The Takuma Group's human resources have fostered and passed down key strengths in the form of technology, expertise, and trust-based relationships with customers. Through initiatives to strengthen the hiring and development of human resources as well as to promote diversity and improve employee satisfaction, we will continue to ensure that the Group's strengths are effectively passed down and strengthened by using human resources effectively so that employees embodying a diverse range of values can take full advantage of their abilities, and by putting in place structures to keep employee motivation high.
Our company sets out its respect for basic human rights and prohibition of discriminatory acts in Takuma Group Ethics Charter, Takuma Group Code of Conduct, and labor regulations. In addition, we also support respect for human rights, without contributing to human rights violations, elimination of forced labor/child labor, and the abolition of discrimination through participation in the UN Global Compact. We are also working to promote employment of disabled and elderly individuals.
In an effort to achieve the goals of the 13th medium-term management plan, which is the first step towards realizing Vision 2030, our long-term vision, we are investing in human resources through the following policies as ways to strengthen our management foundation and undertake business activities that help resolve customers’ and society’s issues.
In an effort to precisely identify changes in the market environment and diversifying customer needs and contribute to the long-term, sustained development of society through the resolution of customers’ issues, we will hire human resources with diverse values and backgrounds, improve employees’ skills, provide opportunities for them to use those skills, and encourage their growth.
We are working to put in place human resources programs and a workplace environment that boost motivation while making it easy for employees to do their jobs so that a diverse workforce can pursue careers at Takuma over the long-term.
To realize Vision 2030, our long-term vision, we are employing human resources with the goal of about 25 new-graduate and about 35 mid-career as part of efforts to strengthen our management foundation.
With regard to new-graduate hires, we have implemented a variety of measures at each stage–forming a pool of prospective applicants, motivating them to apply, and screening their applications. In particular, we are working to motivate prospective applicants to apply and join Takuma by communicating information about topics like our businesses, corporate culture, and what we consider ideal employee characteristics in order to raise Takuma’s visibility, for example by using YouTube; visiting universities, vocational schools, and high schools; participating in campus seminars and joint job fair; offering internships; and hosting “work experience” days. With regard to mid-career hires, we are strengthening initiatives and diversifying our recruiting routes, for example to implement scouting and referral recruitment, even as human resources introductions remain the principal channel through which we find new employees.
Employee data (non-consolidated) (As of March 31, 2023)
| Number of employees | 1,002 (Including 917 men and 85 women) |
|---|---|
| Average age | 42.8 |
| Average years of service | 14.8 |
| Rate of attrition for personal reasons | 1.7% (FY2022) |
Trend in number of regular employment (non-consolidated)
| FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New-graduate hires | FY2018 | 21（2） | FY2019 | 20（2） | FY2020 | 25（3） | FY2021 | 26（2） | FY2022 | 28（4） | FY2023 | 35（4） |
| Mid-career hires | FY2016 | 20（1） | FY2017 | 24（1） | FY2018 | 37（2） | FY2019 | 53（5） | FY2020 | 41（3） | FY2021 | - |
| Total | FY2018 | 41（3） | FY2019 | 44（3） | FY2020 | 62（5） | FY2021 | 79（7） | FY2022 | 69（7） | FY2023 | 35（4） |
*number of female employees in parentheses
In the operation management of municipal solid waste treatment plants as part of its Design, Build, Operate (DBO) business, the Takuma Group hires local human resources in the areas where its facilities are located to serve as operators, and its overseas subsidiaries and affiliates also hire local human resources.
We have set a cumulative goal for FY2021 to FY2025 of adding at least 35 new female employees by hiring women for main career track and management positions and by promoting employees in general positions as part of our general employer action plan under the Act on the Promotion of Women’s Active Engagement and as a key performance indicator (KPI) for our Key Issues (Materiality).
As we strive to achieving our targets, we have worked to increase our points of contact with female students in connection with new-graduate hiring, for example through participation in corporate research projects for female students organized by local governments, information sessions hosted by women’s colleges and universities, and joint information sessions for female students. In mid-career hiring, we are working to increase the number of positions conceived to be held by women while cooperating on hiring women with departments that are seeking to hire new employees. During FY2022, we offered main career track and management positions to a total of six women (three new graduates and three mid-career applicants), bringing the cumulative total for FY2021 and FY2022 to 16.
As of April 2023, a total of 41 post-retirement-age employees continued to work at Takuma. To implement Vision 2030, our long-term vision, it will be necessary for senior employees to take advantage of their extensive knowledge and experience as they contribute to the company. The fifties are a time of transition in areas such as physical strength, health, and family environment, and work life is no exception; even as older employees are able to take advantage of the extensive knowledge and experience they have accumulated, it is also important for them to change their past experiences, ways of thinking, and values as necessary in response to the development of technology and the diversification of values.
To that end, we have augmented a review of our human resources programs by offering an educational (e-learning) program designed to facilitate learning and new realizations through self-study so that employees in their fifties can take advantage of the knowledge and experience they have accumulated to date, encounter new ways of thinking and values, and embrace their jobs.
[Example: Life and career (e-learning)]
●Prologue: Obtaining Your Own Career Compass
●Chapter 1: Developing a Life and Career from Middle Age
●Chapter 2: Deepening Self-understanding
●Chapter 3: Planning Your Life and Career
・Through the program, I realized anew that there are a lot of things that I want to do and that I need to do. I look forward to using the experience and knowledge I have accumulated to date and working to keep up with new information and communications technologies while learning how to adapt to new things with flexibility as I strive to realize those goals.
・I was aware of the need to care for my parents, but I had not been studying at all, so this course was extremely useful. I learned that a variety of procedures have already been put in place, so in the future I would like to consider them more deeply in light of my own situation.
In addition to establishing a specialized section within the Human Resources Department in April 2020 and assigning staff members to assist with hiring of people with disabilities as part of a focused effort to support such hiring, Takuma is working to make support for hiring of people with disabilities a permanent part of the company’s culture with the assistance of outside organizations dedicated to helping companies hire people with disabilities. As of April 2023, a total of 18 people with disabilities were performing jobs that suited their abilities, including cleaning offices, entering data at the request of various departments, sorting and sending mail and packages, and placing orders for business cards.
We are also working to hire human resources, for example by visiting schools for people with disabilities, accepting people for workplace training, and participating in joint interviews.
We have working to put in place and enhance educational programs in an effort to advance employees’ abilities, for example by improving their skills and management capabilities across a broad range of levels, including just hired new-graduate and mid-career as well as management candidates.
Recently, we have identified the decline in internal exchanges due to the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when employment is growing as an issue that needs to be addressed, and we are particularly focusing on providing training designed to strengthen communication skills.
We have established the following programs to support the development of employees’careers.
We have also introduced programs that give talented employees promotions without regard to whether they were a new or mid-career hire.
We have set utilization of parenting support programs (childcare leave, maternity/paternity leave, flex time, shortened working hours, and telework) of 25% (average for FY2021 to FY2025), which is more than double the figure for FY2020, as a KPI, and we have introduced the programs described below in order to help employees balance their work responsibilities with the demands of parenting and nursing care. Thanks to multipronged efforts to spread awareness of these offerings, for example by offering information about programs to employees with recently born babies on an individual basis, the average cumulative utilization rate for FY2021 and FY2022 rose to 35%.
In addition, we are continuing to take advantage of our telework program in order to help employees balance their work and personal responsibilities, including parenting, nursing care, and recovery from illness, while increasing productivity, even after COVID-19’s reclassification by the Japanese government as a Class 5 disease, as part of a larger effort to reassess programs to ensure employees can do their jobs without regard to time or place.
Rate of male employees’ utilization of childcare and paternity leave during FY2022
| Number of male employees whose spouse gave birth | Number of male employees who utilized childcare leave and related programs | Percentage of male employees who utilized childcare leave and related programs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of male employees whose spouse gave birth | 34 | Number of male employees who utilized childcare leave and related programs | 11 | Percentage of male employees who utilized childcare leave and related programs | 32.3% |
*In addition to the above, 19 male employees took time off for reasons related to childcare, bringing the utilization rate of related programs to 88.2%.
Infancy is an important time for both baby and parents, and I decided to take childcare leave because my wife and I wanted to focus on working together to raise our new child. Because I took advantage of this leave program, I was able to see my child’s daily growth, which made me extremely happy, and at the same time, I personally experienced the difficulty of parenting. Comparing myself before and after taking childcare leave, I now take the initiative to help out with household chores and parenting, with the result that I do not leave my wife to do as much as before, and I have come to value time with our newborn child.
To follow up on employees’ regular check-ups, we work with industrial physicians to recommend additional testing and treatments to individual employees and provide health guidance from industrial physicians. Additionally, we are working to assist employees who work excessively long hours, for example by assessing the conditions under which they work and their subjective symptoms, recommending they meet with an industrial physician, having the Human Resources Department conduct interviews as necessary, and taking corrective action with regard to supervisors. Furthermore, we have created opportunities to consult with the labor union concerning working hours, and we share information about the topic and exchange views about and discuss associated measures.
Takuma is building stable labor-management relationships by creating regular opportunities for dialog and discussions with its labor union concerning salaries and bonuses, working conditions, working hours, improving the workplace environment, safety and health, and the company’s performance.
