Basic Concept
The Nisshinbo Group views diversity as a source of innovation and strives to enhance corporate value by leveraging its strengths in diversity of people and diversity of values. The Group promotes reforms in the way everyone works so that the Nisshinbo Group can respect diversity and utilize the individuality and abilities of each employee to improve productivity, make work rewarding, and enable employees to continue to play an active role, which will in turn lead to a strong competitive edge.
Promotion System
Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. reorganized its organizational structure in April 2025 to establish a Managing Officer system for each functional division with the aim of building and overseeing a structure that would lead to urgent change. Talent & D&I Development Department has been established with three groups (Human Resources Development Group, Diversity & Inclusion Promotion Group, and Human Resources and General Affairs Group) under its jurisdiction. In addition to monthly Human Resources Responsibility Officer (HRO) meetings, the company convenes two annual meetings bringing together human resources personnel from all group companies nationwide (Group Human Resources Policy Meeting and Group Human Resources Strategy Meeting) to discuss cross-functional human resources policies and challenges.
The president of the Nisshinbo Group, who is the chief executive officer of the Group, conducts management reviews at the annual Board of Management* and receives progress reports from the Managing Officers in charge of the Talent & D&I Development Department with regard to the group's initiatives. Based on these reports, the president issues instructions on the matters necessary for management. Special items are reported to the Board of Directors as appropriate.
* The Board of Management: Executive conference consisting of Directors, Executive officers, etc.
Please refer to "Promotion System for Sustainability Activity" for details regarding the organizational structure for promoting sustainability.
Specific Initiatives of the Nisshinbo Group
5th Sustainability Promotion Plan (to be achieved by FY2024)
In the 5th Sustainability Promotion Plan with FY2024 as the target year, the Nisshinbo Group set the following two items as targets and KPIs to promote diversity as a priority activity and achieve the goals of creating a comfortable workplace environment for employees.
- ① Rate of taking annual paid leave, 70% or more.
- ② Rate of male employees taking childcare leave, 30% or more of eligible male employees.
As a result of the efforts to promote diverse work styles and prevent long working hours and excessive workloads through the PDCA cycle, Nisshinbo has been made progress in its activities. In 2024 (single year), the status of Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. was as follows: ① Annual paid leave utilization rate: 64.9%; ② No male employees took childcare leave.
6th Sustainability Promotion Plan (to be achieved by FY2027)
In the 6th Sustainability Promotion Plan, which targets FY2027, the Nisshinbo Group will continue to focus on promoting diversity as a priority activity. To achieve the goal of creating a comfortable workplace environment for employees, Nisshinbo will promote the creation of a more comfortable and rewarding work environment with the following goals.
- Rate of male employees taking childcare leave, 100% of eligible male employees.
Please refer to "Sustainability Promotion Plan and KPIs" for details regarding of the "Sustainability Promotion Plan."
Promoting Diverse Work Styles
Various systems for working styles suited to different stages of life
Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. has established various systems to enable employees with diverse backgrounds to work productively and energetically, we also have a teleworking system, staggered work hours, flextime system, and hourly paid annual leave.
In addition, the following systems are in place to support work styles suited to different life stages.
Promoting Male Employees to Take Childcare Leave
In addition, Nisshinbo Group is working to create a corporate culture that encourages employees to take childcare leave regardless of gender by providing individual information on childcare leave and various in-house systems to male employees who are expecting a child.
In accordance with the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children, Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. formulated the General Business Owner Action Plan to create an environment in which employees can exercise their abilities and continue working while maintaining a good balance between work and private life and thus created an environment that facilitates male employees taking childcare leave.
Please refer to "Commitment to Initiatives" for details regarding of Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children-General Action Plan.
Assisting Workers in Balancing Work and Nursing Care
The Nisshinbo Group is focusing on supporting work-life balance for caregivers. In 2024, the Group will sponsor seminars on caregiving for all managers at all group companies in Japan and will offer optional seminars for other employees. Through such awareness-raising activities and the establishment of various systems, the Group will continue to support work-life balance for caregivers.
Nisshinbo aims to create an organization where diverse talents can fully utilize their skills and abilities and thrive. To achieve this, the Company will remove barriers one by one and work to create an environment where everyone can work comfortably. Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. and other group companies are promoting initiatives to support the balancing of work and nursing care.
Please refer to "Commitment to Initiatives" for details regarding of assisting workers in balancing work and nursing care.
Prevention of Long Working Hours and Overwork
To prevent long working hours, the Nisshinbo Group manages the status of overtime work through the department in charge of personnel affairs and the Health Committee. In order to improve operational efficiency, the Group is reviewing operations to eliminate unnecessary work and leveling operations to avoid concentration of work on specific persons.
In addition, in accordance with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Guidelines on Measures Employers Should Take to Ensure Proper Understanding of Working Hours, Nisshinbo strives to manage working hours properly by checking objective records, such as time cards, IC cards, and PC log data, to determine employee working hours.
Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. conducts periodic reviews of the labor management status at all group companies to support their efforts to comply with labor laws and to manage working hours appropriately.
Specific Activities of the Group Companies
Childcare and nursing care support, benefits during medical treatment
HYS Engineering Service Inc. operates the following four systems to support childcare and nursing care as well as medical treatment.
- ① Childcare and work balance support allowance (up to 50,000 yen per child per year)
- ② Nursing care leave allowance (up to 300,000 yen per month)
- ③ Medical treatment allowance (up to 60% of standard daily remuneration per day)
- ④ Infertility Treatment Leave (up to 60% of wages paid)
In FY2024, ② and ④ were not utilized since no employees took leave under these programs, while ① was utilized by 12 employees and ③by 4 employees.
The Childcare and Work Balance Support Grant (①) is provided from the perspective of fostering the next generation and to reimburse the actual expenses incurred by company employees who are dual-income or single parents for childcare-related costs (such as childcare facility fees) while working. This benefit is available for children up to the third grade of elementary school.
③Sickness and injury allowance is provided to employees who have taken leave for a personal illness or injury to support their livelihood. The allowance is paid even after the health insurance association's sickness allowance has been exhausted and can be received until the end of the leave period, which is three years from the start of the leave. This helps alleviate financial concerns and allows employees to focus on treatment.
Participated in a cancer seminar featuring cancer survivors
HYS Engineering Service Inc. participated in online training organized by Hitachi Insurance Services Ltd., which is the insurance agency for the company's insurance plans.
In July 2024, the seminar "Cancer Seminar: Young and Working-Age Individuals with Cancer – Employment and Financial Matters" was held, where speakers shared their experiences with cancer, including balancing work and treatment, financial considerations, and living with side effects. Additionally, in November 2024, the seminar titled "Cancer Seminar: Living, Working, and Sharing My Experience with Cancer – After Having Both Breasts Removed" was held. This event featured presentations not only on the experiences of employees who became patients but also on the challenges faced by family members and those supporting patients. Approximately 30 employees participated in both seminars combined.
Introduction of the Green Area
Kokusai Denki Electric Linear S/A in Brazil introduced the Green Area. The Green Area is a special multipurpose area where employees can spend free time, such as lunch or coffee breaks. This area is used for company events and social events (such as carnival, Easter, and June festivals, which are seasonal events in Brazil).
Since its launch, this initiative received positive feedback from employees with reports of enhanced communication between teams, increased productivity, and a stronger sense of belonging. High participation rates in events further strengthened the collaborative relationships among employees in their work.
Efforts to create an open workplace environment
Nisshinbo Mechatronics Inc. convenes regular meetings of the Organizational Culture Improvement Committee, which is mainly composed of young employees, to promote efforts to create an open workplace environment.
Committee members take the lead in gathering feedback from employees, identifying key issues, and determining appropriate measures to address the identified issues. For example, the company launched a greeting campaign to promote communication and held informal discussions with department heads to exchange opinions.
Concurrently, management holds discussions on improving the organizational culture and then establishes action guidelines for managers to follow. These guidelines include promoting understanding of company policies and ensuring an environment where employees can freely express their opinions. Additionally, the president increases opportunities to directly communicate company policies and other matters to employees.
Nisshinbo Mechatronics will continue its efforts to create an even more open workplace environment.
Creating a comfortable workplace environment
Nisshinbo Chemical Inc. is implementing cultural reform activities to create a workplace environment where diverse employees can work comfortably. Across the entire company, Nisshinbo Chemical Inc. is promoting the creation of an open workplace through video learning programs on team building and open discussions between management, including the president, and employees.
In addition, each business site is implementing its own activities. At the Asahi Business Site, the company is conducting a Thank You Campaign, Employee-Manager Exchange Meetings, and Open Discussions with Section Chiefs.
The Thank You Campaign sets aside a month for employees to consciously express their gratitude to others with the aim of fostering a culture of gratitude that increases happiness, reduces stress, and improvesnterpersonal relationships.
Participation in Fujieda City's Creating a Comfortable Workplace Environment Certification Program
The Fujieda Plant of Nisshinbo Textile Inc., together with Nanbu Plastics Co., Ltd., received certification as a Comfortable Workplace Environment from Fujieda City in July 2024.
Fujieda City has been working to create work-friendly workplaces since fiscal 2023 and certifies businesses within the city on the basis of the following four criteria.
- ① Efforts to improve the workplace environment
Improvements to office environments and vacation leave systems exceeding legal requirements - ② Initiatives to promote work-style reform
Efforts to reduce overtime and promote the use of vacation leave - ③ Initiatives to promote the active participation of diverse talent
Childcare and eldercare leave and the employment of persons with disabilities - ④ Initiatives to promote health management
Initiatives related to employee health management
In addition to meeting the above criteria, the company established a system to facilitate the submission of employee opinions and requests through regular meetings with the labor union branch and the installation of suggestion boxes in rest areas, and the company responds promptly to those that are feasible.
