JAL to Diversify: Ideas Later: Updated September 14, 2024.

 

JAL looks to diversify workplace, businesses under 1st female CEO

Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240509/p2g/00m/0bu/017000c

Article to be deleted after ideas given.

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TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan Airlines Co.'s newly appointed top executive Mitsuko Tottori said she will press ahead with diversity in its workplace and businesses, as she looks to devise the carrier's post-COVID growth strategy as its first female CEO.

Tottori said she is confident that JAL will have female employees filling at least 30 percent of all management positions in the year through March 2025, meeting the goal one year ahead of plan.

Ideas:

Some companies in Japan might have better  chance of increasing diversity, but some companies might be more challenged as they have a more traditional Japanese company with a lot of older Japanese males in managerial positions.

JAL of Japan Airlines with female CEO stands a better chance of reaching 30 percent of females in managerial positions. A female CEO already helps the company move in that position.

Its possible that maybe not all Japanese females workers aspire to be a CEO in a Japanese company as maybe just moving into a managerial position is enough.

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"Everybody at the company is working toward our shared goal. I don't find it particularly challenging," Tottori said in a recent meeting with a group of media organizations. The figure stood at 29.8 percent as of the end of March this year, she said.

Her appointment on April 1 is unusual in the global airline industry not just because she became JAL's first female CEO but also because she started her career as a flight attendant at Toa Domestic Airlines Co., which was renamed as Japan Air System Co. and later merged with JAL, eventually rising to the top position.

Ideas:

And again, not all women aspire to be a CEO, but maybe move up he ladder in a company is enough, as like men, women too, have different goals and aspirations. 

These days, both men and women, even in Japan,  see life is more than being completely loyal to a company to move up in a company.

But yes, females have more challenges with raising children and trying to have a good career at the same time. And yes, not all women these days want to get married or even have children as they see the cost of raising children has become just too expensive.

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When Tottori joined TDA in 1985, many of her female colleagues left the company after marrying, as few people in their workplace understood why women should continue working after marriage and there were few measures in place to keep married women at work, but she said the situation has changed.

"We have ramped up efforts to make women feel more comfortable working so they can continue their careers after various life events," Tottori said. JAL has introduced measures such as fertility treatment leave and a more flexible promotion system.

Ideas:

Companies, globally, need to have as many options a possible, not just for women, but for men too, including a four day work week, remote work, or other possibilities as long as the work can get done.

Not all companies are able or even willing to do what JAL has done or what some other companies have done.

Unfortunately, maybe some or many women feel they are always at a disadvantage for advancement in the company for being a woman, especially in Japan, but also in many other countries too.

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Under the current business plan covering five years through March 2026, the airline plans to hire more foreign nationals in Japan and promote measures to have its employees work at firms outside the JAL group on temporary assignments, providing them with new work experiences.

JAL joins the less than 1 percent of major Japanese companies led by women. Of some 1,800 companies listed in the top-tier Prime section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, female presidents accounted for only 0.8 percent as of January last year, according to a joint survey by Kyodo News and Teikoku Databank.

Ideas:

Its a good idea that JAL has a plan for employees to work at different companies to gain experience in many different things.

But its unfortunate that of the 1800 listed companies, female presidents only accounted for 0.8 percent, which is not so good, as only men run the company, it comes very insular and new ideas are not created as the same people only come up with ideas.

The ideas that Japanese women are not motivated enough to put in the time needed to move up the ladder is long past, as Japanese women are just as motivated as are other women around the world, as they just the chance and the right work environment to achieve their goals.

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Tottori also follows an increasing number of female top executives named in recent years by airlines in the United States, Europe and other regions such as JetBlue Airways Corp., Qantas Airways Ltd. and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

The industry seeks to improve the gender gap. In 2019, the International Air Transport Association launched the "25by2025" initiative, a voluntary commitment calling on airlines worldwide to increase the number of women in senior positions and underrepresented areas by 25 percent or up to a minimum of 25 percent by 2025.

Ideas:

There is always going to be some resistance either overt or more subtle to preventing more woman in managerial posts, as it might just be human nature or competition

While other countries, globally have increased the number of women in managerial posts, Japan is lacking behind, sometimes decades behind to what is happening in Europe or the US.

Sometimes its the mindset of women in Japan, as they feel or see they are no real chances for promotion, so why bother or why try to get a good job that leads to a better position, as they survey the landscape and just see the same thing.

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The new CEO said she wants to boost revenues from non-airline operations, such as the business related to rewards points, to make its earnings base more stable. The airline industry was reeling from a plunge in air travelers during the coronavirus pandemic.

"The pandemic has ended and now the company is back on a growth track," Tottori said. "We hope to make this company more sustainable."

Ideas:

While some companies are quick to change their CEO if they don`t improve profitability, but in Japan, there might be more of a long term approach and they don`t change a CEO that fast.

I have flown JAL and also ANA many times to Japan and the service is always first class and never less, as JAL and ANA seem to value customer service. I have never had a bad or even near bad experience on either airline.

I`m sure some customers have had some not so good experiences on JAL or ANA, as flight attendants are only human and they can make mistakes.

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To widen its business portfolio, acquisitions are being considered as an option, although there are no specific targets at the moment, she said.

Having spent the first three decades of her career as a flight attendant and as a manager overseeing them, she said her strength lies in keenly grasping customers' needs, adding she hopes to see more JAL flight attendants rise through the ranks in the future.

"Some of them may become future management members," she said. "Our (management side) job is to offer more opportunities so they can gain more experiences."

Ideas:

JAL needs to be careful as to not extend itself too much with acquisitions as many companies have tried to expand only to find themselves overextended.

Japan is known for its customer service as they do put the customer first, or they used to, but that might be changing some, as companies are seeing they need to focus on profits and shareholders more than customers these days.

On a side note, many US airlines, to find more revenue, they have resorted to charging flyers for the seats they want. I think that is totally wrong, and I hope JAL and ANA don`t do it in the future.

Have a nice day!