Human resources development policy at M&S SBU
Group companies in Japan believe that people are the source of value.
We expect each of our employees to continuously grow with the spirit of entrepreneurship. The role of human resource management is to offer opportunities for growth. Recruit Group is committed to providing opportunities for each employee to grow through our business and self-development training to enhance their capabilities or individual skills.
We have defined six skills and four stances to clarify the values that were once shared only tacitly in the Group. They are put into practice at Group companies in Japan in evaluating and training personnel; in particular, they stress the importance of having a strong sense of ownership and constant self-questioning: "What do I believe, and what do I think I should do?"
Career development support
Group companies in Japan support employees' career development through various systems.
Will/can/must sheet: helping to define personal goals
Recruit Group employees fill out a WCM Sheet every six months. This sheet helps them manage their own goals by laying down what they would like to achieve (Will), strengths they would like to leverage and challenges they would like to overcome (Can), and missions that will allow them to develop their skills (Must).
In the semiannual cycle, individual employees express what they want to achieve through work (Will), consult with their superior to determine what they can do and what skills they need to acquire in order to make this happen (Can), and think about what they must do to accomplish the desired results (Must).
Human resource development committee: nurturing employees takes an entire organization
The Human Resource Development Committee is a forum for examining what jobs or posts are appropriate for the strengths and issues noted in the "Can" section of the WCM sheet. Every employee participates twice a year.
A unique aspect of these committee meetings is that they engage more than just the employee's immediate superiors in discussing how to extend his or her skills; managers and executive managers from neighboring groups and, in fact, from across the organization pitch in as well. Appointments, placements, and the setting of missions are discussed across organizational boundaries from a medium- to long-term perspective.
Professional value assessment: knowing your strengths and weaknesses
We conduct an all-encompassing survey, the Professional Value Assessment, once a year with the aim of developing the skills of employees.
The PVA assists in the individual growth of employees by supplementing their self-assessments with wide-ranging feedback from supervisors, colleagues, subordinates, and members of related departments. Being evaluated for their attitudes and approaches toward work also helps in reconfirming their strengths and challenges and setting goals in skill development.
The mission grade system
Mission Grade is a personnel system in which an individual's remuneration (salary and bonus) is based on the level of the missions assigned and his or her output, regardless of age or years of service. This serves to promote and maintain a culture of speedy and flexible appointments, objective remuneration decisions based on Mission Grade, and conscious efforts to make maximum use of human resources.
The Career Web voluntarily transfer system
In the Career Web system, departments can place job postings on the intranet, and employees can freely apply for these positions. Recruiters of each department meet with the applicants. A match is made if both sides are satisfied; supervisors of the original department cannot veto the transfer. This system encourages employees to challenge themselves in their careers.
Support for capability development and skill improvement
Optional training programs
Group companies in Japan conduct optional training programs to help employees realize self-growth. Various programs for capability development and skill improvement are available.
Individuals can sign up for courses that suit their preferences or career designs, such as those for logical thinking, marketing, accounting, and leadership.
GLOBA (Global Business Academy)
GLOBA is a series of short in-house seminars. We invite professors from renowned business schools across the world, Silicon Valley investors, and other global players to share insights that employees can incorporate into their work at Recruit Group, such as global trends, knowledge, and the skills and stances of successful individuals of the world.
Our local employment
The Recruit Group plays a part in local employment.
Each subsidiary recruits and hires talent locally in the country it operates in. On top of this, even though we expand our businesses by acquiring companies globally, each subsidiary is committed to recruiting and hiring senior management talent locally in the country it operates in.
Media school for production professionals
The Recruit Group is committed to creating media based on completely new values. We sponsor a school for employees in media production engaged in planning and editing magazines and websites, as well as those in IT engineering. The school covers a broad range of topics, from the basic knowledge needed for media production to new techniques and ways of expanding the imagination. It has also become a platform for sharing in-house ideas that have led to new trends.
Our Values
Since our foundation in 1960, our Group companies in Japan have nurtured our Values. Under the belief that people are the source of value, we have cherished our Values throughout the process of human resource management.
Recruitment: We recruit people who share our Values.
Training:We have various programs in place that allow our employees to continuously nurture our Values.
Examples:
-Will/can/must sheet (see "Career development support" section above for more details)
-Ring, Forum (see the section below)
-Training for Top Young Leaders
-Off JTs
Graduation：In FY 2020, the turnover rate for Group companies in Japan was 9.1%. This can be considered high in Japan, where lifetime employment is rooted in culture. However, we do not perceive this number negatively. We believe fostering employees who continue to "WOW THE WORLD" outside the Recruit Group by applying experiences, knowledge, and values cultivated in Recruit creates new values and leads to contribute to society.
In our Group companies in Japan, our employees use the word "graduation" instead of "resignation." We encourage our employees' further challenges outside the Recruit Group, and many of our Group companies in Japan offer career support and financial benefit for employees after working in Recruit for certain years. We will continue to support employees who contribute to society with strong ambition even after graduating from our company.
Proposing innovative ideas at Ring
Ring is a new business proposal contest that began in 1982 and has resulted in some of Recruit's most innovative and successful services, such as Zexy Brand and Study Sapuri.
Anyone-Recruit employee or not-is invited to come up with out-of-the-box ideas for new lines of business and pitch their concept to the Recruit executive team. In order to reinvigorate employees' entrepreneurial spirit each year, the contest has evolved to include workshops and tools that help people search for teammates, draft proposals, and solicit executive cooperation. In 2020, 834 proposals were submitted, and several have entered the preparatory stage for business implementation.
FORUM, inspiring each other in our everyday work
While Ring is an opportunity for RG employees to engage in active, collaborative, blue-sky innovation, FORUM is an opportunity for Recruit employees to share innovations that have been successful in their everyday work.
Since its founding, Recruit has nurtured a culture of reciprocal encouragement, asking employees to share business processes and best practices across departments. FORUM is a celebration of Recruit's approach to knowledge-sharing, with the idea that employees would benefit from a better understanding of the novel and versatile ways their coworkers have optimized their jobs.
Each year, 10 teams from each of four divisions of expertise-sales, engineering, management, and business development-are nominated to share their day-to-day best practices with the rest of the organization through presentations and panel discussions during a large-scale, live-streamed event.
FORUM's success is due to the fact that every innovation, no matter how seemingly small, can help transform a business and create more enjoyment at work. FORUM's policy is not recognition from the top, but praise from your peers. The greatest compliment to the presenter is to be appreciated by colleagues who are facing the same problems and challenges. The presenter's spirit of challenge inspires their colleagues to take on a new challenge and say, "It's my turn."
