2026.04.22
Shiseido DE&I Lab Symposium 2026 Event Report：“Inclusion Through the Lens of Gender Equality - Creating Workplaces Where Everyone Can Thrive -”
In March 2026, Shiseido livestreamed the Shiseido DE&I Lab Symposium 2026, an online event sharing evidence-based insights on women’s advancement and gender equality in the workplace.
To experience the energy and depth of the symposium, we invite you to watch the archived video below. While written summaries provide key takeaways, the video captures the candid exchanges, diverse perspectives, and nuanced discussions of the speakers. (Archive available until the end of 2026)
This event report also highlights the key discussions and insights shared during the symposium.
In workplaces where people from diverse backgrounds collaborate, a common challenge for managers and HR professionals is how to harness these differences as organizational strength.
Even in organizations that have actively promoted women’s advancement and DE&I initiatives, questions often remain as to whether individuals are truly able to perform at their best in day-to-day operations.
With the goal of creating workplaces where everyone can work authentically and contribute fully, this symposium introduced a way of understanding workplace inclusion* through two key dimensions: Belongness and Uniqueness.
Drawing on academic research and real-world corporate practices, the symposium explored practical approaches to inclusive team management. Through a panel discussion featuring three speakers with distinct perspectives, a wide range of insights for building inclusive workplaces was shared.
Shintaro Yamaguchi (Professor, Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo)
Erina Hanzawa (Representative, dentsu DEI innovations / DEI Consultant)
Kaoru Okabayashi (DE&I Group Manager, Sustainability Strategy Acceleration Office, Corporate Transformation Acceleration Dept., Shiseido Co., Ltd.)
During the symposium, each speaker shared insights drawn from their respective research and organizational practices. Building on these perspectives, the speakers engaged in an open discussion on common challenges in advancing gender equality and practical actions that can be implemented immediately.
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Key Messages from the Speakers
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Shintaro Yamaguchi
Yamaguchi began by noting that while having diversity provides the foundation for generating new ideas, diversity alone does not automatically lead to meaningful outcomes. Referencing multiple surveys and academic studies, he explained that innovation emerges when individual’s unique strengths—such as experience and expertise—are effectively combined and leveraged.
From this perspective, he introduced a framework for that defines inclusion through two dimensions: Belongness and Uniqueness1) and explained how organizations can be categorized into four types based on their positioning along these dimensions.
Belongness refers to feeling accepted as a member of the team, while Uniqueness refers to feeling able to express one’s individuality at work. When both are present, organizations reach a desirable state in which individuals feel a sense of belonging while being encouraged to contribute their distinct strengths. Yamaguchi then highlighted a key finding from Shiseido’s internal research: a clear gender gap exists in the perception of “being able to express one’s uniqueness”.2)
In exploring the causes of this gap, he emphasized the importance of providing women employees with equitable access to challenging opportunities and a transparent outlook on future career paths. He also underscored the critical role of leaders in clearly defining expectations - what is expected and to what extent - stating that clarifying expectations is a key factor in unlocking individual potential3). -
Kaoru Okabayashi
Okabayashi explained that DE&I is a core pillar of Shiseido’s management strategy supporting its corporate mission, “BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD.” She then introduced several concrete initiatives currently being implemented across the organization.
Case 1 | Inclusive Meeting Practices4) Examples included setting recommended in-office days and adopting pre-read meeting formats, where materials are shared in advance to allow participants time to organize their thoughts. Although these initiatives may appear to focus on operational efficiency, Okabayashi noted that they also foster more inclusive environments by enabling people to speak up and contribute regardless of differences in tenure, experience, language proficiency and disability.
Case 2 | Creating Opportunities to Recognize One’s Own Assumptions5) Okabayashi emphasized that in organizations composed of diverse backgrounds, everyday dialogue becomes increasingly important. Through real-life episodes, she illustrated how misalignments between managers and team members can occur—and how such challenges were addressed through intentional communication.
She further highlighted psychological safety as a foundation for encouraging new challenges and innovation, explaining that deliberately creating opportunities to understand differences enables organizations to better leverage individual strengths -
Erina Hanzawa
Hanzawa introduced a cross-company project involving six companies, including dentsu, which examined the working styles of women in sales roles6). Through this initiative, she realized that the core challenges were not rooted in being “women” per se, but in long-established work practices, values, and organizational cultures within sales functions.
She emphasized that “what matters most is for those directly involved to articulate and discuss how they themselves want to work.”Hanzawa also introduced dentsu Leadership Attributes (dLA)7) - six leadership qualities defined by dentsu- and highlighted in particular the importance of developing talent capable of surpassing one’s own capabilities as a foundation for sustainable organizational growth.
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From the Discussion
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Q & A
Highlights from the live Q&A session, along with reference links for topics that could not be fully covered during the event, are provided below.
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What can teams do if they have few women leaders?
Shintaro Yamaguchi: Many of Shiseido’s initiatives are relatively easy to adopt, and it is likely that consistent, incremental efforts have contributed to where the company’s progress to date. A constructive first step is to reflect on your team’s current state through the lenses of Belongness and Uniqueness.
In daily communication, it is also essential to remain aware of unconscious bias. Gender-based assumptions can limit opportunities for individuals to express themselves. Communication should be grounded in the understanding that everyone is inherently different.Kaoru Okabayashi: It is crucial to share the purpose of gender equality and DE&I initiatives throughout the organization. When only policies are introduced without shared understanding at the workplace level, confusion may arise. Clearly articulating what these initiatives mean for your organization and what challenges you aim to address is an important step.
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I find it difficult to express my individuality in routine tasks.
Shintaro Yamaguchi: This is a common feeling when much of one’s work consists of standardized tasks. One useful approach is to look small ways to go slightly beyond what is expected.
Discussing such ideas with colleagues or supervisors can help align direction and ensure that such efforts are recognized in evaluations. -
I would like to know more about training programs at Shiseido
Guided by its PEOPLE FIRST philosophy, Shiseido places strong emphasis on employees’ autonomous growth. To support self-directed career development, Shiseido offer three types of training programs: nomination-based, voluntary, and mandatory, designed for different purpose and target audiences. Among these, Shiseido’s distinctive programs aimed at developing women leaders are introduced in detail below.
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How is fairness ensured for employees with diverse lifestyles?
Shiseido has introduced Performance Management, an evaluation system in which goals are set according to job roles, supported by ongoing dialogue between managers and employees throughout the year.
Rather than focusing on hours worked, the system emphasizes outcomes achieved against agreed-upon goals, enabling fair evaluation of individual contributions regardless of working style.
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Reflections on the Symposium
Efforts to transform organizational culture rarely yield immediate results. The first step is to objectively understand the current state of one’s organization and begin with small, concrete actions.
Challenges are often hidden, and overcoming one issue may reveal another. This does not indicate failure or regression—it represents a new perspective that becomes visible through progress.
hroughout the symposium, participants reaffirmed that initiating and sustaining these efforts is itself a meaningful step toward lasting change.
Post-Event Survey
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