Society

TOPSustainabilitySociety(Initiatives for the Workplace Environment)

Related SDGs

We are working to create ideal workplace environments and promote human resources development to allow all members of “Team JCR” to reach their full potential, while engaging in a wide range of activities for society.

Initiatives for the Workplace Environment

Basic Concept

In an aim to realize its Mid- to Long-Term Management Vision “Toward 2030,” JCR is working to create a workplace environment where richly diverse employees can shine and to promote human resources development based on a common understanding that the source of its value lies in “Team JCR.” With a view toward global business expansion, it is strengthening development and employment of next-generation leaders, and accelerating the “REVOLUTION” aimed at rearranging the Company into an active organization.

Main Initiatives for Human Resource Management

Global personnel development
  • Formulation of human resources planning and implementation of management systems to achieve personnel hiring and a human resource system in anticipation of the future
  • Enhance the training system to support growth including improvements to employees’ practical abilitiesand language abilities, with emphasis placed on their autonomy
  • Develop next-generation leaders with the skills that will enable them to thrive on a global stage
Diversity and inclusion
  • Create a corporate culture that utilizes the individual abilities of richly diverse employees
  • Promote the creation of a workplace where employees can thrive regardless of gender
  • Enhance initiatives for career support of persons with disabilities
Diverse work styles
  • Introduce a system that is convenient for workers and enables flexible work
  • Support people raising children through a nursery located within the office or subsidies for childcare, etc.
  • Establish a system to encourage men to take childcare leave and promote enlightenment activities
Occupational safety and helth
  • Promote the creation of a workplace environment that protects the safety and health of employees, and allows them to work with peace of mind
  • Thoroughly implement measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19

Global Personnel Development

Transformation of Personnel Hiring and Human Resource Systems in Anticipation of the Future

For personnel hiring, JCR periodically aligns its way of thinking about future human resources with the Human Resource Planning Department and each division in order to establish mutual understanding, and formulates human resources planning. JCR is also accelerating initiatives to strategically hire human resources. These initiatives include optimizing the recruitment management system essential for data analysis and recruitment efficiency, renewing the recruitment website and moving forward on constructing a PDCA cycle for recruitment, and, as a new hiring method, systematically implementing referral hiring in which employees introduce friends and acquaintances.
For human resource systems, it has introduced a challenge sheet based on its evaluation system, and visualizes the goals of the organization so that they can be appropriately reflected in individual goals, while also working further to transform its evaluation system through detailed breakdowns of general evaluations and the use of objective figures.

Training System to Support Employee Growth

JCR is pouring energy into employee training, because it believes that improving employee skills will help it to grow. In the span of roughly one month after new graduate recruits join the Company, we effectively conduct group training aimed at business etiquette and improving communication skills and presentations about operations from each business division while effectively making use of the Web. We also regularly conduct tier-specific training where participation is mandatory for each level. Since FY2020, we have been conducting voluntary training that emphasizes employee autonomy, incorporating e-learning, and carrying out training programs matched to individual needs. In recent years, we have also been concentrating on English language training. More than 350 employees continually participate in conversational lessons, which began in FY2017, with a foreign English teacher, helping to improve their practical English abilities.

Developing Next-Generation Global Leaders (JCR Academy)

JCR Academy is a new initiative to develop next-generation leaders who have acquired the skills that will enable them to thrive on a global stage, in anticipation of future global business expansion. The goal is for participants to acquire the soft skills required to thrive as global leaders, including communication skills, project management skills, and leadership skills, through a practical program.

Diversity and Inclusion

Creating a Corporate Culture That Utilizes Diversity of Human Resources

Based on a firm belief that “Team JCR” is the source of JCR’s value, we mutually respect different attributes such as gender, age, nationality, and disability, and believe it is important to maximize the individual abilities of richly diverse employees. For this reason, we promote diversity and inclusion.

Creation of a Workplace Where Employees Can Thrive Regardless of Gender

In October 2018, JCR was recognized in the Third Annual Hyogo Women’s Active Participation Awards by Hyogo Prefecture for its efforts to expand career opportunities for women, raise the ratio of female employees in managerial positions (from 5.8% in FY2012 to 12.0% in FY2021), establish in-house daycare facilities, and encourage the participation of male employees in parenting activities.
In January 2019, we received Eruboshi certification (Grade 2) from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare for excellence in promoting the active participation of women in the workplace based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace. In FY2021, we were evaluated for creating a workplace environment that balances childcare and work based on a policy of eliminating distinctions between men and women, and received the Hyogo Work-Life Balance Company Award.
We will continue working to create a workplace where employees can thrive regardless of gender.

Promoting Employment for Persons with Disabilities

In order to support work for persons with disabilities, JCR is undertaking initiatives centered on ability development matched to each individual. Those with physical as well as mental disabilities meet with the Human Resource Planning Department as needed to affirm their physical condition and motivation, and to exchange opinions about work styles. In FY2021, the employment rate of persons with disabilities was 2.3%, which met the legally required rate.

Diverse Work Styles

Introducing Worker Friendly Systems

We believe that work and private life are both important. Based on this belief, we have introduced a flexible working system and other systems unique to JCR, such as a flextime system and allowing employees to use their annual paid leave in hourly increments. Since 2020, we have been working to enhance this initiative by, for example, gradually expanding the target of the flextime system to each plant in the Production Division.
In addition, beginning in 2019, we introduced a savable paid leave system * on a trial basis as a system unique to JCR. This savable paid leave system can be used by employees whenever they need to provide childcare or nursing care to family members, or whenever they need to see a doctor regularly for the treatment or screening of a personal injury, illness, or chronic disease, among other situations. From 2021, the scope of eligibility for nursing care, which had previously been limited to parents in terms of its scope of use, has been expanded to family members. JCR aims to introduce a variety of systems in order to provide a workplace environment where employees can work comfortably.

* The unused portion of paid leave may be carried over to the following fiscal year. However, under the provisions of the Labor Standards Act, any unused paid leave expires two years after it is granted. The new system allows employees to save and use up to 40 days of their expired paid leave.

Supporting Employees Raising Children

We have provided an in-house daycare center at the Research Institute for employees who are raising children. In addition, we provide a monthly childcare subsidy to support employees who are unable to use the in-house childcare center due to their work location. In recognition of these and other efforts, we received the Kurumin certification from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in October 2022. JCR has now been certified for two consecutive fiscal periods since 2018.

Measures to Improve the Childcare Leave Acquisition Rate among Men

As a social issue, childcare leave taken by men has not yet fully become entrenched in society. Even at JCR, the childcare leave acquisition rate among men (80%* in FY2020, *Includes leave taken for childcare purposes) is lower than the childcare leave acquisition rate among women (100% in FY2020).
We believe that fostering workplace understanding and instilling awareness among male employees are essential to improving the childcare acquisition rate among men. Based on this belief, the Child-Raising Support Café (37 voluntary participants in FY2020) and Ikuboss training (seven voluntary participants in FY2020) (Ikuboss: a boss supportive of child-raising) were held as in-house seminars. Furthermore, staff from human resources departments explained various programs that enable male employees to actively acquire childcare leave. As a first step, JCR is working to foster awareness of the acquisition of childcare leave by men within the Company. Through these measures, the childcare acquisition rate among men has been increasing every year.

Occupational Safety and Health

Creation of a Workplace Environment That Protects the Safety and Health of Employees, and Allows Them to Work Comfortably

As an initiative to create an ideal workplace environment that protects the safety and health of employees and allows them to work with peace of mind, we are encouraging the use of annual paid leave. We also provide group administration of influenza vaccinations and support employees aged 35 years and over who wish to receive a comprehensive health check. To improve the workplace environment, we hold a monthly Safety and Health Committee meeting on a Company-wide basis. Whenever improvements are necessary, the committee members discuss what steps JCR should take. We also have appointed two corporate physicians, one of whom provides mental healthcare as a designated mental healthcare physician. Furthermore, inside the Research Institute, we have created a space called “JCR Oasis,” where employees can get a massage and refresh themselves during work.

Preventing the Spread of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc around the world. As a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, JCR has formed the COVID-19 Action Team to carry out a broad spectrum of initiatives to protect employees from infections. The team also encourages employees, as members of a pharmaceutical company, to adhere to behavior that will prevent infections.