How to Cultivate a DEI-Driven Corporate Culture: The Shiseido Case

This series explores insights on "cultivating a DEI-focused corporate culture" by interviewing companies vigorously implementing DEI initiatives and fostering inclusive work environments. The fourth installment features Shiseido, which has ranked first overall for three consecutive years in the "Best 100 Companies for Women to Thrive*".

※Based on the "Corporate Women Empowerment Survey" conducted by Nikkei WOMAN and the Nikkei Womenomics Project. https://www.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/newsrelease/corp/20240507/

Interviewee: Hanako Oba, Shiseido DE&I Strategy Promotion Department
Interviewers: Shoko Hara, Yoko Iinuma

※This interview was conducted in October 2024.
*Shiseido uses "DE&I" and Dentsu Inc. uses "DEI" as standardized terms for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

DEI as a Key Driver for Business Growth

──First, could you tell us about your mission in your role?

Oba: Shiseido's corporate mission is " BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD." We believe it is essential to foster an organizational culture where employees respect each other's diversity—regardless of gender, age, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability—and generate innovation. We position DE&I as a pillar of our management strategy and implement initiatives both internally and externally. This year, we also established our DE&I vision: "Inspiring beautiful lives through your every chapter." Advancing this vision is our department's mission. Within that, my primary responsibilities are "fostering an inclusive internal culture" and "supporting the delivery of new value to society through our brands."

──Could you elaborate on the specific DEI initiatives you are undertaking?

Ōba: Initiatives to enhance DE&I literacy among employees. For marketers, we offer "Inclusive Marketing Learning Sessions" (*1) to broaden marketing possibilities from a DE&I perspective and drive further value creation. Furthermore, since top management's thorough understanding of DE&I and incorporation of diverse perspectives both inside and outside the company drives innovation internally, we also conduct DE&I sessions for top-level executives. This initiative targets all Executive Officers and VPs (Vice Presidents) at Shiseido HQ and Shiseido Japan.

Furthermore, to foster awareness that our workforce itself is diverse, during Pride Month in June 2024, we held an internal event providing each employee an opportunity to reflect on the realities surrounding LGBTQ+ individuals. We also launched an LGBTQ+ ERG (Employee Resource Group). We are continuing to raise awareness among all employees by planning to launch new ERGs for other attributes.

※1 "Inclusive Marketing®" is a new marketing concept that advances beyond the challenges of mass marketing and one-to-one marketing—namely, "expanding the perspective to diverse individuals"—by promoting business growth through the creation of social value by companies based on a long-term vision of "understanding and supporting minorities."
※2 ERG stands for Employee Resource Group. These are groups primarily run by employees within an organization who share the same characteristics or values.

──Please tell us about the purpose of conducting the Inclusive Marketing Learning Session for marketers.

Oba: Through last year's DE&I case-sharing sessions, participants gained a stronger recognition that DE&I is a necessary perspective and element for business growth. We truly felt a shift in their awareness. Therefore, we wanted to hold this session targeting internal marketers whose goal is to grow their own brands.

We received a lot of positive feedback from participants, including comments like, "This is essential foundational knowledge for everyone involved in marketing." We also feel new actions emerging after the session, such as our department receiving inquiries about social initiatives brands should undertake.

Regarding the inclusion of interviews with various minority stakeholders, we received comments like, "It was my first time interviewing stakeholders, and while I was very nervous, I gained so many insights—it was truly eye-opening."

──When co-creating the session, there was a request regarding the interviews with individuals directly affected: to ensure not only specific individuals were featured, but also to guarantee diversity among those affected.

Oba: We deliberately interviewed two individuals per group who shared the same characteristic. This was to help participants realistically grasp that even among people with the same characteristic, each person has many unique aspects and diverse differences. We received feedback from participants that they understood the diversity within the community, which we feel was a worthwhile point to emphasize.

"Providing values not yet present in society" – corporate DNA as the driver for DEI advancement

──Among your various initiatives, are there any points you feel are particularly unique to Shiseido?

Oba: This time, we conducted the "Inclusive Marketing" learning session jointly with Dentsu Inc. Implementing a session to introduce this concept is still quite rare among Japanese companies, so I believe it has a unique aspect.

──I sense a strong drive at Shiseido to pioneer new initiatives ahead of competitors.

Oba: Indeed, looking back at Shiseido's history, in 1934—an era when the concept of women working was still rare—we created "Miss Shiseido," the origin of today's Personal Beauty Partners (beauty consultants). This presented society with a new choice: "having a career." In this way, Shiseido has a corporate culture of offering society values that didn't yet exist.

──What initiatives is Shiseido undertaking to increase the number of female managers?

Ōba: Shiseido has set a goal of achieving a 50:50 gender ratio across all levels by 2030, symbolizing equal opportunity. By January 2024, the proportion of female managers within the domestic Shiseido Group exceeded 40%. While reaching 40% resulted from diverse initiatives, I believe top-level commitment was crucial.

We also launched the "Next Leadership Session for Women," a program where female employees learn management and business skills while discovering their own leadership style, driving a shift in mindset. This initiative encourages all employees, not just women, to take autonomous ownership of their careers, supported by numerous training programs. Systems supporting diverse work styles like remote work and assistance balancing childcare and work are also part of this support.

──Are there other topics within Shiseido that you consider "initiatives ahead of society"?

Ōba: One is the activities of the " Shiseido DE&I Lab." Launched in February 2023, the Shiseido DE&I Lab aims to contribute to advancing DE&I in Japanese society. It does this by demonstrating the connection between the success of diverse talent and corporate growth, based on Shiseido's insights, data, and verification using economic approaches, and by publishing these learnings both internally and externally. In March 2024, we launched the "Shiseido DE&I Lab Site." We publish insights gained from our past initiatives under "ACTIONS" and results from empirical research conducted jointly with Professor Shintaro Yamaguchi's team at the University of Tokyo on the relationship between diverse talent and corporate growth under "RESEARCH." In October 2024, we published empirical findings on the Lab Site under the theme "From Advancing Women to Gender Equality."

Even within Shiseido, where women make up over 40% of management positions, some organizations have fewer female leaders. Focusing on these organizations with high tendencies toward leader homogeneity, the study statistically examined factors contributing to gender inequality. The resulting report addresses how to resolve gender inequality and confront gender bias.

I was surprised to see data indicating that while women strongly support gender equality, they also exhibit stronger unconscious biases. This may demonstrate how deeply ingrained the assumptions of "women should be this way" and "men should be that way" are in women themselves. The report contains other intriguing findings, so I encourage you to read it in detail. We plan to continue our research exploring how organizations with greater diversity promote inclusion.

The second point concerns actions related to men taking paternity leave. Shiseido achieved a 100% paternity leave uptake rate among male employees within the domestic Shiseido Group by the end of 2023. To foster a culture where men taking paternity leave is the norm, we implemented various initiatives: distributing videos clearly explaining the system, holding events like "Ikuboss" seminars for managers and roundtable discussions with those who took leave, sharing experience reports, and providing experiential childcare training for new parents through our subsidiary KODOMOLOGY.

Furthermore, to meet the childcare needs of employees raising children, the company launched "KANGAROOM+," a childcare support service covering infants through elementary school children. Centered on temporary childcare (babysitting services), it also provides programs for elementary school long breaks and postnatal home childcare support, assisting employees raising children. For employees returning to work after childbirth, we conduct "Welcome Back Seminars" to alleviate anxieties about balancing childcare and work. As a result, the return-to-work rate after childcare leave within the Shiseido Group in Japan has reached 92.3%, maintaining a consistently high level.

The Role of the DE&I Strategy Promotion Department as a Bridge Between DE&I and Business

──What was the background for establishing the DE&I Strategy Promotion Department?

Oba: The DE&I Strategy Promotion Department was established as an independent organization two years ago. Previously, these functions were handled by the Sustainability Strategy Promotion Department, which covered social, environmental, and CSR matters. From there, the DE&I Strategy Promotion Department was established as a separate entity.

While the People & Culture Division (HR) also runs initiatives like e-learning to improve DE&I literacy for all employees, the DE&I Strategy Promotion Department primarily drives DE&I sessions for marketers and DE&I initiatives we implement externally as a company. Our department's role is to promote DE&I in a way that directly connects to business.

──So the DE&I Strategy Promotion Department is the specialized unit tasked with fostering a DE&I culture close to the business and linking it to business outcomes. What kind of results have you seen from your activities so far?

Ōba: We're seeing significant positive feedback, especially from employees involved in product development. We sense a growing desire among them to "create products incorporating more diverse perspectives," leading them to initiate efforts voluntarily.

For example, one brand team invited an employee with visual impairment to actually use their product and share feedback. It was impressive to see each team member actively listen with genuine interest, reflecting on how to make the product truly usable while incorporating their own perspectives. The fact that employees are now proactively trying to persuade the company about what they want to achieve is a major accomplishment.

──Could you also tell us more about the LGBTQ+ ERG's initiatives?

Oba: Shiseido has undertaken numerous initiatives to promote LGBTQ+ understanding. Beyond conducting HR training, we revised our domestic employment regulations in Japan in 2017 to include same-sex partners as eligible spouses for employee benefits. In 2020, we also publicly endorsed the "Business for Marriage Equality" campaign advocating for marriage equality (legalization of same-sex marriage). We believe we are now in the phase of raising internal awareness beyond establishing these systems.

Therefore, following our sixth consecutive participation in Tokyo Rainbow Pride in April 2024, where both LGBTQ+ employees and allies joined, we launched an LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG) and began its activities. During Pride Month in June, we organized an internal event called "Diversity Week" to provide each employee an opportunity to reflect on the realities faced by LGBTQ+ individuals. External experts and internal LGBTQ+ employees participated in online talk sessions, with approximately 1,000 employees attending. Participants shared that they gained significant insights and learnings, and we are truly grateful to the LGBTQ+ individuals who shared their experiences.

Furthermore, to support LGBTQ+ individuals and provide a tool for expressing support, we distributed rainbow employee ID card straps, working to make the presence of allies visible. Currently, we are gradually expanding the community of individuals directly affected by these issues using online internal tools.

──What challenges do you foresee for future activities?

Oba: Moving forward, we need to increase opportunities for employees to learn about DE&I through ongoing internal events like Diversity Week and ERG activities. We want to challenge ourselves not only to help each person recognize that there are diverse individuals within society—themselves, their family, friends, and colleagues—but also to take a step further and encourage interest in the positions these individuals hold and the challenges they face within society.

Some individuals consciously choose not to reveal their disabilities or characteristics at work, which isn't necessarily negative. However, there are also cases where people feel reluctant or unable to show their challenges, or where others struggle to know how to interact because the challenges aren't visible. We want to carefully address each challenge step by step.

Furthermore, while Shiseido's top management actively communicates messages about DE&I, support from the layers between the front lines and the top is also crucial. We've started actions like holding DE&I-themed sessions for management to broaden understanding and encouraging participation in Tokyo Rainbow Pride. Some employees in senior positions have disclosed their status as individuals with disabilities, and we feel gaining their support would be a significant strength.

──Thank you .

Summary: Cultivating a DEI-Focused Corporate Culture from Shiseido's Example

This time, we gained many insights on cultivating a DEI-focused corporate culture from Shiseido's case study. We hope readers will find ideas applicable to their own organizations.