Creating Stronger Ties Through A Diverse, Equal and Inclusive WorkplaceWith the help of all employees, the ANA Group is establishing a culture that values diverse dialogue and unique personal perspectives.
Our commitment to our passengers is unwavering. We take great pride in all ANA employees who help make that sentiment possible and this year at the 8th annual ANA Group DEI Forum, we celebrated "Never Stand Still" as this year's theme to honor the hard work and passion of all at the Group.
Held last November in Tokyo, the two-day event covered a variety of topics, including establishing a culture that supports minority groups, practicing inclusive leadership, securing psychological safety, navigating the generation gap and enhancing globalization. Approximately 2,000 employees who participated in the event in-person and online were asked how the Group can enhance organizational capabilities through engagement and productivity.
"I encourage us to celebrate each of our 45,000 employees' unique personalities and capabilities," ANA HOLDINGS Chairman Shinya Katanozaka said in his opening remarks, emphasizing the importance of "personal branding."
According to "The Global Gender Gap Report 2022" by the World Economic Forum, Japan ranks 116th out of 146 countries (120th out of 156 countries last year) in the Gender Gap Index. It is positioned among the lowest ranked developed nations, lower than many other Asian countries such as China and Korea.
Forum guest panelists Yoshiyuki Kawano, assistant professor at University of Tsukuba, and Megumi Umeda, DE&I Leader at EY Japan, discussed the challenges Japanese society faces in addressing DEI-related issues.
"Although younger generations are now being educated based on the concept of diversity and there are 1.7 million non-Japanese workers residing in Japan, many Japanese people still consider DEI as 'somebody else's problem,'" said Yoshiyuki Kawano.
Megumi Umeda followed, saying, "Peer pressure and seniority are the main obstacles in promoting DEI in Japan. "Privilege and discrimination are two sides of the same coin. Discrimination often occurs not necessarily from malicious intentions."
The two experts agree that establishing a culture that secures psychological safety through dialogue and respecting multiple perspectives is the first step to creating an organization where everybody shares ownership of DEI initiatives.
During the generation gap panel, four Group employees in their 20s and 50s exchanged views on how ANA can best utilize individual abilities and characteristics despite holding different values based on their life experiences.
According to a pre-forum survey among 1,000 Group employees in their 20s and 50s, over 80% of 20-something employees believe the main priority in the workplace is to do their job correctly. Meanwhile, a majority of 50-something employees encourage younger colleagues to take initiative and not be afraid of making mistakes.
"In my workplace, I often hear older colleagues asking us to 'bring a new wind', trying something new and breaking the mold," said Minori Oka, who is in her 20s and works at OSC Airport Support. "But I tend to prioritize what is right in front of me and try to do my best in completing the task. It is not easy to think about something extra in that mindset."
Shohei Iguchi, of ANA Airport Service, also in his 20s, said, "Many of us are afraid of being reprimanded for not completing tasks correctly. In addition, we are not always sure about how to suggest something new and challenging when we are busy working on day-to-day duties."
Sammy Aramaki, ANA HOLDINGS Chief Innovation Officer, remembered his workplace experience in his 20s similarly. He said he felt overwhelmed by his older colleagues and management, but now in his 50s, he has a different perspective.
"Getting older is accumulating more experiences," he said. "We failed many times, and because of that, we now know how to process and learn from those mistakes."
Kanako Murata, ANA HR strategy senior director, agreed. "I've made a lot of mistakes, too, but I had older colleagues who covered for me. They told me it was important to learn from the mistakes and, at the same time, not to get discouraged from trying new things," she said. "Mistakes don't get me down nowadays, and I think that is one of the strengths of becoming older. If you fail, your team can back you up. We need to build mutual trust in our workplace."
Another pre-forum survey question asked participants about communicating and expressing their thoughts during work meetings. While 32% of male employees and 23% of female employees in their 50s said, "Yes, I speak up during meetings", only 18% of male employees and 14% of female employees in their 20s answered yes to the same question.
"Particularly for online meetings, I think it takes courage to unmute and speak up. Oftentimes, there are many participants," Oka said.
Aramaki asked, "We tell younger colleagues to speak up more, but are we really being receptive to their input? We must listen when younger colleagues share ideas so that whoever speaks up won't regret doing so."
Murata believes many of the 20-something employees are already doing things that she can learn from without being aware of its significance, such as how they utilize new technologies in the workplace.
In the end, the panelists seemed to reach the same conclusion, that although each generation may have certain traits, values and priorities, the key to overcome those differences is by having a dialogue and sharing unique personal perspectives.
The sentiment was echoed by ANA HOLDINGS President and CEO Koji Shibata.
"What we need is mutual understanding based on mutual respect," he said. "In order to create a workplace culture that allows individuals to contribute their unique strength, increase productivity and allow the company to achieve sustainable growth, we must enhance the psychological safety of our workplace. I believe that the psychological safety can be obtained through structuralized policies and specific actions by teams, that would eventually urge individuals to take action."