Initiatives in support of human resources

Ideal goal

The KITZ Group aims to remain a company chosen by prospective employees through investment in human resources.

Basic concept and ideal vision regarding human-resources development

The KITZ Group aims to realize a vision of human resources who are able to continue to grow through rewarding work with autonomy, while taking on challenges with a sense of urgency.

We also recognize the need to foster an organizational culture in which human resources can demonstrate their abilities to the maximum by working with vitality in order to develop human resources who satisfy this ideal.

For this reason, the first principle of the KITZ Group Action Guide, which embodies our corporate philosophy, states: “Do it True (Be honest and true).” This expresses the importance of employees being diligent and sincere and refraining from acts in violation of society’s rules and ethics. This is the Group’s most important value and a fundamental guideline for achieving a positive culture inside KITZ.

The second principles are “Do it Now (Be speedy and timely)” and “Do it New (Use your imagination and tackle a challenge.” These express the needs to do business with a sense of urgency in order to adapt to market demands that are changing at a bewildering pace, for ideas and actions unbound by existing frameworks, and for demonstrating inherent creativity with a spirit of taking on new challenges boldly.

Human resource development initiatives

KITZ strives to develop human resources through a sound balance between demonstration of individual abilities and demonstration of organizational abilities.

By enhancing our human resource development programs, including training for specific employee levels, training for specific responsibilities and positions, special selective training, and support for self-improvement, and by utilizing a program of challenging objectives to link growth, evaluation, and compensation, we maintain a structure that makes it possible to keep levels of motivation high.

Promotion of DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion)

KITZ Group aims to be a company where diverse personnel can play an active role in order to achieve our Long-term Management Vision, “Beyond New Heights 2030 – Change the Flow”. As part of this effort, we are promoting DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion).

Top Message:【Declaration on DE&I – Diverse workforce will change the “Flow”- 】

KITZ has promoted Diversity and Inclusion (hereafter D&I) as one of its critical strategic initiatives since 2015, focusing on “respect for and embracement of diverse individuals.”
Here, KITZ has now made a declaration on “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (hereafter DE&I),” which further clarifies the perspective of “Equity”.

In order to change the “Flow” for achieving our Long-term Management Vision, we need new challenges different from what we have done in the past.
We should create an inclusive organization where not just a few can find comfort, but everyone can accept comfort and discomfort alike regardless of its degree.
To do so, we incorporate the concept of “Equity,” enabling our employees to support and leverage each other’s differences.

We will create an innovative organization by embracing varied opinions and ideas shared by employees with various background, and shaping them into reality.
KITZ aims to promote DE&I initiatives to create an environment where everyone can engage in challenging yet rewarding work, thus enabling us to become a sustainable company by 2030.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Policy

The KITZ Group is promoting DE&I as one of the Key Management Strategies.
We aim to enhance the creativity of each individual and maximize organizational power through the realization of employees’ job satisfaction and the utilization of their diverse values and opinions, which, in turn, makes a contribution to a sustainable society.

*DE&I is an acronym which stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Diversity
This means to respect “Individuality” of employees which have various internal and external attributes.
External and internal attributes refer to:Attributes which encompass all forms of differences, such as race, religion, beliefs, nationality, language, place of birth, ethnic origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital status, presence of a partner, sex/gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, health, family, social status, education, work history, values, perspectives, experiences, and work styles, among others.

Equity
This means to offer everyone equal opportunities where they can exercise their ability to the maximum level.

Inclusion
This means to acknowledge “Individuality” of each other and maximize organizational power.

Promotion of Allyship.

To make the majority aware of the presence of all minorities, support them, and become their allies, we will create a system and reform our corporate culture.

Number of participants in DE&I Training(formerly D&I Training)

※ Training provided for new employees from FY2019 to FY2022.
※ Training is also provided for mid-carrer hires, managers, etc. from FY2023 onward.

DE&I Promotion Key Issues and KPIs

In promoting DE&I, the Kitz Group places two common challenges as individual challenges and the creation of a foundation to resolve these issues.
KITZ is working to achieve quantitative targets to realize each of these goals.

※ Managers refer employees in management professional positions by job grade (The numbers stated for FY2021 and 2022 represent those who held department head positions)
※ Percentage of Female Employees and Female Managers are for KITZ on a non-consolidated basis.
※ Pride designation is an external designation based on assessment of LGBTQ initiatives.

Women in the workplace

KITZ is promoting the active participation of women as one of the specific goals for promoting DE&I. Aiming to be a company in which women take part in the decision-making process without being conscious of gender, we have made the ratio of female employees and the ratio of female managers a key KPI and set targets for FY2030.
Currently, the ratio of female managers is 6.0%, and there is a gender gap in the appointment of women to managerial and other decision-making positions.
We have set a goal of gradually raising the ratio of female managers to 20% by FY2030. Moreover, since increasing the ratio of female employees will create a better working environment for women, we are steadily strengthening measures to improve recruitment, education, and the environment for female employees.
In new graduate recruitment, we have been conducting hiring activities with an awareness of the female employee hiring ratio since the 2023 recruitment year. In our most recent recruitment efforts, we have been working to raise the company’s visibility by participating in events targeted at female students in liberal arts who are interested in sales positions, as well as visiting women’s universities and holding informational sessions.
The Female Employee Development Program is a training program for the development of female employees and their supervisors (managers) who are in leadership positions.
In the program, female employees can acquire skills for thinking and speaking, the ability to demonstrate these skills, and the ability to set a slightly higher perspective and achieve them. Also, supervisors of the female employees can obtain skills to effectively support the growth of their subordinates.
After the program has been taken, the mind-set of female employees who participated in the program have changed, and certain effects have been achieved, such as aiming to become managers and expanding the range of their work.

Male employees taking childcare leave

We have worked to develop a range of systems to allow employees to continue working with peace of mind and fully demonstrate their abilities while raising children. In particular, we believe that for women to thrive in the company over the long term, without being affected by life events, it is essential for men to participate in childcare and household duties.　We have set a goal of having 100% of eligible male employees taking childcare leave by FY2027.
In FY2022, we conducted briefing sessions to give managers a general understanding of our childcare leave systems so that they can become leaders supporting employees who are raising children. We also hold workshops for male employees to discuss their concerns and exchange information on taking childcare leave.
KITZ is promoting male employees to take childcare leave is twofold: to fulfill the desire of men who want to be actively involved in parenting, and to share the burden of childcare and household duties, which tends to fall heavily on women, with their partners. This helps prevent career disruptions for women and encourages early returns to work. By creating an environment where women can give birth with peace of mind, we believe this will not only enhance women’s willingness to have children and improve birth rates but also create a broader social impact beyond our company.

LGBTQ Inclusion

Employment of people with disabilities

To enable people with disabilities to live independent lives with pride through employment, KITZ proactively creates employment opportunities and expands employment of people with disabilities to build an environment in which all employees can work together while demonstrating their abilities through rewarding work.

Employment of non-Japanese workers

To accelerate its business globalization further in the runup to 2030, KITZ is enhancing employment initiatives for non-Japanese workers, under which new graduates, international students, human resources from Group companies overseas, and interns from universities in other countries play active roles in various workplaces, including those of engineering, manufacturing, sales, and management. We will continue efforts in such areas as development of the organizational culture and other measures to promote hiring, retention, and success of diverse, multinational employees.

Numbers of non-Japanese employees hired from FY 2015 through now are shown below.

[Numbers of non-Japanese employees hired by KITZ (nonconsolidated)]

Securing diversity among core human resources and promotion to management

KITZ has long hired and promoted human resources based on a focus on individual abilities and results, regardless of gender and nationality. We believe it is important to respect diverse perspectives and values in order to realize sustained growth and increases in corporate value, and we both proactively hire human resources who vary in terms of experience, skills, and career histories and maintain workplace environments in which these human resources can thrive.

In particular, based on our recognition of the importance of diversity in managerial positions, which are core to business administration, we focus on promotion of women, non-Japanese workers, and mid-career hires to managerial posts through such measures as those outlined below.

1. Promoting women to managerial positions

Currently, women make up 6.0% of managers. As this number shows, there is a disparity between men and women in promotion to managerial and other decision-making positions in the organization. We recognize this as an important issue, and we plan to make steady progress on such measures as promotion of women mid-career hires to managerial posts, in addition to initiatives intended to strengthen the ranks of women in leadership (i.e., pre-managerial level) posts as a source of future managerial candidates, through efforts that include further progress in hiring women and enhancement off training and development programs for women employees. The plan is to raise the percentage of women managers in stages to 10% by FY 2024, 16% by FY 2027, and 20% by FY 2030.

2. Promotion of non-Japanese workers to managerial posts

The KITZ Group operates manufacturing and sales facilities in 18 countries around the world, including Japan, in order to ascertain accurately the differing needs of our wide range of customers and swiftly deliver high-quality products and services. As such, non-Japanese employees make up 53.7% of the KITZ Group’s total workforce.

However, even though KITZ has focused on hiring of non-Japanese employees as mid-career hires or new graduates, the annual number of new non-Japanese employees hired in each of the past five years was just 3.6 persons, and non-Japanese employees made up only 1.4% of the Company’s total workforce as of the end of FY 2023. We consider this an important issue, since it means that we are unable to achieve our target on appointment of non-Japanese employees to managerial posts. We are considering ways to appoint more non-Japanese employees to managerial posts in the future through the hiring of larger numbers of non-Japanese personnel.

In addition, the KITZ Group considers it essential in the years through 2030 to accelerate further initiatives toward localization of operations around the world and improving business efficiency from the perspective of overall optimization. For these reasons, we see it as vital to promote and develop managerial human resources with global perspectives, regardless of their countries or regions of origin, and national human resources to support them. For these purposes, we have formulated the KITZ Global HR Policy, aiming to realize globally optimized human resources through both hiring and promotion of human resources with excellent understanding of the distinguishing features of each region, regardless of nationality, race, and gender, and proactive exchange of human resources across national and regional boundaries.

3. Promotion of mid-career hires to managerial posts

Already a high percentage of mid-career hires—44%—fill managerial posts with the Company. We will strive to maintain this current high level.

Realizing workplace environments in which employees can work with vitality

Concept of organizational culture and awareness reforms

KITZ is carrying out activities to promote awareness reforms based on the concept of shifting from simply accepting current practices as they are to developing new methods at all times through respect for diverse human resources while preserving the traditions we have maintained since our founding.

Initiatives toward enhancing employee engagement

KITZ aims to be a company where each and every employee can work with vitality at maximum performance levels as a professional, regardless of age, gender, nationality, culture, or other attributes. As part of these efforts, we conducted our first engagement survey in FY 2021, to ascertain the current state of the organizational culture.

We aim to improve employee satisfaction continually through conducting this survey annually from now on.

In addition to reporting to management on the results of the engagement survey, we also provide feedback to individual workplaces to verify and analyze the current state of the organizational culture, as well as setting specific action plans and target figures and deploying these in activities in each workplace. We plan to strive toward continual improvements in employee satisfaction continually through repeating these efforts annually from now on as well.

We also use the Compliance Helpline as a structure ready to receive consultation and reports from employees concerning human rights at any time, so that employees always have somebody with whom they may consult with peace of mind.

Based on the Action Guide’s call to “Do it KITZ Way,” KITZ aims to be a company in which diverse human resources can come together and work with vitality. Toward this end, we will continue to stress employee engagement and carry out sustained initiatives to contribute to improving engagement scores while communicating with employees through multifaceted approaches.

Work-life balance initiatives

The KITZ Group is advancing efforts to build an environment in which employees can balance work and private lives, so that they can continue to work with peace of mind in free and open-minded workplace environments.

Toward this end, we have set the following particular goals regarding enhancement of work-life balance, support for balancing work with childcare and family care, and health management. We are also advancing initiatives targeting each qualitative goal, aiming to realize these objectives.

Enhancement of systems to support a healthy work-life balance

To enable each and every one of our diverse human resources to demonstrate their maximum abilities, we are striving to build comfortable working environments with consideration for a healthy work-life balance.

(1) Normalization of working hours

As part of its efforts to build a company culture in which employees can work in good health and vitality, KITZ not only complies with labor-related laws and regulations but also is carrying out initiatives that include labor-management cooperation to keep down long working hours, prohibition of unreported overtime work, and encouraging employees to take annual paid vacation time. We strive to provide mental and physical care through such means as consultation with an industrial physician, in addition to reporting to management when working hours have exceeded a certain level.

(2) Support for childcare

KITZ maintains various programs to enable employees to continue working with peace of mind and demonstrating their abilities to the maximum while caring for children. In FY 2023, 100% of eligible female employees (and 61% of eligible male employees) took childcare leave. In the future, we will focus in particular on strongly encouraging male employees to take childcare leave to enhance our programs aimed at building a workplace culture in which anybody can take part in childcare proactively regardless of gender.

※For details on the initiatives regarding male employees’ childcare leave, please refer to the section on the advancement of female employees.