Social
Human Resources Development
Policies and Basic Approach
At Mitsui & Co., our focus on human resources is in our DNA. One of our greatest missions is to develop our human resources through our business activities. We have identified human resource development as an aspect of our Materiality. It is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the key reasons for our existence.
The growth of each employee takes place on-the-job. Our human resource development is based on their commitment to self-realize our MVV (Mission, Vision, and Values), plus the guidance (on-the-job training) they receive from their supervisors and senior colleagues who are striving to support the growth of their irreplaceable team members.
To support and complement this development based on-the-job, our Human Resources and General Affairs Division offers off-the-job training (Off-JT). Most of this training is conducted by Mitsui & Co. HRD Institute, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Human Resources and General Affairs Division, that supports human resource development for Mitsui and its group companies. Off-JT for employees at our overseas subsidiaries and overseas affiliates is organized in concert with our overseas regional business units. Together we strive to reinforce both our policies and training for human resource development at a global group level.
Our approach towards the Medium-term Management Plan 2023 and Human Resources Management
The business environment is changing rapidly on a global scale. Mitsui & Co. has launched its Medium-term Management Plan with the aim of achieving "Transform and Grow" at a time when business is becoming increasingly diverse, sophisticated, and complex. One of the six corporate strategies formulated to drive transformation and growth is the human resource strategy with the direction to deploy diverse professionals to the right positions while developing management capabilities on a global group basis.
Goals and Targets
- Measures in the Medium-term Management Plan 2023
| Local Depth for Global Reach, Global Reach for Local Depth |
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| Diversity & Inclusion |
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| Strengthen Diverse Individuals |
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- Our in-house required English proficiency rate is 100% (TOEIC score of 800 points or BETA 4 or higher for overseas business trips, overseas work, overseas trainees, administrative staff dispatch and divisional trainees)
Sustainability Governance and Oversight
| Officer in Charge | Yoshiaki Takemasu (Representative Director, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)) |
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| Department in Charge | Human Resources & General Affairs Div. |
Human Resources Development Programs
To achieve the goal of fostering growth in human resources capable of driving "Transform & Grow" and taking on a central role in global group management, we have been implementing a wide variety of human resources development programs, including job position-oriented training, optional Programs and training for selected employees from new employees to management-level employees.
Introduction of the Global Group Talent Management System
To encourage the promotion and appointment of human resources in the Mitsui global group, we are developing a database of the experience and knowledge of the people responsible for business management of our affiliated companies in Japan and overseas in addition to employees at Mitsui & Co. (non-consolidated) or at our overseas subsidiaries.
Furthermore, we are promoting the introduction of a global talent management system to integrate and platform human resources databases and help to ensure that the right people are in the right places, and to support employees in taking the initiative in autonomously devising their own careers. We utilize visualized data to accelerate more appropriate job rotation, development, and promotion globally. We also provide information that contributes to career development, and aim to create a system that encourages each and every employee to challenge and innovate.
Deployment of Talent and Human Resource Mobilization
In order to maximize the potential of our diverse, talented professionals and organizational competitiveness, we focus on placing the right people in the right positions. Taking into account the external environment, our business portfolios and profits, we agilely transfer and position our human resources to growth domains that we have defined as targets under our management policies. We are continually implementing policies and measures of human resource allocation to accelerate our business, which has resulted in the promotion of business by diverse, talented professionals.
Every year, employees are given the opportunity to have dialogue with their line managers on the basis of the prescribed career development survey. Based on the individual employee's characteristics, expertise, operational capabilities, areas of specialty, and experience, we formulate a plan for the development and utilization of our human resources and implement appropriate and optimized personnel assignments. Also, in order for our valuable human resources to fully exert their individual capabilities, we have introduced the following human resource mobilization measures, which facilitate assignments beyond organizational boundaries.
Human Resources Bulletin Board System
This system encourages employees to take up the challenge of assignments of their choice that are beyond interorganizational boundaries. We have introduced this system to facilitate the autonomous career formation of employees and realize our policy of "placing the right people in the right positions" by matching human resource needs across business domains. If an employee wants to use his or her capabilities, skills and specialist knowledge in a business area other than the one to which he or she is currently assigned, and if it is judged that the transfer would be beneficial for both the employee concerned and the company, and would enhance the competitiveness of our human resources and organization, then a transfer will be implemented.
In the fiscal year ended March 2022, a total of 36 people were transferred via this system. Since its start in the fiscal year ended March 2000, a total of 499 people have been assigned through this system. From the fiscal year ended March 2022 we set up: a) a job posting system through which people can be recruited at any time according to company-wide management strategy and the human resources needs of individual projects, and b) a system that enables cross-organizational project participation on a concurrent post basis without transfer. From the fiscal year ending March 2023, we plan to make these individual systems available year-round, and disclose the annual recruitment schedule internally, so that the needs of organizations and individuals can be systematically matched and we can continue to use them as platforms to achieve responsive and strategic human resource allocation.
Appraisal
Mitsui and its group companies encourage employees to take on new challenges, help them enhance their individual capabilities, and inspire them to work with a high level of motivation and enthusiasm, through personnel appraisals. The objectives of conducting the appraisal process are not limited to enhancing employee understanding of Mitsui's management philosophy, or to providing input for setting compensation or assigning new positions, but also include promoting talent development through the appraisal process.
Appraisal meetings are held periodically between employees and their managers, and employees receive comprehensive feedback on their performance and specific contributions. These meetings create an effective framework for human resources/personal ability development.
The appraisal system for staff hired in Japan consists of: "Individual Competency Appraisal," and "Contribution Appraisal."
Individual Competency Appraisal assesses a person's demonstrated abilities from the perspective of the values that support our management philosophy. The total appraisal point score over three years is reflected in the individual's promotion and salary. Having cumulative points from appraisals for three years, rather than a single-year appraisal, avoids a one-time effect, and enables appropriate appraisals as to how an employee has been developing over multiple years, which is reflected in promotions. Contribution Appraisal is a system that assesses the value added to, and the degree of contribution made to the organization by the employee, as well as the degree to which the employee has taken on challenges to achieve a target. To ensure appropriate contribution appraisal, employees and their managers must engage in in-depth discussions to reach a common understanding of the established targets, so that the targets will be challenging and meet organizational strategies. These systems are revised on a regular basis, ensuring that employees are rewarded appropriately for their contributions, and employees who demonstrate a high degree of competency and achieve results are soon promoted and have the opportunity to reach more responsible positions. The systems may also be used in demotions, fostering a healthy level of alertness in the workplace.
Share-Based Compensation Plan for Employees
In August 2020 we introduced a share-based compensation plan for employees. The goals were to unite our diverse employees with management, continue to implement "Transform and Grow" in the Medium-term Management Plan 2023, and strengthen our commitment to increasing corporate value in the medium and long term. This compensation system covers some 5,000 employees who have been with us for longer than four years. The system grants point to each employee each fiscal year. Employees who meet certain requirements are given Company shares according to their cumulative number of points at the time of their retirement. We aim to create new value that will contribute to the development of a sustainable society and further improve employee engagement by appropriately rewarding each employee's efforts and encouraging the changing of employee awareness and behavior toward improving corporate value over the medium to long term.
Initiatives
Human Resources Development Programs
Human Resources Training Programs in Japan and the Number of Participants/Dispatched Employees
Please scroll horizontally to look at table below.
(Unit: persons)
| Category | Training Programs | Outline | Number of participants FY Mar/2022 (total number of people examined) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job position-oriented training | Management Training Program, New Line Manager Program, Leadership Program, WLI (Women Leadership Initiatives) | The aim of these programs is to foster human resources capable of global group management. Participants acquire knowledge that includes our management philosophy, business skills according to job position, and business mindset. | 2,543 |
| Onboarding, Initial training | New Hire Induction Training, Mid career Hire Induction Training, Initial training, MM leader training, etc. | To onboard and prepare new hires and career employees for active participation in the company, we train them in management principles, different business skills and mindsets, etc., as well as train the trainers. | 1,285 |
| Bussan Academy Program | Marketing, Management Strategy, Finance, Logical Thinking · Mindset, Communication, Philosophy · History etc | A selectable training program in which participants can select the program they need from a menu of various fields. Professional training programs with the aim of increasing participants' specialist knowledge in various fields. |
1,866 |
| Objective-based Programs for Senior Employees | Career Design Program, Senior career seminars, Retirement Life Plan Program | Training programs for senior employees, which are designed to support them in autonomously devising the direction of their career and to adapt to the change of environment and their roles. | 434 |
| Grade or Objective-based Training Programs | Project Manager Development Program, Inter-industry Exchange Training Programs, MOC (Mitsui Open College), GM One-on-One Training at Head Office and offices in Japan | Various training is offered, such as MOC (Mitsui Open College) that considers decision-making through case studies of specific projects that we have been involved in. Other aspects include project management training in which participants acquire skills and mindsets necessary for project management through action learning, etc. based on their own projects. There are also inter-industry exchanges to help employees understand different corporate cultures, expand their horizons, and network. | 15,927 |
Global Training Programs
The Mitsui & Co. global group has numerous global training programs that are designed to enable employees to manage business on a global basis.
At the Mitsui Head Office, we offer an overseas dispatch program for young employees, which includes the Foreign Language & Business Culture Trainee program (FLBCT) for developing regional specialists by learning about local societies, cultures, and languages completely away from work for a year, and the Overseas Trainee Program (OTP) designed to enhance expertise. We also provide the Business School Program for mid-level employees, and the Administrative Staff Overseas Training Program.
In addition, with the aim of fostering leaders who will take on a central role in next-generation global business management, we launched a unique program called the Harvard Business School Global Management Academy Program (GMA) in 2011, in partnership with Harvard Business School. Through its hands-on, case study-oriented lectures, diverse participants, which include not only Mitsui & Co. global group employees but also employees of our overseas business partners, learn about leadership and innovation by competing with and helping each other to improve.
For management-level employees, we also offer Executive Education, which is a short-term business school program conducted at first-class business schools in Europe and the U.S.
Number of Participants in the Global Training Programs (in the Fiscal Year Ended March 2022) 104 Trainees in 23 Countries
* 159 Trainees in 32 countries in FY Mar/2020 before COVID-19.
Development of Human Resources Capable of Global Group Management
We focus on the development of human resources capable of taking responsibility for global group management, which is a key pillar of Mitsui's consolidated management.
In order to provide support for human resources development at each group company in Japan, and to build human networks, we provide grade-based training through such courses as the General Manager Training Program, Department Manager Training Program, and New Hire Induction Training Program, as well as optional training programs, such as the Bussan Academy programs.
In addition to the various training programs held at overseas offices and other locations, we offer employees of our overseas subsidiaries well-developed programs of both short-term and medium- to long-term training at the Mitsui Head Office. Short-term programs include the JTP (Japan Trainee Program), which is offered in the first few years after joining the company, and an optional training focused on leadership for employees in management positions. Medium- to long-term programs are held for a period of one to three years, and include the LBP (Japan Language and Business Program), which provides Japanese language lessons and practical business training, and the BIP (Business Integration Program), which provides practical business training. (*Some programs have been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
Diversity: Development and Promotion of Regionally Hired Staff
Mitsui Management Review (MMR)
Mitsui Management Review (MMR), is conducted annually for employees responsible for global group management to help them gain a 360° multi-faceted perspective on their management. The program is used as an opportunity to receive feedback from subordinates, supervisors, and co-workers, to gain insights by reflecting on their own management skills, to strengthen their leadership capabilities and create an organization that leverages the strengths of diverse individuals in the organization, leading to the development of leaders that are attuned to the times. The results of the MMR are also provided to supervisors and used as a reference for human resource development and for the appointment of line managers.
Initiatives at Company Dormitories
Mitsui has been maintaining employee dormitories for many years. Not just to offer secure, comfortable living environments to young employees, we also hope to help them build networks with other employees in the company.
When dormitory residents learn from their seniors/juniors and colleagues in the dormitory, and share in friendly rivalries, it encourages their self-sustaining growth. We believe that personal networks crossing organizational boundaries built at dormitories, as well as everyday life itself and the sense of community from living there, will become invaluable assets for their future and we encourage new graduates hired by the company in particular to make use of our dormitories.
At present, approximately 300 employees, mostly young employees who have been with Mitsui less than three years, reside in three dormitories located in the suburbs of Tokyo. Welcome parties for newcomers, social dinners and other events as well as everyday life at each dormitory help to deepen communication among employees along vertical, horizontal, and diagonal axes.
Because dormitory residents include regionally hired staff who stay in Japan for long periods to participate in training programs at the Tokyo Head Office, the dormitories are also widely used for global networking among employees.
Strengthening Employee Engagement on a Global Group Basis
We have been conducting the Mitsui Engagement Survey since 2018 as a way of building our organizational strength through the enhancement of employee motivation.
In 2021, in addition to Mitsui & Co. (non-consolidated) and our overseas subsidiaries, 22 affiliated companies in Japan and overseas also participated in the event which was for approximately 12,000 global group employees.
Overall results from the Mitsui Engagement Survey 2021 on a global basis Global response rate: 89%
Percentage of employees who gave positive responses to related questions.
"Employee engagement*"
71%
* Willingness to contribute to the company and loyalty, willingness to make voluntary efforts
(Results are only for Mitsui & Co. Head Office, domestic branch offices, and overseas subsidiaries)
