Systematically Cultivating Personnel with Management Perspectives and Skills Suitable for Managerial Positions
The tenth-year students of the Sekisui House Women’s College
Sekisui House Women’s College is an initiative to promote the active participation of women, first organized in 2014. Each year, the program welcomes 20 students selected from among those who meet specific criteria, have prospects of being appointed to a management position in the near future, have been recommended by a responsible official at one of the departments of our head office or the General Manager of one of our Sales Administration Headquarters, and are personally highly motivated to learn and to better themselves, in addition to having the flexibility to balance work and study. Over the course of a two-year curriculum, these women are trained in a systematic and effective manner to acquire the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to attain management positions. In 2006 there were 15 women in managerial positions overall (Section Manager and higher), and as of July 2021 this number has grown to 271. Each of these women is actively participating with a strong sense of motivation.
Background to the Establishment of the Sekisui House Women’s College
Sekisui House is emphasizing initiatives to allow female employees to be appointed to managerial positions. Our aim is to increase female representation in decision-making areas, and facilitate the company’s growth from a diverse range of perspectives. In particular, after investigating the key points needing to be strengthened for women to rise to management positions, we summarized these into three main viewpoints: “management perspective,” “experience with difficult projects,” and “ability to respond to risks.” Then, it was decided to provide an opportunity to systematically learn the skills and ways of thinking required of managers and to put these into practice in real-world problem-solving scenarios. This was the start of the Sekisui House Women’s College, giving female employees a safe workplace environment that provides them with a chance to challenge themselves, while also lending a voice of support to encourage them to seize on this chance.
First training session
College Objectives
- Enhance management perspectives and skills suitable for managerial positions
- Fostering the motivation and self-awareness to acquire qualifications for promotion to managerial positions
- Cultivating role models
Curriculum Outline
- (First Year) Learning about the essence of management, by acquiring the skills to develop a management perspective
- (Second Year) Strengthening problem-solving skills and other abilities, through experiential learning to resolve workplace issues
- Presentations to top management
Individual presentations in front of top management
Presentations to Top Management
Students turn their attention to their own department and section, and, together with their superiors, challenge themselves to address issues on a cross-departmental scale. They then make a presentation to top management on the themes they have been addressing from a managerial perspective, and the outcome of their efforts. These presentations contain many proposals that impress top management, such as Group companies working together to achieve results and setting up risk prevention mechanisms, as well as ideas that can lead to new innovations.
