Nissan wins Government of Japan Award for diversity

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Fostering diversity is an important business strategy at Nissan that helps to meet various customer needs. Recognizing the significant progress that Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. has made in promoting workforce diversity, the company was awarded Japan’s Minister of State for Special Missions Prize at the Advanced Corporation Awards for the Promotion of Women. The award was newly established this year by the government of Japan’s Gender Equality Bureau of the Cabinet Office.

The Cabinet Office established the award with the aim of promoting improvements in the working environment in Japan so that women can play an active role in achieving "a society in which women shine." The Cabinet Office expects that the encouragement of companies, by recognizing them for achievements in policy, actions, performance and for efforts to promote women to executive/manager-level positions, will motivate more companies to implement similar programs and create a virtuous cycle.

Nissan was awarded the Minister of State for Special Missions Prize in recognition of its early adoption of activities for the promotion of women in an industry with a relatively small proportion of women in its workforce and by delivering significant results. Nissan’s achievement is expected to have a positive impact because the automotive sector is an influential industry in Japan with an extensive support base of associated industries.

During the award ceremony, Toshiyuki Shiga, Nissan’s vice chairman said: "It is my great pleasure to receive this recognition for our efforts over the past decade since we began our comprehensive efforts to enhance diversity. Women working at Nissan in Japan now hold 7.1 percent of manager-level positions, up from 1.6 percent in fiscal year 2004. We have one women member in the company’s executive team, and we are focused on developing female personnel for executive positions for a more ‘global’ Nissan.

"As for work-life management, we believe that improving the working environment for women will lead to a pleasant workplace for both men and women. Nissan also promotes work-from-home and other flexible work initiatives to support our employees’ work and family care commitments. We have been proactive in disclosing the targets we have set for these activities. And Nissan will continue to accelerate gender diversity as a company strategy to succeed in business and expand our organization’s competencies over the next ten years by promoting a diverse workforce."

Nissan will continue to promote diversity among its employees to deepen their understanding that diversity can provide greater value to customers, is a key source of competitiveness, and will help the company grow sustainably.

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