Hitachi High Technologies America

Hitachi High Technologies America's Women in Hitachi Initiative Promotes Diversity & Inclusion

Since 2017, Hitachi High Technologies Japan has been actively promoting diversity & inclusion as part of the corporate strategy. To support this, Hitachi High Technologies America (HTA) officially launched the Women in Hitachi project in 2018. Although it is called “Women” in Hitachi, the focus is strongly on the diversity & inclusion – all of the events and projects are arranged as coed to promote the concept of inclusion. This committee was established by the grassroots effort of seven female employees from different divisions at HTA who attended the Hitachi Global Women’s Summit last year. These women felt a strong passion to promote the sense of unity, diversity, and inclusion at HTA as well as to provide support for female employees’ career growth and development. With this concept, they established the mission statement: “Shape the future of Hitachi businesswomen by providing opportunities for development, fostering valuable connections, and facilitating member success through business and career growth.”

The concept of diversity and inclusion is one of the key elements in today’s society, in both business environments and day-to-day personal life. Diversity is about difference. Inclusiveness is about leveraging differences to achieve better results. Creating an environment where all people feel, and are, valued and are able to bring their differences together works towards building success. As noted diversity advocate Vernā Myers puts it, “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” Experts also say, ‘Diversity with inclusion provides a potent mix of talent retention and engagement.

Within HTA, the Women in Hitachi committee is focused on three pillars: Inform, Network and Advance. This is done by organizing lunch and learn seminars, mentorship programs, guest speaker events, and newsletters. The committee has facilitated kick-off meetings, presentations, surveys, and Q&A sessions to share the importance of diversity & inclusion in the workplace. The committee also works with other non-Hitachi organizations closely to promote joint projects in which Hitachi’s brand name can be introduced and Hitachi can show that they are actively supporting diversity and inclusion. One organization, for example, is American Airlines’ Women Leadership Program. As part of the collaboration work with American Airlines, the committee invited Ms. Cynthia Dawson as a guest speaker. She is the first female officer at American Airlines. She came to the HTA Dallas office and shared her personal experience, which was truly motivating and inspiring. As for outside activities, the Women in Hitachi committee attended the Life Science Women’s Conference and presented the importance of supporting the development of female leaders. Throughout these Hitachi activities, the committee achieved the following objectives: sharing the importance of diversity and inclusion to our own employees, promoting the empowerment of female employees’ career growth and development, and introducing Hitachi’s brand name as a strong supporter of diversity and inclusion.

It can be challenging to take action – but the Women in Hitachi at Hitachi High Technologies America (HTA) made it happen as an official company project. Through events and programs, the committee helps raise awareness of diversity and inclusion. In addition, there is active communications with HHT Japan’s Diversity Promotion Development Department for joint projects in the future. This kind of global collaboration work will positively impact HTA and meet the company’s corporate strategy.