the Housing Manufacturers Female Salesperson Meet-up. It originally involved three housing manufacturers, and has since expanded to nine. The interaction with other companies in the same housing industry, about shared role models and the exchange of ideas about working as a female salesperson, etc., has been very stimulating. - Support for supervisors
To create a work environment where female sales staff can better utilize their abilities, we hold training for male supervisors at each office. It includes presentations of actual examples of women working in sales, and discussion among participants on how to train female sales staff. - Supporting work-life balance
For female sales staff returning from childcare leave, we support them to smoothly return to sales work by consulting with them to remove any worries they may have and explaining the programs we have in place to support work-life balance. - Active hiring and strategic training
We are also actively hiring women for sales positions in our recruitment of new graduates. In our Q&A seminar for female students, female sales staff talk about specific examples including difficulties they have faced in their sales work and about balancing work and childrearing. It is also an opportunity to explain our initiatives to encourage female employment within our company.
Creating a secure work environment for off-site employees
To prevent sexual harassment from outside the company, such as from customers and business partners, etc., and to create a secure workplace for our company’s off-site workers (salespeople, construction staff , etc.), in August 2020, we published the Sexual Harassment Self-defense Guidebook, which sets out guidelines and rules for sales visits and participation in meetings. We have also distributed alarm buzzers to all female sales staff for self-protection in case they meet a dangerous situation during their sales activities.
Retention and training of female staff in the Technology Division
To help retain and train female employees in the Technology Division, since 2007 we have been holding an information exchange seminar in our Home Construction Division, and since 2013, an exchange of ideas meeting in our Home Design Division. In these and other ways, we have been helping female technical staff establish networks and discover role models of work-life balance.
As a result, their work areas have expanded to include not just design, but also construction and structural design, facilities, etc. In particular, the retention of women in construction jobs involving on-site management has progressed and the number of women rearing children while working in site supervision is also increasing.
A Daiwa House construction site
Also, to improve the work environment for female engineers and technicians working on construction sites, we developed protective equipment such as a helmet for women and a safety belt. We are also introducing portable toilets for women to create a safer and more comfortable environment.
Furthermore, many of our female construction staff participate in the National Low-rise Housing Work Safety Council’s “Jutaku Komachi” program, in which they aim for promoting resolution of issues women face when actively working in construction management in a field that traditionally employed mostly men. To this end, the low-rise housing industry as a whole is working to create an environment that is easy for women to work by making proposals to government and industry, etc., on the three themes of 1. Improving female engineers’ skills, 2. Improving their working environment (portable toilets, safety equipment, work hours) 3. Achieving balance between home and worksite.
A female Daiwa House construction supervisor wearing a harness-type safety belt
Strategic personnel changes for clerical staff
To give female employees who joined the company in narrowly defined clerical positions a chance to develop their careers as regular positions, we are advertising positions internally and using the FA system to strategically expand their areas of work to include the customer counseling center, and other departments that have traditionally hired men, as well as new businesses.
This is not only expanding the employees’ career paths, but being able to experience customer satisfaction is also increasing their motivation.
An employee who changed to a post-inspection job performing an inspection
Initiatives for professional development
Increasing specialization
We are working to eliminate the conventional thinking regarding gender-specific roles in clerical work, and train professional human resources regardless of gender. To achieve this goal, we are holding training for Management Department (General Affairs and Accounting) representatives at our branch offices.
Promoting operational improvements
- Conducting awareness training for manager
By including the theme of "unconscious bias" for training employees who have newly become managers, we are reforming awareness to develop diverse human resources. - Examples of initiatives for business improvement
We are promoting operational improvement initiatives aimed at developing the capabilities of female employees working in clerical positions at our offices and plants. As a result, female employees who are raising children while working in clerical positions played a central role in housing designs that incorporate the sharing of household chores as a theme in regions where double incomes are common and in holding various other events, which provides successful examples based on regional characteristics.
Awareness training
An operational improvement project of a model house built with the sharing of household chores as its theme
An operational improvement project meeting
Fostering corporate culture
Daiwa House’s initiatives
- Sharing examples and disseminating information
So that all employees understand the importance of promoting diversity and the participation of women, and to create a workplace culture in which diverse human resources can thrive, the department dedicated to promoting women’s participation and other diversity sends a Diversity Report out via the Group's intranet. The report details the stories of male and female employees who are utilizing the work-life balance support system, female employees active in various fields and occupations, and initiatives and data related to the company’s efforts for diversity. In July 2016, we released the Supplementary Diversity Report, which introduced various positive examples of women active in the workplace, of male supervisors training female employees, of men taking childcare leave, as well as our programs for the support of work-life balance and career building. It was distributed to all employees. - Adjusting evaluation categories
In order to accelerate the creation of a corporate culture in which a diverse range of human resources can thrive, categories such as "active support for female subordinates" and "giving subordinates roles and opportunities for growth" were included in manager evaluation content, with support for women’s career advancement defined as an important element of management.
Supplementary Diversity Report
Daiwa House Group initiatives
In order to further accelerate the creation of a corporate culture that promotes diversity, from 2014 the Daiwa House Group has been holding a group-wide forum to promote female participation in the workplace called "D's Women's Forum." In 2017, the title was changed to “D's Diversity Forum.” In addition to speeches and discussion about the connection between diversity management as a management strategy and workstyle reforms, and interaction across the group, the forum is also helping female employees to view matters from a management perspective.
By carrying out information exchange opportunities and study groups among diversity promotion officers from our group companies, and by sharing examples of initiatives to promote women’s participation within the group, initiatives at each group company are also progressing.
The 4th D’s Women’s Forum
