Allyship is not something to be "provided" but “normalized"

Significance and background for introducing "Preferred Gender"

There were two major reasons for implementing “Preferred gender.

First, under the current system in Japan, there are strict requirements for changing legal gender (gender on Family Registration/passport), and there are persistent environmental and structural challenges for transgender persons and other LGBT+ members to thrive as their authentic selves.

Second, as an organization, we have been looking for ways to be more inclusive. Since around 2018, we revised HR system and welfare system to accommodate LGBT+ talent, and in recent years have been focused on internal and external awareness and community activities. On the other hand, due to the environmental and structural challenges mentioned previously, we have been handling each case individually as each case is unique, which made us to think it might have given an impression that these cases are “exceptions” and required “special” treatments for LGBT+ members to thrive as their authentic selves.

To tackle this challenge, we have decided to introduce "Preferred Gender," which focuses on "incorporating exceptions into our everyday process." Therefore, there were many priorities from different perspectives, such as "inclusion of LGBT+ members" and ensuring high safety and ethics and reducing risks. The system was introduced after careful and thorough discussions and verifications with various stakeholders, including not only those concerned, but also internal divisions such as HR and IT, as well as vendors for system modification, after adjusting the requirements and operational details.

To create an inclusive future together, while respecting each choice

Our group manages information based on a basic policy that "gender means Preferred Gender" throughout our group. However, our talent register “Preferred Gender" only when they wish to do so, and we do not leverage this system to ask anyone to come out.

The fact that many LGBT+ people choose not to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to most of their colleagues, as demonstrated in the Deloitte research (LGBT+ Inclusion @ Work: A Global Outlook), and individual choices should be respected as coming out is a personal choice. At the same time, 90% of those who have widely come out to colleagues in the organization answered that “the reason for coming out was largely due to the organizational culture,” which suggests that being able to represent one’s authentic self depends on how organizations and its people respect human rights and DEI.

We believe that the introduction of "Preferred Gender" is not only from the perspective of LGBT+ inclusion, but also as a way of helping to build a workplace where talent thrive as their authentic selves, and ultimately a more inclusive society for all.

See HERE for reports on other DEI-related events.