Cultivating a culture that respects diverse values
Promotion of diversity and inclusion
We implement a variety of initiatives that enable diversehuman resources to play and active role, regardless of factors such as nationality, age or gender. These initiativesinclude the development of a work-life balance support system that goes above and beyond legal requirements tosupport employees who are raising children, and haveexpanded our childcare leave system to male employees based on the belief that encouraging men's participation in childcare will lead to greater participation by women throughout society. In FY2022, 19 male employees took leave to raise children or childcare leave, with an acquisition rate of 90% for those who sought such leave. Furthermore, we focus on actively training and recruiting women managers and candidates in order to encouragethe participation and advancement of female employees,and as of the end of January 2023, 8.1% of managerial positions were filled by women, and this ratio has steadily increased over recent years. Moving forward, we will continue to promote flexible work styles for different life stages and develop systems to support a balance between child care and work in order to foster a corporate culture in which each and every employee recognizes each other's varied values, and where everyone can play an active role regardless of their gender or lifestyle.
Creating workplaces where it is easy to work
Promoting improved work-life balance
We introduced measures that demonstrate our respectfor the work-life balance of all our employees, ensuringthat diverse human resources can work autonomously and produce results.
We reviewed our rules in response to the COVID-19pandemic, and even after COVID was downgraded to acommon infections disease (category 5), we continue to offer flextime and telecommuting systems without core hours that encourage flexible and autonomous work styles. At our plants, we have implemented a system that allows employees to work in a more balanced manner through initiatives such as being able to set days where they will not work overtime.
We also regularly notify managers regarding the taking of paid leave and encourage discussion among members to promote systematic acquisition of leave.
Creating a safe and secure working environment
First and foremost, we actively work to create a workplace environment where employees can work safely and securely. However, we established new Safety Guidelines and added them to our Corporate Philosophy after reflecting on the serious work-related accident that occurred in the Yokkaichi Plant in FY2022, and have once again declared our stance on safety both inside and outside the company. One specific initiative we rolled out was the company-wide Comprehensive Safety Check Initiative 2022, where individual employees take the initiative in identifying dangerous areas in the workplace, discussing them among their colleagues and promoting activities for improvement.
We also focus on mental health by collaborating with industrial physicians to promptly detect warning signs, and promote meetings between physicians and employees to ensure they can continue to work in prime physical and mental condition.
We are proceeding with the 2019 initiative to relocate our head office, and renovations for the office of the Yokkaichi Plant's Kasumigaura Plant which have been built in March 2022 as efforts to improve the workplace environment.
Photo: Ena Mitsui (Kawasumi•Kobayashi Kenji Photograph Office)