Fostering a culture that empowers individuals
(Work Environment)
Basic Policy
We believe that creating an environment where diverse individuals respect each other’s uniqueness, and can grow and thrive by leveraging their strengths, is the foundation for sustainable corporate growth. To enable each employee to resonate with our corporate philosophy and Corporate Vision, and to act independently based on mutual trust with the organization, we are advancing reforms through both systems and workplace culture, with a dual focus on enhancing engagement and deepening Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I).
Employee Systems Encouraging a Challenge Mentality
Aiming for an organization where individual employees are able to initiate new value creation, Alps Alpine works to foster a corporate culture that encourages personal growth and a challenge mentality. Central to that are the company’s personnel systems, specifically a role-based grading system and an evaluation system that places emphasis on ambitious activities and achievements. This framework clarifies what is expected of employees—regular employees through to managers—in their respective roles, enabling fair and understandable evaluations, and supports early identification of outstanding talent and development of diverse career paths.
Even after introducing these systems, we have continued to evaluate and improve their implementation as we strive for an environment that supports employees embracing new challenges. By flexibly accommodating changes within society and different working styles, Alps Alpine will continue down its path as a company that grows alongside employees.
Clarifying How Roles Relate to the Corporate Vision
Dialogue on Philosophy and the Corporate Vision with Senior Management
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
Workplace Provisions Encouraging Employee Initiative and Ambition
Active Use of Internal Job Posting
Alps Alpine places importance on eliciting the best from employees in terms of both motivation and ability. For that reason, we have introduced an internal job posting system to promote the creation of workplaces allowing employees to take on new challenges and the placement of human resources in positions best suited to them, unrestricted by organizational boundaries.
In fiscal 2024, 41 employees seized opportunities to further their envisaged career paths by using the internal job posting system to sign up for training or be matched to new duties. The system was also used to post jobs directed at rehired employees and employees with managerial experience. Alps Alpine is promoting a culture that enables human resources from diverse backgrounds to test their potential.
Establishment of Career Counseling Office
In 2024, a career counseling office was established to help create an environment encouraging employees to take the initiative regarding their own careers and progress to the next step. Nationally certified employees serve as career consultants on a wide range of themes, including career planning, skills development, improvements to the work environment, and concerns about work roles and duties.
Initiatives to Enhance Engagement
Until now, the Alps Alpine Workers Association, a representative employee organization, has conducted a General Attitude Survey every three years and has worked with management to resolve issues. Starting in FY2024, the Company has taken the lead in conducting an annual Employee Engagement Survey targeting all domestic employees. In the initial survey conducted in June 2024, items such as “Goal Setting,” “Working Conditions,” and “Various Systems” received high scores, and showed a strong correlation with the “Valuing Our People” category, highlighting the Company’s unique strengths. On the other hand, the survey revealed a clear issue: the corporate philosophy had limited influence on work-related items, indicating a disconnect between daily operations and the philosophy. In response, we are focusing on initiatives that clearly communicate management policies and emphasize dialogue with supervisors, so that each employee can take ownership in creating business plans and setting goals.
We also aim to improve results in the next Employee Engagement Survey by encouraging employee participation in the Vision 2035 development project and holding regular town hall meetings where the president speaks directly with general employees. The Vision 2035 project and town hall meetings are being conducted globally, involving all of our locations worldwide.
FY2024 Employee Engagement Survey Results
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 | |
| Four-day weeks | A system allowing employees to work only four days a week 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 |
Enabling Employees to Thrive Regardless of Age
Alps Alpine is working to expand its system allowing employees to continue working even after reaching retirement age. In fiscal 2024, we expanded the work options available to employees aged 65 and above and extended the age limit for employment by rehiring from 65 to 70.
As of September 2025, Alps Alpine has 60 employees over 65, including 28 people employed under service contracts through the rehiring program introduced in fiscal 2021. Compensation has been improved by raising the basic salary to the same level as regular employees and expanding relocation expense allowances. The system is operated and reviewed as required to allow experienced employees to fully apply the knowledge, experience, and skills they have accumulated over the years.
One additional initiative was the holding of a panel discussion involving employees who had taken advantage of the rehiring program. Held during the DE&I Expo, an in-house event, the discussion was an opportunity to gain insight about how to thrive in the workplace after reaching retirement age.
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.
(FY2024 new manager training targeted recipients: 55; participation: 100%)