Human Resource Development

Since our founding in 1976, we have worked to realize a society in which everyone, regardless of age, gender, nationality, or disability, can freely use their talents to fulfill their dreams and take pride in their work. Within the company, we promote the creation of a workplace environment where employees can work with peace of mind, including proposing diverse work styles that maximize each employee's abilities and providing support for career building, thereby leading to the sustainable development and value enhancement of the Group.

Human resources development policy and the internal environmental improvement policy, indicators, and targets

Our group's job is to "harness the potential of the individual." That is, to "Life Produce" and to support the creation of a comfortable lifestyle for people everywhere. To fulfill this role, under our human resources development policy of "Creating your own future by yourself," we have put in place various personnel systems and measures that encourage the exercise of talent and ability, and we support employees' autonomous career-building so that each employee can have high aspirations and a sense of purpose, while continuing to boldly take on challenges.

Our human resources strategy consists of three pillars: "Diversity & Inclusion" (creating a system in which everyone can play an active role), "Sustainability" (autonomous career development), and "Well-Being" (a truly fulfilling way of living and working). By encouraging the growth of our employees, we promote the development of human resources that can contribute to the realization of a sustainable society, not to mention the growth of the Group.

In addition, based on a corporate philosophy that has remained unchanged since the company's founding, the Pasona Way, which represents the core of the Pasona Group, serves as a guideline for action, carrying on the spirit of the Company's founding and providing an unwavering axis for decision-making at all times. Every year, the two-month period beginning on February 16—the anniversary of Pasona Group's founding—is designated as "Pasona Way Week" as a month of reinforcement, during which all executives and employees share the corporate philosophy by reflecting on the Group's business history and the role that it plays, along with holding discussions and setting individual action goals under the theme of the corporate philosophy.

Diversity & Inclusion/Creating a system in which everyone can play an active role

Pasona Group believes that creating an environment in which all employees, regardless of age, gender, nationality, or disability, can make full use of their talents and abilities on the Pasona Group stage and can create a fulfilling life plan will lead to mid- to long-term corporate growth.

Promotion of women's activities

The Group, which was founded with the desire to "support housewives in finding new employment," has been practicing human resource development and placement of the right person in the right job without gender bias, with the aim of realizing a society with no gender disparities, with all employees joining the Company as career-track employees since its establishment. In order to enable employees to work through milestones in their lives such as childbirth, child-rearing, and nursing care, Pasona has established flexible work systems since the 1990s, including "telecommuting," "short-time work," and "flextime," and has set up on-site childcare facilities at Group headquarters and Pasona Family Office on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture. Pasona has also established an on-site daycare center at the Group's headquarters and a Pasona Family Office on Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture, where employees can work in the same space as their children. In the area of human resource development and career development support for women, the "Wonder Woman Training," a next-generation female leadership development program launched in 2014, has produced positive results, with 2 of its graduates promoted to Group company presidents, 22 to executive officers, 9 to deputy directors, and 42 to higher positions of responsibility.
As a result of these activities, we have produced a large number of female managers and female executives, with women accounting for 58.5% of all employees, 48.9% of all managers, and 25.0% of directors and executive officers.
Utilizing the know-how cultivated by the Group, from 2021 we will begin offering the "Women's Advanced Program," a program to train female executive candidates who can contribute not only to their own companies but also to society, by learning the front-line business and presence skills required of corporate executives. The program has trained 72 female executive candidates from 41 companies so far.

Diverse nationalities play an active role

The Group has approximately 1,000 employees of diverse nationalities from 42 countries in Japan and abroad, and the percentage of foreign nationals among the employees of domestic consolidated subsidiaries is 2.5% (8.1% when including overseas consolidated subsidiaries), while the percentage of foreign nationals in management positions, the core of our business operations, is 0.8% (7.6% when including overseas consolidated subsidiaries). By having personnel of various nationalities with diverse values interact with each other, and by assigning and appointing the right people to the right positions, we are able to respond to changes in our business and to develop new ideas.
We believe that foreign nationals with diverse values, talents, and abilities will become increasingly important in the creation of new businesses on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture under the theme of "Well-Being" in culture, art, food, health, and education, including the 2025 World Exposition (Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan). To this end, we are actively recruiting new graduates for 2023, with 67, or approximately 20% of all new hires (314), being foreign nationals.
The Awaji Youth Federation, a human resources development program launched in 2017 that aims to create new industries and realize regional development, has accepted 87 talented young people and social entrepreneurs from 42 countries and regions around the world to date. After completing the program, they continue to work on creating new innovations to solve local issues on Awaji Island.

Cultural Creation by Musicians

In 2006, the Group launched "Music Mate," a program to support musicians in balancing music and artistic activities with work, and has been working to support the employment of musicians. From 2020, the "Music Island" project will be launched on Awaji Island, where musicians from all over Japan will practice a hybrid career of music activities and work, aiming to create local communities through music, and approximately 80 musicians are currently active in the project. In addition to performances at our group facilities, we are engaged in cultural creation projects to enrich people's minds and lives through music, such as planning music projects on the island.

Support for athletes to balance competition and work

We support athletes and coaches, both active and retired, in achieving a hybrid career that balances athletic activities and work, as well as a second career. Approximately 50 athletes are currently active in the program.

Employment support for single-parent families

In 2020, we launched a project on Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture, to provide total support for work, housing, and education for "single-parent families" facing difficulties in both employment and living conditions. As of the end of May 2023, 75 people from 32 families were living on Awaji Island, providing an environment where they can engage in work with peace of mind and receive a fulfilling education while growing and raising children in nature. The program also provides support for single mothers to create employment opportunities through relearning (reskilling) and to expand the possibilities of career choices. After providing career counseling, we offer course-specific skills education tailored to individual aptitudes and visions, and after completing the program, we provide employment support utilizing our group's nationwide network. To date, 1,515 people have participated in the program and taken on the challenge of a new career.

Promotion of middle and senior human resources

Since the 1980s, the Group has promoted the creation of new employment infrastructures and skill development　support for seniors with abundant experience and abilities. Currently, our Group has a 100% re-employment rate from the retirement age of 60, and approximately 10% of the Group's workforce (over 1,000 employees) is over the age of 60, of which approximately 500 are over the age of 65, making a large number of senior personnel active in the Group.
We believe that creating an environment in which senior employees can remain active and vigorous for a long time will lead to further growth of the company, and we provide comprehensive support for their career development, including a "Career Discovery Program" for employees in their 40s and 50s to reaffirm their own values and potential and to design their future career and way of life. We also provide support for comprehensive and continuous career development. Furthermore, in order to further enrich professional lives, which are becoming longer with the advent of a period in Japan where people commonly live to 100 years old, we have also established a benefit program that provides employees with cost subsidies and leaves of absence when they need recurrent education as they take stock of their careers.
Externally, by using accumulated expertise, we launched "Safe Placement Total Service" (introduced by approximately 730 companies) in 2021 to support autonomous career development for people in their 50s and beyond, and "Pasona Recurrent," a membership-based recurrent program service that provides learning opportunities suited to individual career and life plans in June 2022.

Employment of disabled persons

We have also created an environment where people with disabilities that are willing to work but find it difficult to do so can work vigorously and a place of "symbiosis" where they can participate in society with able-bodied people, based on the concept of ""Disability is Individuality, and Talent Knows No Handicap!” In addition to office work, we have created an "art village," where artist employees work in order to expand the field of employment through "art," and we have also established a professional agriculture business that produces safe and assured vegetables (using no agricultural chemicals) and organics. "Yume Farm" grows safe and assured vegetables, rice, and herbs using organic and nonagricultural methods, and the "Bakery" produces and sells additive-free bread and baked goods under the guidance of top-class craftsmen. The 571 members of Pasona Heartful, a special subsidiary, and other group companies are expanding their fields of activity by making the most of their individual abilities. In addition, we also focus on consulting and CSR activity support for companies that are proactive in employing people with disabilities, utilizing our accumulated know-how in various aspects of employment of people with disabilities.

Basic approach to human rights policy

The Pasona Group Code of Conduct stipulates respect for human rights. With regard to human rights, we respect the International Bill of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and other international norms related to human rights in the conduct of our business activities. In addition to complying with the laws and regulations of each country where we do business, we will pursue ways to maximize respect for internationally recognized human rights to the greatest extent possible.

Sustainable/autonomous career development

The Group is committed to supporting career development not only for employees' autonomous growth but also for expert staff (dispatched staff) and those that wish to work, in order to shift from a society that has been dependent on corporations to one in which everyone can make full use of their talents and abilities and become self-reliant individuals.　 We also believe that the source of our group's growth is to continue to create new businesses that "solve society's problems" with employment as the theme, and we are working to develop strong individuals who can flexibly respond to changes in the social environment and foster human resources capable of solving social issues with new ideas.

Corporate university "Pasona 'Kokorozashi' University"

We have systematized and implemented a training and education program for all Pasona Group employees via the "Pasona 'Kokorozashi' University" an in-house university. We offer a variety of education and training programs to support the autonomous career development of each employee, including the acquisition of abilities and expertise required for each grade, position, and function, selective training to maximize the talents and potential of each individual, diverse training to acquire digital skills, and the development of management personnel that will lead the next generation of the Group.

• Training cost per employee/person *1、2 … \407 million/6,626 persons
• Average training hours per employee *2 … 47.9 hours
• Number of participants in annual, position-, and function-specific training *2 … 2,647 in total
• Number of participants in the next senior …
  11 Deputy Board Members, 14 Junior Board Members, management development program 21 CBO Board Members, and 14 Wonder Woman Trainings
• Social Contribution Committee to understand the corporate philosophy through experience …
  40 participants from domestic and overseas group companies

*1:Including personnel, utilities, transportation, and other expenses related to the implementation of the training
*2:Calculated for: The Company and its 28 domestic consolidated subsidiaries

"Hybrid Career Program": Supporting "multilayered career building"

In order to develop human resources that can contribute to society by acquiring the human ability to adapt flexibly to changes in the social environment, we have started the "Hybrid Career Program," starting with new graduates to be hired in April 2022.
We have created an environment where new employees can spend one day a week in a different job from the one to which they are assigned, such as "Sales x Agriculture," "Human Resources x New Business Startup," or "Corporate Planning x Entrepreneur," and 453 employees have so far taken up the program. This has led to opportunities to gain new perspectives and internal and external networks that cannot be obtained in the work to which they are originally assigned, and about 80% of all respondents answered that they were able to use their experience in hybrid work in their work, while about 90% of all respondents were very satisfied or satisfied with the program.

Developing DX human resources to create new added value

In order to develop new solution businesses utilizing digital technology and to realize our management strategy of "Evolution to X-Tech BPO services," we are focusing on developing human resources that will lead the digital transformation (DX). In the fiscal year ended May 31, 2023, in addition to developing internal human resources through rank-based DX training and other programs to support inexperienced IT personnel in taking up the challenge of entering the field of digitalization, we began offering new programs for customers based on our internal training results, and we developed approximately 1,000 DX personnel. We are also working to improve productivity by automating operations through the use of low-code tools and have achieved a time reduction of approximately 17,000 hours in business operations—2.5 times that of the previous fiscal year. By the end of May 2024, we aim to create new added value in our services and to further enhance customer satisfaction by developing approximately 10,000 DX personnel internally and externally, including employees and expert staff.

Supporting Employees' Career Challenges

In the fiscal year ended May 31, 2023, 65 employees took advantage of this system to take on new career challenges. In addition, since 1993, we have been supporting employees' autonomous career development through the "My Career Bank" program, which allows employees to report their own career plans directly to the Human Resources Department every year.

Developing human resources for regional development

By concluding practical "Comprehensive Collaborative Agreements" on regional revitalization with local governments across Japan, the Company group will promote the attraction and exchange of human resources and companies that work to solve social issues in local communities, create new industries and jobs that are rooted in the community, and create cities where people can realize prosperous ways of living and working. Against this backdrop, the "Regional Co-Creation Project" was launched in July 2022.
In April 2023, we concluded a comprehensive collaboration agreement with Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Pasona Group employees who have been promoting regional development business in Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture, for more than 10 years were appointed as "regional revitalization entrepreneurs" to work on regional revitalization through the creation of a relevant population and promotion of local businesses. The new employees are working to revitalize the region by creating a new population and promoting local businesses while utilizing the Group's expertise in regional development projects. We will continue to promote our regional development business toward a sustainable society by expanding opportunities for human resources trained by the Group through our regional development business to work at local governments across Japan and to contribute to improving the attractiveness and value of local communities.

In-house venture program "Challenge Day"

In order to carry on the spirit of the company's founding, which since its establishment has been committed to solving social issues through its business activities based on the corporate philosophy of "solving society's problems," the company has designated February 16, the anniversary of its founding, as "Challenge Day" since 1995, and solicits new business and business improvement proposals from all employees. We are promoting the creation of an autonomous organization for innovation creation, while providing opportunities for all employees to return to the spirit of our founding and realize the "dreams" and "aspirations" of each and every employee. In the fiscal year ended May 31, 2023, we received approximately 1,300 applications from new employees to employees of overseas subsidiaries.

Fostering a corporate culture of solving social issues "Pasona Shadow Cabinet

The "Social Issues Discussion Group" was established in 2007 as an internal organization for the purpose of having executives and employees of our group, regardless of their year of employment, discuss "social issues" and propose specific measures to society. The Group deepens discussions on various social issues that change with the times, and employees participating in the discussions vote on bills (new business proposals, social proposals, etc.). Under the theme of "Beyond SDGs," eight ministries and agencies are discussing and promoting institutionalization and commercialization, and in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2023, three new businesses (Japan Incubation Base, Online Health Promotion Office, regional development platform "Pasona Connect") have been born.

Work-Life Facilitator" to support the "work" and "life" of workers

Our nationally certified career consultants carefully identify the abilities and strengths of people who wish to work and support the career development of 215,000 people annually. Pasona also offers "Pasona Career College," which provides 8,800 specialized courses to help people improve their skills and acquire qualifications, and 430,000 people have taken these courses.
In order to further fulfill its role as a "Life Producer" for working people, the Pasona Group provides a wide range of services that address not only career-related issues but also childcare, nursing care, money planning, health, and other concerns, while offering "work-life planning" services that support each individual in building an autonomous career and life plan. In April 2022, we established a private qualification for "Work-Life Facilitators" to support each individual in building an autonomous career and designing a life plan. We intend to train 2,000 employees to become certified career consultants and work-life facilitators by the fiscal year ending May 31, 2025.

• Level 1 career consulting technician : 13 persons
• Level Career Consulting Technician : 406 persons
• National Qualified Career Consultant : 455 persons
• Work-life facilitators : 209 persons
• Industrial counselor and other related qualifications : 329 persons

Well-Being: A truly rich way of life and work

With the mission to "harness the potential of the individual," the Group provides a variety of support services to help workers thrive. We believe that the employees who provide our services, in addition to their physical and mental health, should enjoy their work, lead fulfilling lives, and feel that they are contributing to society, thereby enhancing their sense of well-being (Well-Being) and leading to better services. We are actively working to improve the health of our employees and create a better working environment.

Health management promotion systems

Under the top management's policy on health management, industrial physicians, the Health Promotion Office, and the Human Resources Department promote health management that enables employees to be active and vigorous based on periodic health checkup data and lifestyle surveys in the Group. In addition, together with public health nurses, nutritionists, sports trainers, and other specialists, we have developed unique programs to support employees' physical and mental health. The health committee members are located at each site and area throughout Japan.

Health management initiative policy

The Group's policy on health promotion is set forth in the Pasona Group Health Declaration. The Group is promoting various measures in line with its five health management policies: "promotion of healthy behaviors," "fostering a common understanding of gender differences," "health support for those who are high risk" "mental health measures," and "promotion of a social work-life balance."
In addition, we have formulated a "strategy map" for health management to organize and understand the linkage between specific initiatives and expected effects and management issues to be resolved.
For more information, please refer to our website.

Conducting lifestyle surveys

In addition to regular health checkups and stress checks, we conduct a unique "lifestyle survey" of all employees to score their lifestyle habits in the categories of exercise, diet, sleep, and preferences (drinking, snacking, smoking). By providing feedback on individual results and the position of one's own health within the entire company, we help employees review their lifestyle habits and improve the health literacy of each and every employee. In 2022, 7,000 employees from 30 Group companies responded to the lifestyle survey.

Promoting healthy behaviors to improve lifestyle

The results of the lifestyle survey showed that approximately 60% of employees indicated that they needed to improve their lifestyles, with many employees facing particular challenges with exercise and diet. The survey results showed that the worse the lifestyle, the worse the job performance, indicating a correlation between "lifestyle" and "job performance." In order to improve their lifestyle, we made it mandatory for them to participate in training sessions to learn how to take action to improve their own health issues. We also implemented measures such as distributing health information via LINE through our independently developed "Online Health Promotion Office" and accepting consultations via chat, web, and telephone.
As a result, the original score, which measures the degree of improvement in overall lifestyle habits such as exercise, diet, sleep, drinking, snacking, and smoking, improved by 1.3% from FY2021 to FY2022, with scores improving in all categories of each lifestyle habit except drinking. (Target companies: Pasona Group Inc. and Pasona Inc.) As a result of supporting the improvement of work performance through daily lifestyle improvements, there was an improvement trend in indicators such as presenteeism (a situation in which employees are at work but are unable to perform at full capacity due to health problems) and absenteeism (absenteeism due to injury or illness).

Promoting a common understanding of women's health

According to an in-house survey on women's health, nearly 80% of the female employees who were going to work in good
health had health issues specific to women, and only about half of them were using the full-cost assistance for breast and uterine cancer screening. To improve the health literacy of female employees and create an environment in which they can easily seek advice, we hold women's health lectures by obstetricians and gynecologists for all employees, including men as well as women, to foster a common understanding of women's health promotion in the workplace (seven times a year, 3,322 participants in total).

Partial relocation of head office and headquarter functions to achieve a truly affluent way of living and working

In order to solve various social issues caused by the concentration of operations in Tokyo and to realize a truly affluent lifestyle and work style for workers, we announced the partial relocation of our head office and headquarters functions to Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture in September 2020, where approximately 1,050 employees are currently engaged in work related to head office and headquarters functions. Many employees working on Awaji Island have commented that their lives are richer than before the move, including "I am glad to be able to raise my children in a rich natural environment" and "I am healthier than before the move due to the proximity of work and residence. In addition, many local residents have joined our group and are playing an active role in the community, contributing to the creation of local employment.
We will continue to attract diverse human resources and promote local development projects for a sustainable society by working to create an attractive environment for employees and workers alike, with the aim of creating a "Well-being Island Awaji Island" that realizes a truly affluent way of living and working.

Social contribution activities in which employees nationwide participate

To clarify the Group's corporate stance, we established the "Social Contribution Office" in 2005. As a leadership role in the Group's social contribution activities, 40 "Social Contribution Committee members" have been appointed from Group companies in Japan and overseas. In the fiscal year ended May 31, 2023, approximately 16,600 employees participated in activities in each region.