|
Corporate Social Responsibility
News
1.30.2008 - 09:00am ET
|
CSR News from:
|
|
|
News Category:
|
|
Catalyst Honors Initiatives at ING USFS and Nissan Motor with the 2008 Catalyst Award
Award winners reflect global marketplace and commitment to advancing women and business.
(CSRwire) NEW YORK, NY - January 30, 2008 – Catalyst today announced that
ING U.S. Financial Services (USFS) and Nissan Motor Co.,
Ltd. are the recipients of the 2008 Catalyst Award, the annual
award that honors exceptional initiatives from companies that support and
advance women in business. This year's Award-winning initiatives reflect
Catalyst's global perspective and the potential significant impact of
women's talent and advancement to leadership positions in the global
marketplace.
"We are pleased to recognize these two comprehensive initiatives that
demonstrate the strong business case supporting women's advancement and
diversity in the workplace," said Ilene H. Lang, President of
Catalyst. "Catalyst believes that companies with diverse leadership
teams encourage openness and foster innovation. Both of these initiatives
provide their companies with a competitive business advantage in today's
global marketplace, and inspire and encourage others to embrace gender
diversity in the workplace."
The Catalyst Award serves as a call to action to effect positive
and lasting change for women and business. As in the past, both of this
year's Catalyst Award-winning initiatives were evaluated in a rigorous
year-long process against an extensive set of criteria: business
rationale, senior leadership support, accountability, communication,
replicability, originality, and measurable results. These Award-winning
initiatives reflect best practices around inclusion and advancement of
women to leadership roles and positions of influence.
ING USFS' initiative, Beyond Diversity: Building One ING
Culture, has created a unifying culture that identifies diversity and
inclusion as a business imperative, increased women managers at the
top-most level, and become a model for the global organization. In 2001,
recognizing the need for change, the company used a transition period of
rapid acquisitions and subsequent consolidation to identify the necessary
levers for culture change. ING USFS then capitalized on different talents,
perspectives, and ideas to increase diversity and inclusion across all of
its business locations. The resulting "One ING" culture benefits all
employees, with a strategic focus to include women and other diverse
groups. The components of the initiative include, among other things, a
comprehensive project to uncover employee needs that has led to
skill-building initiatives, targeted recruitment, and mentoring programs,
as well as an "acceleration" or "deceleration" of up to 10 percent of each
business unit's bonus pool that is linked specifically to performance on
diversity measures, judged quantitatively and qualitatively by the CEO.
Since the initiative's inception in 2003, ING USFS has increased women's
representation on the senior management team from 25 percent to 50
percent, and currently, two executive women in profit-and-loss roles
manage 80 percent of ING USFS business. Two out of three people in the
succession pipeline to CEO are women, and the percentage of women in
people-manager positions has increased from 2003 to 2007.
Nissan Motor's Japan-only initiative, Women in the Driver's
Seat: Gender Diversity as a Lever in Japan, uses diversity to secure
business success by increasing women's participation and contribution in
all areas of the business. The business case for having women as
decision-makers and in positions of influence within the company was
developed in response to research identifying women as influencers of
two-thirds of all car purchases. With the support of many senior leaders
and champions, the resulting diversity strategy focuses on three areas:
engagement, education, and advancement of women. The components of the
initiative include, among other things, career advancement support through
specialized "Career Advisors" for women only, as well as ergonomic
adjustments to equipment and other improvements in facilities and working
conditions at plants that allow women to contribute fully.
The initiative showcases solid increases for women in positions of
influence in Japan. Since 2004, women in management positions have
increased from 36 to 101 women, and the percentage of women managers in
the design, planning, and product planning function has doubled. The
percentage of sales people (Car Life Advisors) at Nissan-owned dealerships
who are women has increased as well, while the percentage of women in
manufacturing plants more than doubled. This is also the first time an
initiative from a company headquartered in Asia has received the Catalyst
Award.
ING USFS and Nissan Motor will present in-depth discussions on
their initiatives at the 2008 Catalyst Awards Conference at the
Waldorf=Astoria in New York City on April 9, 2008.
The conference, which is sponsored by Cadillac, will feature
keynote speaker Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Inc.
PepsiCo's Women of Color Multicultural Alliance initiative won the
2007 Catalyst Award. Later in the evening, the 2008 Catalyst Awards
Dinner, sponsored by Shell Oil Company, will be chaired by
Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & CEO of American Express Company.
Over 70 CEOs and leaders of major corporations, firms, academic
institutions, and non-profit organizations are expected to attend, along
with more than 1,500 guests representing 260 national and global
companies.
For complete descriptions of this year's Catalyst Award-winning
initiatives and previous Award winners, please visit http://www.catalyst.org/award/winners.shtml.
For more information about the 2008 Catalyst Awards Conference & Dinner,
please contact Michael Chamberlain, 646-388-7770, mchamberlain@catalyst.org. For
media inquiries, please contact Susan Nierenberg, 646-388-7744, snierenberg@catalyst.org,
Serena Fong, 646-388-7757, sfong@catalyst.org, or Jeff Barth,
646-388-7725, jbarth@catalyst.org. For
international media inquiries specifically, please contact Susan
Nierenberg.
About Catalyst
Founded in 1962, Catalyst is the leading nonprofit corporate membership
research and advisory organization working globally with businesses and
the professions to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities
for women and business. With offices in New York, Sunnyvale, Toronto, and
Zug, and the support and confidence of more than 340 leading corporations,
firms, business schools, and associations, Catalyst is connected to
business and its changing needs and is the premier resource for
information and data about women in the workplace. In addition, Catalyst
honors exemplary business initiatives that promote women's leadership with
the annual Catalyst Award.
About the Catalyst Award
The Catalyst Award is presented annually to companies and firms with
outstanding initiatives that result in women's career development and
advancement. Catalyst's rigorous, year-long examination of initiatives and
their measurable results culminates in intensive, on-site reviews at
finalist companies. The Catalyst Award provides the business community
with replicable change models that are good for business and good for
women. For more information about Catalyst and the Catalyst Award
application process, please visit www.catalyst.org.
About ING
ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking,
insurance and asset management to more than 75 million private, corporate
and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse
workforce of over 120,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of
prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING
brand. In the U.S., the ING family of companies offer a comprehensive
array of financial services to retail and institutional clients which
include life insurance, retirement plans, mutual funds, managed accounts,
alternative investments, direct banking, institutional investment
management, annuities, employee benefits, financial planning, and
reinsurance. ING holds top-tier rankings in key U.S. markets and serves
over 15 million customers across the nation.
About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Nissan Motor Company generated global net revenues of 10.468 trillion yen
in 2006. Nissan is present in all major global auto markets selling a
comprehensive range of cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and light commercial
vehicles under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. Nissan employs over 180,000
people worldwide. Under the Nissan Value-Up business plan, the company
continues to focus on long-term sustainable and profitable growth driven
by three commitments: to maintain top level of operating profit margin
among global automakers, to achieve global sales of 4.2 million units in
2009, and 20% return on invested capital on average over the course of the
plan.
|
|
