当サイトではJavaScriptを使用していますが、お使いのブラウザではJavaScriptが無効に設定されています。
JavaScriptの設定を有効にしてご利用ください。

Promotion of women's success

Taking on the challenge of corporate culture change through the women’s empowerment community “SPLi”

Itoki is moving forward with a transformation that aims to involve more diversity and foster an open, free, and flat corporate culture by promoting the active participation of women with leadership. ‧We launched SPLi, a community that supports skill acquisition and continuous career development.

This time, five leaders spoke about the background of their participation in SPLi, what changed after participating, and their current community activities.

Participant profile (as of June 2023)

Yoshiko Yagi

General Manager, Solution Development Department, Smart Office Product Development Division

Joined the company in 1998. Engaged in research and development of furniture.
Since 2012, he has been in charge of research and development of work styles and offices that improve performance and health conditions, and in 2023, he has been in charge of developing solutions that utilize data as executive officer and general manager of solution development.

Yumiko First Floor

Director of Human Resources Planning Office, Human Resources Department

Joined the company in 2007. In charge of office business sales for private companies. Transferred to Sales Strategy Department in 2016. Conducts sales education, sales promotion, SFA construction, etc. In 2020, he worked as a sales representative for a major developer and design office before assuming his current position in 2021.

Eriko Suzuki

EC Sales Department Manager

Joined the company in 1994. After working in the marketing department, he participated in the launch of an e-commerce business in 2000. Create a foundation for D2C business. After gaining experience in new business in the corporate planning department in 2016, he became the EC sales manager in 2021. Responsible for D2C business again.

Sachiko Kayama

Director of Work Style Design Department 2nd Design Center

Joined the company in 1999. As a designer, I am mainly in charge of projects in the metropolitan area. In charge of the design for the construction of XORK in 2018 and realized the large-scale introduction of ABW. Appointed Director of Design Center in 2019. Supervises metropolitan area projects.

Saeko Kawashima

Director of Public Relations and IR Department

Joined Itoki in 2019 after working at a major credit card and marketing research company. Responsible for a wide range of corporate communication areas such as public relations and IR. We are working to build relationships with stakeholders from various angles.

Diverse brilliance changes the company for the better

Why did you join SPLi?
-Our thoughts on promoting women's empowerment-

Yagi: SPLi is a community for women's empowerment. Having worked at Itoki, I had never thought that women were not active, so when I started the community, I honestly wondered why I had to wait until now. However, in a conversation with the president, Minato, I heard that Itoki would become a better company if it became a company where more women can play an active role, and I realized that I had been a little naive in my understanding. thought.
Suzuki: I was honestly confused at first. SPLi 's aim is to raise women's leadership awareness, but the role of a role model is to serve as a role model, and I am confused as to whether I can play that role. However, as I progressed with various preparations, I began to think that this was not necessarily the case, and that my career and past experiences could be useful as an opportunity to bring awareness to the participants. I also hope that through these activities, I can reconsider my own future career together.
First floor: Like Mr. Yagi, I am wondering if it's too late now? That's what I honestly thought. I personally had been in charge of women's empowerment in human resources, and until then, I had thought that motivated women were being given opportunities. Actual data also shows that ITOKI's ratio of female managers is higher than the industry average when compared to Japanese manufacturing companies. Looking at the ratio of men and women by occupation, there are some occupations in which men are the majority, and conversely there are occupations in which women are the majority.
However, it is also true that Japan's gender gap remains large when viewed globally. If this is the case, are there countries where women are more likely to be encouraged in their career? What about their own company? Rather than becoming a leader, they are asked to build a community, and the gender gap has been widened. I have been thinking about what is needed to solve the problem.
Kayama: At the Design Center, the design department where I am the center director, one characteristic of the organization is that 60% of the employees are women. We have a large number of women, and the nature of the design work means that we interact with customers and get concrete results, so it's a department where there are relatively many situations where women can play an active role. Therefore, my impression was that women are doing quite well. However, once SPLi started, I realized that there are many people who want to be active but can't find the scene, and people who have the desire but can't move.
Kawashima: I am the only leader who joined the company mid-career. As Ms. Kayama says, at the field level, there are women who are active, and other leaders who were not dissatisfied with their previous environment were hesitant about starting SPLi. think. On the other hand, I have experience working in companies where female managers, directors, and presidents are common, and since I joined Itoki, I have noticed that there are few female general manager positions, and that there are many women in important decision-making positions. I felt strange that he wasn't there. Including these things, I had the impression that ITOKI still had room for improvement in terms of diversity and diversity, so rather than trying to keep up appearances for the company, I felt that ITOKI was a company that wanted to help women in their own careers in a true sense. I felt that it was very meaningful to launch SPLi as an organization that is not tied to any organization and provides opportunities to think independently and autonomously.

What exactly is SPLi?
―How to manage a community that leverages your individuality―

Yagi: SPLi defined three roles when it was launched. Two of these are "awareness" and "interaction." To help women who are wondering, ``How should I build my career, what should I do from here on out?'' realize that ``There are other ways of thinking and there are people like this too.'' We believe that this is the first step in building a career, and in the first year we have provided various opportunities for interaction to help students realize this.
First floor: After we named it SPLi someone outside the company said, ``It's good to call it a supplement rather than a medicine that cures a disease,'' and I think this is the basis of this activity. In order to live a healthier life, the nutrients that we ourselves lack are different depending on the person, such as vitamins or calcium, and each person needs to take in what they need. At SPLi, we don't participate in everything, but rather we participate in what suits us and what we want to participate in. It's an afterthought, but I think it's a good name. In fact, there were many participants, with 12% of female employees participating, even though this is a voluntary community in its first year.
Kayama: As Mr. Ichikai says, I think the most important thing about SPLi is that it is a self-directed community where you only participate in what you want to participate in. Throughout the year's activities, the most impressive thing was that we recruited planning members and those who volunteered took the initiative to plan and execute the event from scratch. Many members experienced for the first time that they were able to independently plan and act on their own initiative, and we could see that being able to ``complete it'' led to their confidence. I believe that the greatest achievement of this community is that there are members who have made changes through such experiences.
Suzuki: The project members did not go smoothly from the start to the end without any problems, and the fact that they were able to complete the project on their own, having to worry about it midway through and go back to it again, probably gave them confidence. I think not. Since then, I have felt that the planning members have been working on various projects in a very positive and confident manner. I don't think there are many communities that offer this kind of opportunity.
Kawashima: The remaining one of the three roles is "learning". I think that once you have an image of your future career as a result of the things you gain from interacting with others, you will start to wonder what kind of knowledge and skills you will need next. In 2023, as a learning step, we are planning to carry out a project that will allow students to input the knowledge and skills necessary for career development.

changed by SPLi
-Awareness for us in the future-

Yagi: I have received help from many seniors and colleagues so far, so I joined SPLi thinking that I could do something for my juniors. I actually feel like I've learned a lot and been inspired by doing so. I was able to learn what people in different departments and occupations than the members I am close to usually think about when they work, and how different people feel about the same thing.
Suzuki: I once again realized that many women are unable to envision their future careers because they don't have role models nearby, and because they don't have opportunities to share their experiences with each other, they feel vague anxiety. There are members around me who have not yet participated in SPLi, so I would like to be able to tell them about my activities and experiences in SPLi so that they can see it as something personal and want to participate voluntarily.
Kayama: Before I joined SPLi, I thought it was a good thing for women to be active and focused on guidance, but after participating and gaining a variety of experiences, I realized that in order for women to really play an active role and shine, I needed a little help. I've come to think that all I need to do is raise awareness. I think the big thing I realized was that rather than guidance, it was important to have opportunities and guidance on how to move on my own.
First floor: As with anything, I realized once again that just imagining things is not enough. The fact that SPLi has gathered more members than expected, and the fact that there are many women who are worried about wanting to work harder and doing something, makes me feel that we need to listen to their voices. I made it stronger.
Kawashima: At the launch stage of SPLi, one thing that left a deep impression on me was that I heard people say that it would be difficult for them to participate unless the community itself was linked to departments and incorporated into the job structure, and psychological safety in the workplace was becoming more and more important. I remember getting the impression that it was low. I hope that by actually disclosing our activities both inside and outside the company and increasing recognition of SPLi 's activities throughout the company, the psychological safety of the girls will increase.

Where is SPLi headed?
-For a new first step towards increasing corporate value-

Yagi: Although SPLi is working to empower women, Minato believes that it is not necessarily just for women, but that if it becomes a company where women who don't have a voice can speak up, it will become a truly open, free, and flat company. That's what I'm saying, and I empathize with that. I hope that in the future we can create a company that fosters innovation by having people from various positions openly and positively express their thoughts to each other.
Suzuki: I agree. I agree that women's empowerment is not just for women. I hope that by having women play an active role, the company will be able to take on a variety of challenges, where diversity will be properly considered in all major decision-making, not just men.
Kayama: ITOKI `` We Design Tomorrow. We Design WORK-Style.”, but I think we live in an era where working itself is changing tremendously. For example, when the office is no longer the only place to work, but the place where you work is your home, I think it's important to have diverse perspectives, regardless of whether you're a man or a woman. Especially as remote work increases and people work from home, I think women's perspectives will become more important than ever, so everyone should play an active role with diverse perspectives such as women, men, age, etc., and provide various opinions. I think it is important for ITOKI to create an environment where people can express their opinions.
Yagi: Itoki is currently trying to change the way its products and services exist, for example by incorporating sensors into furniture to collect data and using that data to propose better ways of working. When tackling new things like this, we need collaboration between different departments and collaboration with outside the company. By changing the way we do business and changing ourselves, we hope to move in the direction of providing value that will make everyone's work and life happier.
First floor: This may be related to Ms. Yagi's story, but through SPLi, I believe that harnessing the potential of women to the strength of a company and allowing women to properly demonstrate leadership will lead to improved corporate performance. I also believe that this will definitely lead to the active participation of diverse employees, regardless of gender. If an organization allows women to play an active role, it will be able to utilize a variety of diversity in its business, not just in terms of nationality and gender, but also in values, experience, and expertise. That's it. If we do that, I think the pool of human resources at Itoki will become even thicker, and more people will come in and out of Itoki. Up until now, Itoki has been a company where many people have been working for a long time, but I hope that in the future, Itoki graduates will be active in a wide range of society, and the company will become a company where people from Itoki are said to be very nice. I think.
Kawashima: I believe that increasing corporate value is closely related not only to products and services, but also to employees who interact with various stakeholders. By becoming a company where its employees, who are the face of ITOKI, can play an active role in a more open, free, and equal manner with a positive mindset, we can further improve the value we can provide to society. I believe that SPLi is the first step toward that end.