Tokyo - Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., announced today that it has set up a Diversity Development Office to further promote diversity within the company. As a first step, the new office will work to increase the participation of female employees in the company's decision-making.
"Empowering women is the right thing to do -- not just from a social perspective, but also from a business perspective," said Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn. "Women are increasingly the ones making decisions about car purchases. In order to better serve their needs, women should be better represented in decision-making that is related to our products and services."
At present, 5.7% of Nissan's 34,000 employees in Japan are women, and 1.6% of Nissan's 2,340 managers are women.
In order to encourage and promote the talents of its female employees, Nissan plans to improve its work environment to enable women to make a strong contribution to the company's performance. As part of that plan, the Diversity Development Office will:
1. Establish career advisors for individual female employees to gain an understanding of their abilities, qualifications and career ambitions and to match them to positions that will allow them to reach their full potential.
2. Develop the workplace environment and introduce systems to support a work-family balance.
3. Instigate educational campaigns within the company to establish and promote a greater awareness of diversity.
Yukiko Yoshimaru, formerly with software company SAP Japan, has been appointed general manager of the office.