Promotion of Job Satisfaction
Basic Policy
Employee independence is vital for the company to grow sustainably into the future. We want each employee to think hard about their career. Setting goals and progressing toward them through self-improvement and full utilization of their unique traits and strengths leads to self-fulfillment and the best results. We will enable employees to pursue higher levels of job satisfaction through their own experiences, for example by getting results and contributing to the organization. To do this, we will advance initiatives to foster the right corporate culture and support individuals as they take on new challenges.
Employee Systems Encouraging a Challenge Mentality
Recognizing the need to promote more employee-initiated efforts to create value, Alps Alpine is working to foster a corporate culture that encourages personal growth and a challenge mentality. Part of that has involved a revision of the company’s personnel system. In fiscal 2022, a role-based grading system was introduced for managers and leaders. The system was extended to regular employees from fiscal 2023. Personnel evaluations, too, now place emphasis on challenge-based actions and activity performance relevant to each role. This makes the system fairer and enables effective application and early identification of outstanding talent. Even after their introduction, continual revision of the systems will ensure they are improved and entrenched.
Key Points of System Revision
- Application of a role-based grading system to employees above a certain level
- Re-establishment of the roles of retiring employees to promote demonstrating their expertise
- Shift to a performance evaluation system that recognizes and rewards challenge-based actions by employees
Fostering a Culture that Encourages a Challenge Mentality
Town Hall Meetings
Steps are being taken to reform our culture in line with a senior management vision to create a company where all employees get to grow together, demonstrating enthusiasm and acting on their own initiative. One focus has been communication in the form of dialogue, namely town hall meetings. These are important opportunities for employees to hear first-hand what senior management has in mind, and for senior management to learn what employees are thinking and the specific issues they are facing on the job.
Town hall meeting
Establishment of Career Counseling Office
A new career counseling office has been established to assist employees in resolving their career concerns and problems, and to help them move on to their next challenge. Employees with national certification as career consultants serve as consultants and provide a wide range of consultation services,including career planning, skills development, improvement of the work environment, and concerns about work roles and duties.
Initiatives to Improve Engagement
Every three years, the Alps Alpine Workers Association, an employee representative organization, conducts a General Attitude Survey of all employees in Japan and, based on the results, labor and management exchange opinions to resolve issues.
In the fiscal 2023 survey, the Company’s systems to support employees’ autonomous learning and measures to revitalize communication were evaluated as having contributed to improving the Company’s attractiveness. At the same time, it became clear that the Company needs to make further efforts to ensure that employees have a deeper understanding of the management strategy. Based on the results of this survey, in fiscal 2024, when developing our short-term management plan, we are carefully explaining how to more clearly align company policies with the work goals of individual employees.
In fiscal 2023, we conducted a trial engagement survey for some departments and, based on the results, we clarified our definition of engagement and reselected measurement tools. From fiscal 2024,the scope of the survey will be expanded to include all employees in Japan, and a new engagement survey will be conducted. The data obtained will be used to develop the next action plan to create the ideal organization and improve corporate value that the organization is pursuing.
Pick-Up Topic
IPPO Project:
A Space for Fostering a Culture of Creativity and Bringing Ideas to Life
As part of efforts to promote a venture mentality, Alps Alpine uses its internal portal site to introduce the ambitious undertakings of employees. One such initiative is the IPPO Project. Originating from a winning entry into our in-house future media contest, the project seeks to foster a culture of creativity.
The name of the project alludes to the suggestion it should be where employees take the first step (ippo is Japanese for “one step”) in their creative pursuits. Many walls, benches, tables and other furnishings in this space were crafted by employees. Used for a variety of events and communication, this is where new ideas are born.
Labor-Management Relations
At Alps Alpine, labor and management aim to grow together in harmony, engaging with one another on equal terms and in good faith to resolve all issues through comprehensive discussions based on mutual trust and understanding between the company and the organization representing employees, the Alps Alpine Workers Association. Issues covered might include confirmation of wage standards, bonuses, employee systems and work style issues such as improvement of working hours. The workers association also monitors company management, for example as an observer in management-related meetings and by regularly engaging in information exchanges with management regarding the state of business.
Systems that Enable Diverse Work Styles
We have formulated our “Work Style Vision” by labor and management as a guideline for how employees should work. Upon this vision, we are striving to create a safe and comfortable work environment by maintaining and improving employees’ physical and mental health and complying with each country’s laws and practices related to working hours.
Work Style Vision: Smart Work × Smile Life
- ≪Purpose≫
- To achieve ongoing business development through personal growth and self-fulfillment and the securing of talented human resources
- ≪Envisaged Direction≫
- Our aim is to inspire collective efforts to enhance the work and private lives of every employee.
- ≪Envisaged Environment≫
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- An environment allowing work style flexibility fit for a global corporation and a culture encouraging ambition
- An environment allowing employees to perceive personal growth and give play to strengths with peace of mind in the workplace
- ≪Envisaged Characteristics≫
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- Adaptive to changes in duties
- Ability to select, to some degree, work styles and areas to match work and private career plans
- Time to engage in personal pursuits due to flexible, efficient work styles and higher productivity
- More opportunities for personal growth and achievement
- Better matching of employee skills and needs with jobs
- Mutual acceptance of diverse work styles and values
Support for Balancing Work and Private Life
The employee system was revised in March 2024 to allow employees with personal circumstances such as childcare, caregiving, or nursing care to work more flexibly. In addition to increasing the convenience of the leave system, we support the balance between work and private life by expanding work arrangements such as telecommuting, shorter working hours, and working every other day.
Systems and Measures Relating to Work Styles
| Objective | Systems/measures | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Work style flexibility | Teleworking | A system allowing employees to work away from their place of work using information and communication equipment approved by the company |
| Work from home | A system allowing employees to work from home when they are unable to go into their place of work because they are caring for a family member or because of an injury or illness | |
| Free dress code | A provision at some locations allowing employees to wear what they choose to invigorate communication and foster a culture of working autonomously | |
| Support for parenting/care | Reduced working hours (incl. use together with flextime) | A system permitting employees to work reduced hours to enable child or other family care or based on an approved application |
| Transfer pause | A system for restricting an employee's work area for a defined period due to parenting or care provision needs | |
| Career improvement | Job group switching | A system allowing employees to try a different job group (course based on job type) to develop or enhance their career |
| Easing of restrictions on holding more than one job | Provisions permitting employees to hold more than one job for the purpose of career or skills development or in-house application of expertise acquired outside the company | |
| Official qualification incentives | A system providing for payment of incentives for acquisition of official qualifications specified by the company for the purpose of instilling certain expertise and developing human resources capable of operating outside the company | |
| Better work-life balance | Hourly units of paid leave | A system allowing employees to take up to five days of paid leave in hourly units each year |
| Recommendation of five-day consecutive leave | A measure for recommending to employees that they take around five days of consecutive paid leave with aims to improve work-life balance and to lift organizational productivity through delegation of authority | |
| Bullet train commuting (Sendai zone) | A system making it easy to commute from Sendai, an area recognized nationwide as an appealing place to live |
Improvement of Environment for Rehired Employees to Play an Active Role
We have a reemployment system that allows employees who wish to continue working after retirement to work. In fiscal 2023, we revised the system to provide fair treatment based on performance and contributions so that rehired employees can continue to fully demonstrate the knowledge, experience, and skills they have accumulated. We will continue to review our operations and systems as needed.
Additionally, we held seminars for long-established employees to introduce the experiences of alumni who are active outside the Company after retirement, and how to contribute to the workplace with their knowledge and experience even after reemployment, with more than 170 people attending during the year.
Interaction with alumni who are active outside the Company
Preventing Harassment
To prevent harassment, abuse and discrimination in the workplace, we implement training aimed at creating ethical workplaces. Harassment prevention is covered in annual compliance and CSR training (for all employees, including managers). Education about harassment prevention is also included in training for newly appointed managers.
(FY2023 new manager training targeted recipients: 60; participation: 100%)