Hiring Women Leaders in Healthcare

Jun 21

Titan Consulting brings D&I Spotlight Package to the Japanese market

By C Bryan Jones

It has been two decades since the Japanese government set its target of having women in 30 percent of management positions by 2020—and the country has fallen far short of that goal. More recently, the government has acknowledged that it has had to push off its target to 2030. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2021, published by the World Economic Forum in March, just 14.7 percent of senior and managerial roles in Japan are filled by women. This puts Japan dead last among the 29 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and continues to leave so much of the country’s talent and potential untapped.

Titan Consulting K.K. Business Development Manager Sophia Plessier certainly noticed the imbalance on her arrival in Japan. Coming from San Francisco, where discussion of diversity and inclusion (D&I) and support for women in business are a part of everyday life, she found it striking how few Japanese companies were promoting these important issues. To foster discussion and raise awareness, she founded the podcast Women in Healthcare—Japan along with a networking group of the same name where women can come together to empower other women in the industry.

Titan offers the opportunity to turn D&I hiring ambitions into reality for companies that are serious about evolving their business.

That ties into her work at Titan, where she helps clients increase the diversity of their leadership. It’s a natural progression of her career in executive recruitment for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices, and technology industries. She began that journey in 2015 in the United States, where she partnered with leaders of top healthcare companies to fill key spots in their management.

Focus on Diversity

Filling those positions is about more than just reaching a percentage. It’s about benefiting society through the innovation and solutions that emerge from teams built on diverse views, experiences, and backgrounds. And Titan’s area of focus—healthcare and life science—requires a little extra attention.

As Business Operations Manager Sean Lindley noted: “The benefits of having a more diverse leadership team are well established, but building that team can be more of a challenge in healthcare—especially in Japan—due to the somewhat conservative nature of the industry.” The way in which these companies approach screening adds an extra layer that must be overcome, he explained, “but with this challenge come opportunities, and if you’ve got something which can potentially remedy that, then the most conservative industry is probably where you want to try and apply the solution.”

The solution he speaks of is the D&I Spotlight Package, which Titan has created inspired by another product they offer to clients which focuses on medical-doctor hiring. The package helps clients who wish to start putting their D&I policies into action through talent acquisition do so in the most effective way possible.

The D&I Spotlight Package is a 12-month commitment from Titan Consulting which starts with an in-depth discussion to understand the client’s current situation and business needs. Titan takes the time to understand the areas on which the client is aiming to focus their D&I hiring and the foreseeable challenges. This offers a close partnership in which Titan provides detailed market analysis, access to an extensive network of professionals, a market map that identifies candidates, and ongoing, proactive support. Whether the client just wants a market map, needs to hire for a couple of key positions, or has extensive hiring needs, Titan is ready to support all projects with a tailored service.

“We work with the client to pinpoint what type of professionals they want to engage with,” explained Partner Daniel McGrath. “Some clients have urgent and immediate needs while others are more focused on casual exploratory meetings for pipelining. Whatever their situation, Titan offers the opportunity to turn D&I hiring ambitions into reality for companies that are serious about evolving their business.”

Doing that is one way in which the cost structure of the Spotlight Package really boosts a company’s D&I efforts. There is a commencement fee for the program, but the fee for the first placed candidate is waived. Any additional placements are treated as contingent.

Diamond in the Rough

One thing Plessier, McGrath, and Lindley all noted is that sometimes the perfect candidate or opportunity may not jump off the page. This is especially true in Japan, where modesty may lead a candidate to discount a chance if their resume doesn’t check every box, while a company’s inflexible or overly strict hiring criteria might cause them to overlook someone who hasn’t had a particular job title. And in a country where women hold so few management positions, there’s a good chance of this happening.

“A lot of our clients say, ‘We would like women for these positions, it’s very important for us to get more female leaders,’” Plessier said. “We’re very transparent with them and explain that there’s a lack of female leaders in this country, so identifying these candidates is not easy. We might find eight or nine men for every one woman.”

Noting the smaller pool, Lindley added: “Part of the reason the Spotlight Package addresses this issue is precisely because of the close partnership with the client. We are able to match solutions to identified business needs rather than just a candidate to a job description.”

And it’s not just from the company side. Plessier said Titan also works with candidates to build bridges across perceived deficiencies in experience. “We make sure that they have the confidence to go for these roles that they might not naturally pursue. In Japan, you will send a role over to a candidate and if she’s not a 99.9- or 100-percent match—for example, she has five years of experience instead of the seven listed—she won’t even apply,” Plessier explained. “So, a lot of it is for us to coach them, to tell them that the company is trying to promote diversity and will be impressed with you.”

Real World Results

Plessier shared two examples of successful placements. In one, a US biopharmaceutical client was searching for a new head of pharmacovigilance and safety. It was a position which had never been held by a female leader, and the company had been unable to identify any strong female candidates in their pipeline. To solve this issue, Titan tapped into their international network and supported a candidate from overseas to transition back to Japan and into this role.

In another case, a medical device client, which was focused on Japan and had an entirely male executive team, was given a big incentive from the global executives to push for more diversity. They needed to replace their head of research and development, so decided to invest in diversity hiring and work with Titan. In just six weeks, the final candidate was selected from three finalists.

McGrath feels that now is the right time for more companies to make such moves. “We’re seeing the reaction to Sophia’s podcast interviews with women leaders in healthcare, and some genuine interest among companies to diversify management,” he said.

If you’re ready to strengthen your management team with more female leaders and greater diversity of voices and ideas, Titan Consulting is ready to help.

Presented in partnership with Titan Consulting K.K.