Last month, Team Key had the pleasure of hosting a networking evening with adidas Japan that focussed on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We had the opportunity to discuss challenges women face when striving for leadership roles, and solutions and awareness for hiring talents with disabilities across the entire business. Great ideas emerged for the retail and consumer industry to improve the DE&I in their respective cultures.

We gathered a diverse group of experienced HR Directors from high-profile Retail and FMCG companies to share thoughts and ideas in an interactive discussion.

Here are some of the interesting topics, solutions and themes that emerged.

Key Takeaways: 

Confidence vs. Modesty: For leadership roles, adidas pointed out that a popular global study shows that male applicants decide to apply when they meet 60% of the listed requirements, whereas female applicants wait to apply until they meet close to 100% of the requirements. As a company, adidas felt they could try to assist by creating a framework and training to raise confidence and interest in the leadership career paths of female employees.

Role models are needed: Lack of other female role models in leadership roles has a noticeable impact on confidence and interest to apply. Solutions can be ERG (Employee Relations Groups) and mentoring programs where people can meet and be inspired by other female role models. External Talent Acquisition can also be accelerated by quotes and testimonials from current employees on a company homepage, SNS and other media surrounding the topic. All this helps raise the visibility of successful female leaders to inspire others to strive for more in their careers.

Attracting, hiring, developing and retaining PWD:  Creating an inclusive culture is a key to attracting diverse talent. Training on unconscious bias and the importance of DE&I is essential. Internal forums for managers with PWD staff have given positive results. Like the point above, networking and internal groups are strengthening engagement and retention, and employee testimonials positively impact external talent attraction. 

We thank all those in attendance.

If you or your company are interested in hosting and collaborating on an event with the Key Team, contact us at connect@keyconsulting-group.com

We are happy to bring peer networks together.