IHI Group launches a Career Transit Program for female employees
The IHI Group is working to foster an organizational culture that emphasizes diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I). In particular, to ensure that each and every female employee can fulfill an even more active role in the Group, we are proactively recruiting and training female employees, promoting them to managerial and executive positions, and creating an environment that encourages their participation.
As part of this initiative, the IHI Group launched an original training program called the “Career Transit Program” in the 2024 fiscal year. This program supports the career development of female employees who are one step away from becoming managers.
As part of this program, we held a total of four Pre-Manager Training Sessions from December 2024 to January 2025. The sessions were held both in person and online.
The training sessions were based on the concept of “achieve your career goals through belief in your personal value.” The sessions enabled participants to reflect on their careers to date and learn how to develop their own unique leadership skills. A total of 173 female employees participated throughout the entire program.
In the first half of the training, female managers discussed their experiences, as well as doubts and important decisions they have dealt with throughout their careers. Participants then engaged in group work in which they considered and shared how they would respond to certain situations based on their own unique values and beliefs.
In the second half of the training, participants learned about “authentic leadership” from guest lecturer Ami Hamamoto, founder of Humanext Co., Ltd. Authentic leadership is a leadership style in which one’s own personality serves as a basis for demonstrating leadership based on personal ideas and values. Based on the lecture, participants closely examined what they find stimulating and their personal values, and conducted workshops to discover a form of leadership that makes use of their strengths and true aspirations.
Going forward, the IHI Group will select mentors from its managers to provide mentoring on the pursuit of management positions to interested female employees who have participated in the training. Over a period of approximately six months, the selected employees will conduct career mentoring to help resolve any doubts or concerns that other female employees may have about pursuing a managerial position.
The training sessions were a meaningful experience for participants. We received feedback such as “previously, I didn’t want to become involved in management—but now I realize that it is something I can handle” and “the training gave me a more positive attitude regarding my career.” The training sessions served as an opportunity for participants to consider their past and future careers, as well as to obtain a deeper understanding and clearer image of a career in management.
Based on the concept of DE&I, the IHI Group will continue to work to create an environment that utilizes the strengths of each employee by fairly providing opportunities while considering differences in factors such as each employee’s position, living environment, gender, and nationality.
