Ms. Tuot was in charge. “;e most important part
was support from management,” she says. “Being
trusted made people in di;erent departments will-
ing to listen to my advice.”
Before women can ;ourish, of course, they have
to be hired. Ratuken’s recruiters seek out female
senior project managers and approach potential
candidates, even if they aren’t on the market. Once
they’re in the door, Rakuten provides coaching
to project managers. For women, coaching often
focuses on showing leadership skills, conveying
achievements to management, speaking e;ectively
in public and training people.

To retain top talent, the company focuses on equal opportunity. “Make sure women can have a real career and promotion, equal salaries between men and women, and that this is common knowledge within the company,” Ms. Tuot says. Support from management is vital. “Above a certain level, it is very di;cult to get women to go to the next step, and only the commitment of top management to