President and Representative Director
We at Mitsui Kinzoku Group have established our management philosophy as "With creativity and productivity, We, Mitsui Kinzoku Group, will explore products of value to society, and seek an eternal growth of our group" and to achieve this, innovation is indispensable. Recognizing that human resources, as the source of innovation, are the most important management resource, we promote diversity and inclusion as our management strategy to allow the engagement of diverse people and continued improvement of our corporate value.
There are more than 13,000 employees working for Mitsui Kinzoku group around the world. In this age of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), where the environment surrounding us can change drastically, in order to be able to respond flexibly to those changes, personnel with diverse values are needed. We seek to embrace diversity of race, nationality, religion, creed, culture, birthplace, disability, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. At the same time, we aim to create a workplace where all members of staff respect the diverse values of their colleagues and where they can put their varied opinions and experiences to use. In short, we seek to create a diverse and inclusive workplace.
As I'm sure you're all aware, diversity and inclusion coincide with a fundamental principle of the SDGs: "Leave no one behind." We also recognize that this is a globally shared issue, and at the same time, indispensable for our sustainability. At the core of this recognition, is identifying diversity as one of the initiatives supporting the progress of Mitsui Kinzoku Group's materiality, and we are making efforts to best use the varied skills, attributes and values of employees. We are promoting the active involvement of female employees, an area where Japan is lagging many other countries, and establishing systems that give members of our diverse workforce choices about how they work.
To enact innovation in this constantly evolving society where globalization has spread, each and every employee must understand about diversity and inclusion and embrace the values and experience that each has.
To realize our goal of becoming a company that embraces diversity such that all employees can energetically engage in their work, we continue to deepen and accelerate our initiatives.
Management System
In October 2021, we established the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office dedicated to deepening and accelerating ongoing group-wide initiatives. In June 2022, we also kicked off the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee chaired by the President. An outside director also participates as an advisor to this committee.
The committee regularly discuss and decide policies and measures, managing its progress. The issues and initiatives of the committee are reported to the Board of Directors to facilitate the continued implementation of initiatives in accordance with the Management Policy as well as ensure the establishment and permeation of measures.
Diverse Employees
Action Plan
Mitsui Kinzoku has established and announced an action plan based on the Law for Promoting Women's Success and the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children. In this action plan, we are setting goals, mainly for improving the ratio of female management, percentage of employees taking leave to care for a spouse after giving birth, and the ratio of females hired among the total number of new employees hired.
We take various measures to achieve these goals, including, efforts to equalize the ratio of female hires in each job category, promoting male employees to take childcare leave, and raising awareness of promotion of diversity throughout the company. Owing to the praise received for these activities, in October 2023 we acquired the second tier of the “Eruboshi” certification mark.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Companies Promoting Women’s Advancement database
[only available in Japanese]
Active Involvement of Female Employees
Diversity on the Board
Promoting diverse people to decision-making positions is crucial in terms of making the most of diverse thinking and values. Based on this recognition, we focus first on female employees and have set a target to increase the share of female directors to 10% or more.
Developing female executives and managers
As for employees whose ability to work is temporarily constrained due to life events or other reasons, we ensure merit-based appointment and promotion. We are also making efforts to increase female candidates for executive and managerial roles, such as providing a management strategy course for female executive candidates and candidate training program for female manager candidates.
Extension of Retirement Age
Mitsui Kinzoku raised its retirement age to 65 in FY2021. We have rehired employees after the age of 60 in principle in accordance with the Law Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons in order to pass on skills and knowledge. We will continue to create an environment where veteran employees can make the most of their strengths and prepare for employment after the age of 65 according to trends in laws and regulations.
Training for National Staff
Many of the training programs offered by Mitsui Kinzoku in Japan are open to all Mitsui Kinzoku Group employees, including national staff (employees of overseas affiliates) in each country, regardless of nationality or work location.
Through these training programs, a sense of unity is fostered through the gathering of diverse human resources in the same learning environment, and employees acquire the latest information on Mitsui Kinzoku Group, as well as the specialized knowledge and management skills required for their work. In this way, we are trying to improve the knowledge and skill level of all employees in our group. Participants in the training have responded with comments such as, "I was able to understand the diversity of views in other country," " I got inspiration from others," and "I realized diversity. "
China Next Leader Development Project
We have many sites and a large number of employees in China. In FY2021, we launched the "China Next Leader Development Project" organized by Mitsui Kinzoku (Shanghai) Management Co., Ltd.
We aim to upskill employees in China, and to develop systematic human resource development and next-generation leaders, which had not been fully implemented at overseas site. The training program is selective for mid-career employees and offers a wide range of programs including logical thinking, management, and strategic thinking skills as well as information sharing within the Group.
Participants in the training have responded with comments such as, “I felt proud to be part of the Group,” “It has been more than 10 years since I joined the Group, but for the first time I realized that there are so many sites in China and that a wide range of businesses are operated here. I made connections with staffs from other sites and received good stimulation from them,” “ I became deeply aware of the high expectations of the company as a national staff.”
Employment of People with Disabilities
Mitsui Kinzoku promotes employing people with disabilities, cooperating with public organizations such as Hello Work (public employment security office) in each region. We strives to expand job fields and improve the workplace environment for people with disabilities.
Workplace for people with disabilities "Laundry Center Raccoon” at Asamuta Plant in the Miike area in Omuta, Fukuoka
Support for each life stage
Support for Balancing Work with Child/Nursing Care
Mitsui Kinzoku is developing various systems to support the balancing of work with child/nursing care.
We provide longer childcare leave than the statutory period and a short-time work system, as well as relaxed or expanded the requirements for childcare leave. In order to support the balance between nursing care and work, we have introduced paid nursing care leave that can be taken for a day, half a day, or by the hour.
In addition, we have introduced a telework system at some offices which allows employees to freely choose a workplace, such as their home. After the COVID-19 outbreak, employees at the Tokyo Head Office and the Osaka Office have started working from home as much as possible. After the COVID-19 outbreak, employees at the Tokyo Head Office and the Osaka Office have started working from home and continue to have the option to telework. The telework system allows for a variety of flexible work styles, making it easier to balance work with childcare, nursing care, and medical treatment, and is expected to improve the work-life balance.
Leave and return system
Mitsui Kinzoku has introduced a “leave system for spouse's relocation” and a “comeback system” to enable employees to flexibly design their lives according to their life stages and realize their long-term success. The former system allows employees to take a leave of absence for up to three years if they are unable to continue their work due to relocation accompanying their spouse's transfer.
The latter is a system in which employees who have resigned after notifying the company of their intention to use this system due to unavoidable circumstances such as nursing care can be hired again as employees within a certain period of time after resignation, after passing interviews and other necessary processes.
Diversity Training
Mitsui Kinzoku provides diversity training programs for employees at each rank. In order to enhance the competence to understand and utilize diversity as a required common ability for employees, we offer not only lecture-style group training but also various video programs as a cafeteria-type training.
Unconscious Bias Training (for non-managers)
Mitsui Kinzoku conducts Diversity Management Training as a mandatory program for managers. In the training, participants deepen their understanding of the impact of unconscious bias on their respective workplaces and develop management skills required to create a workplace where diverse human resources can play an active role and to strengthen the organization.Unconscious Bias Training (for non-managers)
Mitsui Kinzoku offers Unconscious Bias Training as a mandatory program for non-managers. Unconscious bias is a "biased way of thinking" that everyone unconsciously has. Through awareness of this fact, we are fostering a culture that respects the individual, which is the foundation for promoting diversity.
Diversity Management Training (for managers)
Mitsui Kinzoku conducts Diversity Management Training as a mandatory program for managers. In the training, participants deepen their understanding of the impact of unconscious bias on their respective workplaces and develop management skills required to create a highly engaged workplace where diverse human resources can play an active role and to strengthen our organizational power by enhancing psychological safety within our organization and improving the quality of employee relationships.
Unconscious Bias Training at Tokyo Training Center
We are implementing harassment prevention training as a basic skill (required program) for management-level employees to create a harassment-free workplace where diverse human resources can take an active role. The purpose of this training is for employees to gain a deeper understanding of what it is to have a correct understanding of harassment and harassment prevention measures.
At Mitsui Kinzoku, we raised our goal for the percentage of male employees taking childcare leave to 30% by 2024. We are creating a workplace that facilitates the acquisition of childcare leave by making the work-life balance support system common knowledge through the use of an original guidebook, explanatory videos and posters, and the introduction of case studies.
In addition, we are carrying out D&I workshops (male employee childcare leave version) for managers and supervisors with the objective of getting each division to consider suggestions for measures to address factors hindering an understanding of necessity and acquisition of childcare leave by male employees.(Conducted in a site in Japan in FY2022)
From FY2022, we have been implementing a meet and greet for female employees to exchange opinions to foster horizontal connections between employees that cross divisions.
At these meet and greets to exchange opinions, workshops are hosted with the objective of promoting an understanding of empowerment of female employees, which is being undertaken at the Mitsui Kinzoku Group, as well as informal social gatherings to create opportunities for future exchanges by having female employees get to know one another.