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Maintaining and Enhancing Employee Skills and MotivationMaintaining and Enhancing Employee Skills and Motivation

Basic Approach to Employee Development

Kagome recognizes that the growth of individual employees and the development of the company are strongly linked. Based on this recognition, we maintain systems that elicit their abilities to the fullest and place the right person in the right position while listening to the opinions of our employees. We also work to foster a corporate culture that encourages an abundance of individual initiatives.
As part of these efforts, we promote our Independent Career Plan to help employees develop their careers at their own volition.

Human Resource Development Policy

We implement customizable human resource development that involves the effective monitoring of individual employees' strengths and weaknesses and gives due weight to their capabilities and aspirations. We implement this by taking stock of individuals' capabilities and the extent to which these capabilities are being utilized, by increasing opportunities for the assessment of individual capability development, and by putting in place initiatives for human resource development that integrate the evaluation system with employee assignment.
The aim of these measures is to create a large group of human resources who are capable of competing effectively in the marketplace. This means a large number of human resources who have: willingness to work hard to achieve self-actualization and contribute to Kagome's growth by selecting what to learn based on their own preferences and responsibilities; capabilities combining a high level of business literacy (in light of contemporary norms) and expertise and general business skills that Kagome employees are expected to have; and a spirit with which they obtain deep knowledge of Kagome (love Kagome) and maintain an open-minded attitude toward both internal and external people.

Achieving Autonomous Career Planning

Kagome respects the concept of "autonomy," in which employees take the initiative and think and act on their own, and has established various systems to support each and every employee to realize their own vision for the future.

Main mechanisms that support employees to realize their own vision for the future

●Self-assessment system (targeting all employees annually)
Initiatives on medium to long-term career plans and skills development are shared among supervisors and subordinates in this system, which is used in human resources development. Interviews with direct supervisors are conducted based on comments from the company (business site manager, direct supervisor) on the content of self-assessment for the career development of individual employees.
●Mid-career transfer request system and internal recruiting system (interested applicants only)
A system that increases the chance for an employee to land a position they desire through self nomination
●Self-directed education and training
Education and training offering supportive skills development based on the needs of each employee
●Career training and career counseling
Providing opportunities to develop one's own career autonomously

Skills Building through Education and Training

Valuing respect for people, Kagome has put into place a number of measures for human resources development recognizing them as a stepping stone to individual employee growth.

  • ●We have established assessment opportunities for employees to recognize the need for skills development by taking inventory of their own skill set and skill level objectively using outside perspectives.
  • ●We have established an environment for self-led learning by organizing elective business skills training programs that openly recruit employees to participate irrespective of job position or grade.
  • ●We have established opportunities for group training including for new hires, recognizing the need to lay the groundwork to autonomous learning in younger employees from their first to third years.
  • ●We conduct training by age groups as an opportunity for self-reflection and to support their future career pathways.
  • ●We regularly hold training for managers and officers to enhance their management skills.
  • ●For job type-specific training, each division (sales, production and purchasing, and research, etc.) designs and implements their own training programs to support their people to master specialist skills.

Reference: Training and education programs organized by the Human Resources Department in 2021 (January to December)
·Training for new hires (approx. 1.5 months)
·Follow-up training for new hires (3 days)
·Second and third year training (2 days each)
·Training for openly recruited positions for networking with other industries (3 days)
·Training for promotion assessments
·Training for newly appointed managers
·Career training (for employees in their 30s and 40s)(2 days each)
·Life plan training for 50-year-olds (1 day)
·Elective business skills training for all employees (voluntary) (monthly),
etc.

Career Counseling Hotline

In order to realize autonomous career planning, we provide career counseling as a way to support self-resolution by aiding in the matching of contribution to the organization with one's own job satisfaction through career development, career counseling, and consultation on worries. The Human Resources Department serves as the point of contact and counseling is provided in-house by several holders of the national career consultant qualification.

Annual and Semi-Annual Target Setting and Fair Evaluation and Treatment

Kagome aims to build an personnel evaluation system that leads to a corporate culture where "hard work is rewarded" by creating a healthy sense of competition and increasing motivation among employees. Toward this end, we have introduced a target management system for all career tracks. In order to achieve the company's management plan, this system sets specific and clear targets after linking individual with organizational targets. The semi-annual and annual targets of each employee are made available to all employees on the company intranet so that they can be used to promote understanding of issues and targets other than their own organization and to develop individual careers.

Targets set at the beginning of the fiscal year are regularly checked by supervisors and subordinates and evaluated according to the degree of achievement. In sessions to confirm the degree of target achievement, supervisor and subordinate review the results of work and processes, and discuss work issues and human resources development for the next fiscal year. The concept and method of evaluation are described in detail in the "Personnel System Handbook," which is shared with all employees on the company intranet.

Survey on State of Personnel Evaluation System

As part of personnel evaluation system, we regularly conduct a survey of its implementation once every six months. We believe that the personnel evaluation system enhances understanding and achieves its original purpose of human resources development through the steady execution of evaluation procedures, such as sessions and interviews. The purpose is to regularly check whether the personnel evaluation system is being implemented properly through a survey targeting all employees and to improve it. Specifically, at the time of finalizing the critique for the previous year and setting targets for the coming year, answers are given regarding on the implementation of sessions or interviews along with employees' acceptance of the evaluation. The results are communicated and shared with all employees through an internal circular.

Employee Commendations

Kagome has established various awards for employees in an effort to maintain and improve employee motivation.

Main employee commendations

●Service recognition system (10 years, 20 years and 30 years)
Commendation system that recognizes employees with continuous years of service in increments of 10 years.
●Invention commendation system
Commendation system for employees who create inventions, make improvements, and propose ingenuity or ideas beneficial to their work
●Special commendation system
Award system for employees who are disciplined, technically excellent, enthusiastic about their work, and who serve as role models for other employees, and who have made particularly meritorious contributions to the prevention of disasters or when a disaster occurs.
●President's Award
System to recognize innovative and challenging initiatives and achievements at the individual, team, and group levels
●Best practice award for labor productivity
System to internally announce and commend efforts and achievements for improving productivity at the team and group levels

Second Job Scheme

Kagome believes that "work style reform" will lead to "lifestyle reform" for employees. We permit each employee to use the disposable time generated from improvements in their own work style to pursue a second job. Through these second jobs, we expect our employees to build independent careers and to apply their learning and experience outside the company to their work at Kagome.



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