Japan has one of the lowest rates of female leadership representation in the world.
According to the World Economic Forum, Japan ranks 120 from 156 countries for gender parity. There is a limited presence of women in senior roles, with only 14.7% managerial positions filled by females in Japan.
The first step to addressing a problem is acknowledging it is a problem. Japan has a long way to go.
Fairness over diversity
The business case for increasing female representation has been made over and over again. I don’t need to tell you that more women at the table will be better for your organization. You’ve heard it all before.
The lack of progress suggests that the diversity business case alone is not compelling enough. And it can backfire — by placing women in a stereotyped position of being the solution to ‘innovation’, ‘decision-making’ or ‘employee-retention’ they are set up to fail. When they don’t achieve these things, diversity hasn’t lived up to its hype.
Real change must come in the form of ‘fairness’. Why should an organization need economic rationale for affirming the worth of any gender? Adopting fairness as a core value reshapes the way a company talks about diversity and makes diversity targets a more achievable goal.
How to create a diverse pool of candidates
But deciding to embrace fairness isn’t going to solve your problem overnight. How do you tap into a wider pool of talent? There is already a limited number of potential candidates in Japan, so where do you find the best female talent?
Here are 3 places to look:
Recruiting in Japan is going to require a hands-on approach. It’s not as simple as posting a job ad and waiting to see who responds. A great way to meet people in the industry is networking events. At Morunda, we run regular industry events to bring top talent together to hear from world-class speakers. These types of events play an important role in building connections, relationships and trust. It’s also a great way to meet people outside your immediate network, and access talent you would never have otherwise encountered.
- Professional associations and groups
Join local associations and groups in your industry and attend their events. These groups bring together potential candidates who most likely have the qualifications and experience that you are after. It also shows your organization’s commitment to the industry and increases visibility, especially for organizations entering the market.
- Referrals from existing employees
Your most valuable source of recommendations will come for your current employees. Encourage them to recommend female leaders from their networks. Referred candidates tend to be high quality and are more likely to fit the company culture. An added benefit is that your current employees will feel that their opinion is valued when their referrals are sought after.
Get access to more female candidates
At Morunda, we are proud that on average, one in three of the candidates we recommend are female. Our in-depth industry knowledge and wide network allows us to help you find and recruit outstanding female leaders across the healthcare industry in Japan and Asia Pacific.
Book a discovery session today.
