Employee satisfaction

Under the supervision of the Corporate Education Promotion Committee, each Education Promotion Committee individually established for Domestic Operations, International Operations, the Tsuchiura Works and Head Office takes education-related measures. Each Committee also conducts educational measures for group companies relevant to its responsibility.

Our educational system includes hierarchal and functional education courses as well as selective and optional education courses. Hierarchal education is to master the capabilities and minds required for each hierarchy from the newly employed to management, and our Career Development Center carries it out for all the employees of our group. Functional education is for mastering the functional capabilities required for sales, service, production and development respectively. With the aim of further enhancing these trainings, the newly constructed Kasumigaura Institute became operational on April 1, 2007. The training provided at the center, which consists of classrooms, a factory for training, and accommodation, ranges from skill training for new recruits to training to raise future managers. Trainees from the outside of Japan also receive training here.

In order to nurture corporate culture where each individual define what he or she should do by setting goals for each year and voluntarily taking actions to achieve them, We have introduced an objectives management system. In implementing the system, the "3C interview", where a senior manager performs for supervisors or lower subordinates that he or she manages, plays the key role. The meaning of "3C" is "Challenge Program" for objectives management, "Career Development Report" to analyze functional accomplishment capabilities of employees and to clarify capability development targets, and "Communication Sheet" in which subordinates ask for advice and pose questions. At the 3C interview, these three tools are used for promoting communication between the senior manager and his subordinate and for setting up the yearly targets and career development plan tailored for the subordinate. Moreover, we consider that communication with senior managers is a condition indispensable for building a comfortable workplace.

We have introduced many kinds of systems such as

1. maternity leave

2. maternity leave for spouses

3. a temporary retirement scheme for employees raising children

4. a shorter working hour scheme

5. a temporary retirement scheme for providing nursing assistance

6. a scheme for leave to provide nursing assistance to family members

to support the balance of work and family.