Note:Departments and posts are as of the time of the interview(May 2019)
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With women making up around half of employees, the SMBC Group is working to create workplaces that allow women to fulfil their potential across Group companies. One of the key initiatives is the support provided to women for career development, which includes leadership training for female managers and career forums aimed at younger female employees. Across the Group, efforts are underway to encourage women possessing managerial ability to enter management ranks, regardless of age or other circumstances. Below, we would like to introduce an interview of one female manager who plays an active role in the frontline of her workplace.
A workplace offering women a positive challenge
"Looking back, it has been rare for me to be conscious of my gender at work. After joining the bank in 2009, I was involved in the development of retail banking products, and today I am the manager of a section that is providing advice to individual customers. I gave birth to my first daughter in 2016, and returned to work by using the systems for shorter working hours and telecommuting. I was appointed as Consultation Section Manager in2019. Every day presents its own challenges in how to fulfill my duties as a responsible manager.
"I feel that my current workplace makes it easy for women to work. I feel I was strongly supported due to our female deputy department head. As women, there are opportunities for us to help each other, because she is a manager who is also raising two children. At first, I was a little worried about taking a new job with management responsibilities while raising a family, but now I am approaching the job with a positive attitude thanks to the support I am receiving from the company and staff."
Our individual empowerment will encourage the women who follow us
"I think ‘resolve' is one of the critical elements in helping women to thrive at work. By ‘resolve,' I am referring to a mindset of improving performance despite time constraints, and working hard to devise ways to make that happen. You must also not forget to be thankful for the cooperation from the people around you, which is essential in helping you enjoy personal success. If I show resolution in my work, this encourages my junior colleagues, and I believe it can serve as a source of inspiration to other female employees as well. I work hard every day to demonstrate through my own resolution that anyone can fulfil their potential at work if they try.
"It is vital to create an atmosphere at work to make it easy for my subordinates to come to me for help. We are typically pressed for time, but when asked for advice, I make sure to stop what I am doing and listen. I want to understand what they are thinking so I can tailor my advice to their request. Everyone looks at work differently. That's why I consider it important not to impose my values when trying to build trust. I want to support team by standing by our motto: "Keep team motivation high while respecting each person's values."
Women's empowerment is gaining momentum; let's move toward achieving empowerment while supporting one another.
"I have always thought gender is irrelevant when it comes to work. It would be wonderful if we could make more use of female strengths, such as attention to detail. There are indeed many female employees at the bank who have achieved fantastic results by gaining the trust of customers. I would like to surprise those around me with what I can do not only by completing my mission, but also by adding values of my own experiences. That's the sort of pride I have.
The number of female managers has increased in the past ten years without a doubt, but I believe the time when women will really thrive at work is only starting now. Cooperation from families is essential if women are to focus more intensely on careers. If one of my male team members has a sick child, I want to be able to suggest him to go home early. By doing this, I want to create an atmosphere that supports a good balance between work and family.
What's important is that every employee gets to shine through their work, regardless of their gender or with or without children. In my managerial position, my aim is to strive to create such an environment, and I hope that this will contribute to increased dynamism of the entire Group. Personally, it can be a struggle sometimes to find that balance between work and family, but I try to stay highly motivated and focus on maximizing my mission. That's the kind of woman that I want to be."
Aside from SMBC, as introduced above, other SMBC Group companies are pursuing various measures to make workplaces better environments for women to work. In recognition of such efforts, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Tokyo Stock Exchange have selected us as a "Nadeshiko Brand, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has granted "Eruboshi" accreditation to us for our record in empowering women at work. Our aim is to be a dynamic group where diverse employees can fulfil their potential. We are trying to accelerate efforts to help women shine at work.
Daily schedule
Special memory
My daughter aged two and a half years made this at the daycare center. It looks a bit rough, but it energizes me when I think how hard she worked to create it.
Time with family is the greatest source of energy. After a weekend playing with them, I feel ready for another week of work