Diversity and Inclusion at Nomura / Good Work Environments to Facilitate Productivity

Diversity and Inclusion at Nomura

Nomura recognizes the importance for a multinational company to offer workplace environments that encourage diversity and inclusion, to promote recognition of differences, respect for one another and team work.

The Nomura Group considers the promotion of diversity and inclusion to be one of its most important tasks. This belief is deeply ingrained in our action plan for all employees, hiring criteria and personnel development policy.

Employee networks play a central role in activities at our business sites. Today, these networks include Women in Nomura (WIN), which encourages the career development of and provides networking opportunities for women, Life & Family, which promotes healthy living and managing a work-life balance, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT), which works to foster understanding about gender minorities. These networks are run by our employees who organize and implement their activities.

Processes for Promoting Diversity and Inclusion

Nomura encourages diversity and inclusion in the workplace based on the following policy. This represents our commitment to communication and respect for peoples' values, regardless of gender, nationality, age and sexual orientation.

Employee Network Activities

As part of WIN activities in Japan, we regularly host the WIN Roundtable. Each session involves presentations made by women role models on certain themes as well as interactive discussions with participants. The purpose of the WIN Roundtable is to help employees share their feelings and understand issues facing them through discussions to build a more accommodating workplace.

The 2nd WIN Roundtable held on February 1, 2012, featured discussions on a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the Nomura Group based on the work experiences of women employees who joined Nomura at the time of the Lehman Brothers acquisition and mid-career female hires who had professional experience at non-Japanese financial institutions prior to joining Nomura.

Women Mentoring Program

Nomura offers a mentoring program for female employees that are vice president and above in order to help them build their skills and build their professional network.

Program participants are able to receive one-on-one advice and coaching from senior management mentors to help them make important decisions and develop a plan for their future career path. Mentors also can introduce persons that will serve as the participant's role model. Through round-table discussions and luncheons, mentorees are able to network, and they can also participate in leadership workshops on persuasive talking techniques and how to manage business stress.

Nomura will continue to offer this program in order to expand the professional horizons of its women employees and develop the future leaders of company.

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Good Work Environments to Facilitate Productivity

The Nomura Group recognizes the importance of maintaining decent, comfortable working environments. We offer employee benefits programs, such as childcare, family nursing care and employee healthcare to ensure employees can complete their work confidently and enthusiastically on an ongoing basis.

Occupational Health and Safety

We support working conditions that allow each employee to fully concentrate on their work in a healthy condition, both with good physical and mental health. We have shifted our emphasis to early discovery and intervention.

Our industrial physicians periodically visit our worksites for health monitoring and conduct face-to-face interviews with supervising managers. Improvement measures are being introduced to departments with a history of employees working long hours, and mandatory health examinations are provided for employees who work extended hours.

To safeguard the mental health of our employees, we provide access to psychiatrists and an employee counseling room staffed by a dedicated professional. We also offer consultation services provided by medical staff at our Health Management Center. For employees affected by a mental illness, we assign a dedicated medical staff member that maintains regular and close contact with the employee and also works with their supervisor to ensure a smooth transition back to work.

In fiscal 2011, we compiled and distributed a Mental Healthcare Manual to managers that provides easy-to-understand commentary on basic approaches to mental healthcare and how to work with employees affected by a mental illness. These initiatives have helped us build a solid employee mental healthcare system that covers all workplaces.

Diversity in Work Formats

We have established workplaces where each employee can thrive at work, regardless of his or her age or physical ability.

1. Rehiring System
   Under a program in effect since April 2006, group companies can rehire employees who are retiring after having reached 60 years old, the mandatory age in the relevant jurisdiction or the upper age limit of their contract. In principle, employees who wish to continue working are rehired under one-year contracts that can be renewed on an annual basis or as otherwise specified until their 65th year. Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. annually rehires around 70% of its retirees. Under this system, employees are able to achieve a work-life balance at the end of their regular working lives and, at the same time, we benefit from the contributions these employees make through their skills and experience.
   
   The system is also designed to provide employees with work and compensation packages that match their individual abilities and experience while enabling them to flexibly select how they will work and live after retirement.
   
   Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. has established a Work-Life Support Department so that it can better respond to individual retirement situations, including employee duties, welfare benefits and life planning, by separating functions related to the planning, formulation and operation of the rehiring system. We will continue to improve this system to ensure its smooth operation.
2. Employment Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
   The Nomura Group also provides a broad range of employment opportunities to persons with disabilities. Each workplace is consulted with on how best to utilize the skills and aptitudes of these individuals so that they are motivated and committed to their duties. Nomura Securities provides employment opportunities to persons with disabilities that exceed the number as required by law, and these individuals can be found in a variety of workplaces at the company.

Helping Employees Balance Work and Childcare

The Nomura Group has developed a wide range of programs based on Japan's Act for Measures to Support the Development of the Next Generation, which encourages companies to provide workplace environments where employees can balance their work and childcare needs.

Nomura Securities sets targets for the number of male employees taking childcare leave and for the use of its benefit programs such as special work hours during child-rearing years, among other themes. As a result of these initiatives, we were certified with the Kurumin logo as part of the Act for Measures to Support the Development of the Next Generation again in fiscal 2012, following similar recognition in 2007 and 2009.