Talent Management

Basic Stance/Policy

The following provisions are outlined in The THK Group Action Charter.

Policy

• In addition to promoting work-life balance, we establish a human resources system that treats employees in a way that facilitates the employment of a diverse workforce.
• We respect the individuality of each employee and support the development of their careers and abilities through education, training, and other opportunities.

Supporting Development

We are working to support the development of our employees in order to empower individuals. In addition, we are promoting specific measures to accomplish this goal in alignment with our three growth strategies.

Empowering individuals in alignment with our growth strategies
1. Full-scale globalization:
Developing talent that can succeed globally
2. Development of new business areas:
Conducting the 66 Project* and our basic technical training program
3. Change in business style:
Developing talent that utilizes data to be able to quickly adapt to a digital society

• * 66 (“Six-Six”) Project: Six people from across the Engineering Division lead six project teams to conduct research activities to cultivate new markets.

New Hire and Follow-Up Training

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the new hire training was conducted in a hybrid virtual and in-person format. After the conclusion of training in late April, new employees underwent a period of practical training at various production facilities and then were sent to their assigned workplaces. The central theme of this training was developing talent capable of promoting digital transformation, so a significant amount of content about data utilization was added. For the people who joined the company a year ago, because they have mostly been working from home since receiving their official assignments, we have also been conducting monthly online check-ins with each individual to assess their motivation level, and we have also followed up with training about communication and other topics.

Data Utilization Training

In pursuit of our President’s Policy to “Fully operate as a ‘Smart company,’” and in order to further accelerate DX efforts throughout THK, we began conducting data utilization training in 2019 with the aim of teaching employees about data utilization and related techniques. This year, in order to increase data utilization skills company-wide and engender a culture of utilizing data for work, we used our e-learning tool to train all headquarters and sales staff on the fundamentals of data utilization. Next year and beyond, this same training will be expanded to members of the production division to bring the entire company to the next level. We also plan to offer intermediate and advanced training next year.

Activities and Results

Work and Family-Life Balance Support System

Paid Vacation Utilization System

As one measure to revolutionize the way we work, we introduced a system in April 2019 that allows employees to use their annual paid vacation by the hour. This is a means to improve work–life balance and increase the annual percent of vacation utilized.

In this system, vacation can be taken in one-hour increments instead of full or half-day units.

As a result, employees can take shorter amounts of time off to balance their personal and professional needs, creating an environment where workload stress can be reduced, and it is easier to take time off by doing so a little at a time. We anticipate this will improve work–life balance and increase the annual percent of vacation utilized.

Caregiver Leave System

We offer a caregiver leave system for employees to take up to 93 days off, split among three leaves of absence. Leaves of absence include time off for caregivers and accumulated paid leave.

Childcare Leave System

Options for leaves of absence and shortened work hours include a childcare leave system for those with children up to 2 years old, shortened work hours for those with children in school up to 6th grade, and childcare time for those with children up to 1 year of age. Leaves of absence include time off for sick child care and accumulated paid leave.

THK Internal Certification System