HR Magazine sat down with Hironori Oka, Chairman, Daiwa Capital Markets Hong Kong Limited to discuss the organisation’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations and the role Daiwa plays in the wellbeing of every one of its employees.
Daiwa shapes societies and their own employees
With nearly 50 years’ experience at the forefront of Hong Kong’s investment banking industry, Daiwa Capital Markets Hong Kong Limited (Daiwa) is also an organisation honing itself towards sustainable development for employees. With the establishment of the Human Rights Awareness Promotion Committee in 1984 by Daiwa Securities Group, Daiwa has since implemented a range of initiatives designed to accommodate a diverse and inclusive workforce. In 2016, there was a specific case where a staff member, Alan, was seriously injured in a bicycle accident that left him disabled. This incident necessitated carefully planned empathetic and practical measures by Daiwa to ensure his successful reintegration back into the workspace. This adaptability and process of reintegration showcased the company’s philosophy—Daiwa Spirit, in the light of diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Sustainable development and healthy money
Aimed at promoting training initiatives to raise human rights awareness, the Daiwa Securities Group set up the Human Rights Awareness Promotion Committee in 1984. Oka acknowledged, “We have always placed a lot of importance on harmony within the organisation, particularly among employees, customers and joint ventures. Inclusion is a big part of that as well.” He continued, “As an organisation, simply making money is not enough. Instead, we question how we make money in a way that is healthy and harmonious for every person involved—from our staff to our customers. There needs to be harmony within the business and, for us, it’s more about making what we term, healthy money.”
Daiwa’s commitment to the UN’s SDGs echo the traditional Japanese values of its roots and help the organisation make money in a way that is sustainable for stakeholders. Oka explained, “The philosophy comes from the Japanese arm of our business, but the initiatives are spread right across Daiwa. There is a similar concept to SDGs in Japan termed, Sanpo-yoshi—a way of thinking in the business community that is common in the western part of Japan where Daiwa originates. Sanpo-yoshi is a value concept of doing business to ensure ‘three-way-satisfaction’ of customers, society and the company itself. If these three elements are kept happy then it’s good for the business.”
Sustainable development meets business objectives
While SDGs are important to ensure every talent is able to fully integrate into the workforce—Oka observed a balance that must be struck to ensure financial business objectives are also met. He shared, “Our business and our objectives are driven by business outcomes. Without money, we aren’t able to survive or contribute to society. Of course, financial outcomes are very important but we know that just focusing on profits alone is not good enough.” He continued, “The reality is that business goals also have to be sustainable. If we only give and we don’t make money then the goals are not sustainable. When we are making positive changes for society, we also need to be mindful of how we can capitalise on this as well.”
While there is a range of ways in which business sustainability can be achieved, Oka discussed social impact bonds as an important sustainable development initiative. He explained, “Organisations, particularly MNCs, can issue social impact bonds. These could be green bonds, inclusive bonds or even vaccine bonds issued as investments to be used positively within society. Around the world, many people need vaccine bonds, particularly in African countries where funds are made available for immunising children. We are now assisting with these kinds of opportunities. We’ve seen this rise for many years and now over 50% of the market share in Japan is organised by Daiwa.” He added, “We are extremely active in this space and are creating a lot of products and services that are making meaningful contributions to achieving this goal.”
Disability triggers care plan
Disability triggers care planIn June 2016, a bicycle accident in Vietnam left a Daiwa employee with a serious spinal cord injury. Oka described how the event fundamentally changed Daiwa’s approach to disability management in the workplace. He expressed, “For us, the trigger was a colleague Alan who had been at Daiwa for more than 10 years at the time of the accident and had been a strong contributor to the organisation. In the Daiwa family, I feel our employees are like our kids and to help them feels very natural.
We’re not the kind of company to see them off. Instead, we do all we can to help them and I think this is common sense. I hope many others would take the same action.”
At the time of the accident, the Daiwa HR team arranged an air ambulance service to repatriate Alan back to Hong Kong. After six months in an intensive care unit, Alan was certified as permanently paralysed from the chest down. Connie Chan, Head of HR at Daiwa observed, “Daiwa was stoic about never giving up on Alan and immediately thought about how best to reintegrate him back into the workplace. Throughout 2017, he underwent rehabilitation and in the first meeting with the team at Queen Mary Hospital they told us we would be able to achieve our main goal of facilitating Alan’s return to work.”
In December 2017, Alan began an occupational rehabilitation programme and by April 2018, he had been discharged from hospital and was continuing his rehabilitation programme from home. At the same time, the Daiwa office in Hong Kong was renovated to create better disabled access, while staff also received disability employment training. Chan explained, “We renovated the office by making the corridor wider and installing automatic wheelchair access. We also made Alan’s cubicle more spacious and installed new switches that were accessible to wheelchair users. His workstation was decorated with welcome signs and in September 2018 Alan finally returned to work.”
While Alan has now successfully returned to the workforce, he and Daiwa have worked together to manage his return and revise his duties according to his new ability levels following the accident. Oka highlighted, “Since the accident, he now has different strengths and it’s our job to identify what they are. Some parts of the job he’ll be unable to do but it’s about identifying in what ways he can still contribute to the organisation. The expectation is that he remains an effective contributor to our company in the same way he was prior to the accident.” This extended to colleagues within the organisation as well. Oka discussed, “He is not like he was before and some other employees initially weren’t sure how to interact with him. That’s why education is critical, particularly around his needs and the kind of assistance that is required. We sought professional advice from Alan’s specialist about all of this and as a result, we think he is much happier at work now.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
