Labor Practices

Training and Education (Human Resource Development)

KPI Responsible Departments Stance and Target Review of FY 2021 Activities Issues and Future Improvement Measures

KPI

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Item FY 2020 results FY 2021 results
Total number of training participants per year (Non-consolidated) Regardless of gender,
887 total participants (managerial positions)
82 participants (technical positions)		 (Non-consolidated) Regardless of gender,
1,875 total participants (managerial positions)
242 participants (technical positions)

Responsible Departments

Global HR Department

Stance and Target

Why is “Human Resource Development through Training and Education” a critical issue to be addressed?
Explanation of the reason and background

Based on the idea that having each individual employee work to achieve personal growth by making effective use of opportunities for self-cultivation will in turn lead to our company’s growth, we are providing the comprehensive support needed to realize this goal. We recognize that the assignment of professional human resources that have a strong desire to achieve and a broad range of perspectives, and who are capable of performing to their fullest while having an influence around them, is required at our business locations, which are expanding on a global scale. As an important means of achieving this objective, we are promoting measures such as the development of effective education and training systems.
We will also work on new measures to develop the next generation of managers who can respond quickly to the changing times.

Vision (attainment goal) / target

In the midst of global business development, we will aim to develop the mindset, capabilities, and skills necessary to make qualified judgments and implement them, as well as individual skills that include leadership for each management level, the ability to solve problems while working closely with the field, presentation skills, and negotiation skills, while implementing genba, genbutsu, and genjitsu principle-based education in which employees learn from sensation and experience.

Measures for vision achievement

The following measures will be implemented to achieve our vision.

New human resources system GLOBAL (development of core human resources)

In order to support the realization of our mid-term management plan "Yokohama Transformation 2023 (YX2023)" in terms of human resources, we have enhanced the linkage between post (job), performance, and compensation for management level positions. For general-level employees, the personnel system clearly specifies the added value (expected results and expected actions) required for each level and links it to the training system to enable employees to acquire the abilities needed as core human resources in a step-by-step manner.
This personnel system was introduced in 2010, and was revised in 2020 to further increase the linkage between posts (jobs) and compensation for managers in order to promote the placement of the right person in the right position toward the realization of YX2023.
In 2021, we will introduce an early selection system for general-level employees that will enable them to be assigned to management positions at the earliest age of 30, thus ensuring that the right person is in the right position regardless of age.

Use of re-employment employees aged 60 or above

Yokohama Business Association Corporation (YBAC), which was established in July 2013 as a staffing company specializing in re-employed workers, has been actively involved in the activities of re-employed workers. Currently, the system allows employees to work until a maximum age of 70, and 191 employees (as of April 2022) are active beyond age 65.
In order to further promote the use of rehired employees, from 2021, we have started a system that allows employees to continue to work as managers even after retiring at the age of 60.

Personnel Training Program

  1. Fresh Graduates
    1. Training program for Fresh Graduates
      We provide all new career-track employees with on-site training, mainly by working shifts at the production plant and accompanying sales staff at the sales site. By actually experiencing the actual site of manufacturing, we create the necessary awareness as an employee of a manufacturer.
    2. Brother System
      This system has been around for as long as 25 years already; initially it started as a system to give one-on-one training by senior employees to nurture young engineers; now it has also been extended to cover all new graduate hires in administrative positions (main career track).
  2. Training for career-track employees
    Based on the "Expected Image of Human Resources for Each Job Level" set in the personnel system, we have established training programs for each job level to learn the basic knowledge to work at Yokohama Rubber and the technical knowledge about our products. In addition, we provide training to support the mindset, capabilities, and skill development necessary for career-track employees, and some of these training programs have been designated as mandatory and are required for promotion.
  3. Advanced Specialists
    Our specialists are positioned as one of the posts (jobs) where they are expected not only to certify their expertise but also to realize our strategy by demonstrating a high level of expertise.
    In the area of technology, we have traditionally certified staff members who have achieved high results with top-level expertise in their respective technical fields as "high-level specialists" in order to allow them to focus on technical activities that are necessary to strengthen our business.
    In 2020, we have also introduced a system that allows us to certify as "high-level professionals" administrative managers who are responsible for important areas in the mid-term plan of the business and who have demonstrated expertise and high performance.
    In addition, in 2020, we introduced a system that allows us to certify as "highly specialized" clerical employees at higher levels who can demonstrate performance based on their high level of expertise.
  4. Technical Meister System
    We are certifying as “Technical Meisters” those of our personnel in technical fields who are able to train juniors by utilizing their specialized skills and knowledge, in order to pass on our technology to the new generation.
  5. Education for Company Expatriates and their Family Members
    Amid the global expansion of our businesses, the number of company personnel assigned to work overseas is rising every year. Since fiscal 2009, we have provided overseas pre-relocation seminars for all employees going overseas. The seminars consist of information on how to proceed with work operations in different cultures, any necessary formalities, safety lectures specific to the destination region (necessary knowledge regarding the state of public order and ensuring safety), medical training, legal and compliance training, accounting and internal controls training, language training, and information on schooling for dependent family members.
  6. Incentive to Obtain Official Certifications
    We have an incentive system to encourage our employees to obtain official certifications which are advanced levels which may not be easy to obtain, but which are essential for our company growth; the company is thereby trying to encourage our personnel to obtain as many of these certifications as possible.
  7. Qualified Employee Allowance
    As a company, an allowance is provided to employees registered as qualified employees who maintain the official qualifications required for plant operations.
  8. Foreign Language Subsidy
    To encourage improvements in foreign language abilities, a foreign language subsidy has been provided to those employees who have achieved at least advanced level and above in a language other than their native tongue.
  9. Feedback for development
    In order to continuously develop employees' abilities and to make evaluations more transparent and convincing, we have set clear expectation levels for each role, and have established a system in which supervisors and subordinates can check whether employees are meeting the expectation levels and what points need to be improved during the semi-annual evaluation feedback, thereby supporting development.

Review of FY 2021 Activities

The following results were achieved for the measures implemented in fiscal 2021.

Use of re-employment employees aged 60 or above

As of the end of December 2021, there were 390 re-employment employees enrolled, including both partner employees directly employed by Yokohama Rubber and Yokohama Business Association Corporation (YBAC) employees. In fiscal 2021, 89% of employees reaching retirement age continued working using the re-employment system. Efforts will be made to develop successors and pass on skills while utilizing the experience and advanced skills of these employees.

Personnel Training Program

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(Unit: persons)
Name of training program Number of participants
Men Women Total
New employee training 9 4 13
New employee follow-up training 27 12 39
Newly appointed key position training 27 1 28
Newly appointed organization management position training 22 1 23
Evaluator training 48 0 48
Training prior to re-employment 23 5 28

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Education and training expenses 114 million yen
Total number of training participants per year (managerial positions) 1,875 employees
  • Regardless of gender, the total number of training participants per year for technical workers was 242

<System users and number of applicable employees for each program>

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  • As of December 2021
1 New employees Brother System 13 employees
2 Advanced Specialists and Skills Meister System Advanced Specialists 36 employees
Skills Meister System 41 employees
3 Education for Company Expatriates and their Family Members 32 employees
4 Incentive to Obtain Official Certifications 11 employees
5 Qualified Employee Allowance 118 employees (Actual salary in December 2021)
6 Foreign Language Subsidy 216 employees (Actual salary in December 2021)

<Number of employees that obtained official certifications>

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(Unit: persons)
Certification Number of Achievement Cases
FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021
Radiation Protection Supervisor - 1 1 - -
Certified Measurer - 1 1 - -
Special Boiler Expert 4 - 1 1 -
Qualified Energy Manager 2 2 - 2 3
Class-1 Health Supervisor 6 2 2 1 3
Industrial Hygiene Health Officer - 1 - - 1
High Pressure Gas Production Safety Manager 2 - - 4 1
Class-1 Boiler Expert - 2 2 1 1
Operations chief of radiography with X-rays 1 - 2 2 -
Class-3 Electrical Chief Engineer - - 2 1 1
Manager in Charge of Pollution Control 2 1 - - 1

Issues and Future
Improvement Measures

In employee cultivation at Group companies in Japan and overseas, we will continually improve development structures for cultivating the mindset, capabilities, and skills needed to support the implementation of our business activities, developing programs for the development of young employees and also for creating high-performance human resources.