One of the seven material issues the Sumitomo Rubber Group identified is “diverse human resources.” We consider promoting diversity and inclusion (D&I) essential factors in realizing a company that grows with colleagues with diverse personalities. Creating an organization and corporate culture where Diversity of individuals can fully demonstrate their strengths and play an active role will increase employee engagement and productivity, realizing our Vision.
Through our efforts to provide equal opportunities, we will strive to create a workplace environment where each individual’s diversity, regardless of attributes or background, is recognized and valued, leading to improved combined power of each team and, ultimately, enhanced corporate value.
In order to live up to the ideals of Our Philosophy, the Sumitomo Rubber Group is actively working to promote greater mutual respect among all of the diverse employees who make up our group.
The Sumitomo Rubber Group considers “uniting our diverse strengths and growing together” to be a key management challenge. With this in mind, we hereby declare the following.
＜Declaration on the Promotion of D&I＞
The Sumitomo Rubber Group respects and values the diverse attributes and ways of thinking of all employees. Accordingly, we will achieve the creation of workplaces that enable each individual to harness their full potential.
Employment status, situation of hiring, etc.
President and CEO, Representative Director
Satoru Yamamoto
In the concept of diversity and inclusion (D&I), empowering women is one of its starting points, and the end goal is to link employee growth to business growth by establishing a foundation for empowerment of a diverse range of human resources. President Satoru Yamamoto, Outside Director Mari Sonoda, and Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Member Asli M. Colpan sat down to discuss the Company’s D&I vision, challenges, and initiatives (March 2024).
One of the issues that must be addressed to create an environment where diverse human resources can demonstrate their abilities is the correction of gender gaps. For example, women have had fewer career opportunities than men, and men have had less flexibility in their work styles than women. These and other gender gaps have arisen in social structure and corporate culture. The Group recognizes these gaps and promotes initiatives to realize a society where people can demonstrate their abilities regardless of gender.
Strong commitment by top management is essential to advance D&I, including promoting the participation and advancement of women in the workplace.
The Representative Director Satoru Yamamoto participates in the “Male Leaders Coalition for Empowerment of Women” (Secretariat: the Cabinet Office), and communicate both internally and externally our determination to accelerate efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.
I want the Company to continue to create new values. To achieve this, I recognize that it is important for diverse human resources to utilize their strengths and play active roles in their own unique way. I am confident that promoting the participation of women in the workplace will definitely lead to the realization of our vision.
At our company, we believe that men’s participation in child-care plays an important role in promoting the empowerment of women and creating a workplace culture that is conducive to a diverse workforce. The President himself has committed himself to thinking about how to become a boss who can manage to achieve a good work-life balance for himself and his subordinates.
・I will become an Iku-Boss myself.
・I will take the lead in improving work-life balance for my colleagues.
Creating a workplace where individuals can work with confidence and be in their own unique way is the foundation for promoting D&I. In addition to addressing gender gaps, we aim to become an organization that achieves sustainable growth by fostering an environment where employees from diverse backgrounds can demonstrate their full potential.
In 2022, a dedicated organization for promoting D&I was established within the Human Resources Department of the Human Resources & General Affairs Headquarters (HR&GA-HQ). This organization was named the D&I Group and has become a leader in promoting D&I companywide. In April 2024, the D&I Group was transferred from the HR&GA-HQ to the Sustainability Management Promotion Headquarters. As a department responsible for sustainability management, the group promotes D&I within the Sumitomo Rubber Group.
In 2025, we will establish a D&I Subcommittee as a company-wide organization under the Sustainability Promotion Committee. Each headquarters will participate, and management will monitor the status of D&I promotion throughout the company through the subcommittee.
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Initiatives to Address Gender Gaps:
Creating an organization where diverse human resources can play active roles:
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Certifications
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“L-boshi” (third level) certification A system established by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to certify companies working to create an environment where women can play an active role |
Non-consolidated base | 2020〜 |
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Awarded “Best Workplace” in the D&I Award Japan’s most significant award recognizing companies committed to diversity and inclusion. |
Non-consolidated base | 2023〜 |
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PRIDE Index “Gold” certification An index that evaluates efforts to support LGBTQ and other sexual minorities. |
Non-consolidated base | 2023〜 |
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Certified as a “Hyogo Kobe Women’s Empowerment Business (Mimosa Company)” Hyogo Prefecture and Kobe City jointly certify companies in Hyogo Prefecture that are promoting the participation and advancement of women in the workplace |
Non-consolidated base | 2023〜 |
| Received “Hyogo Work-Life Balance Company Award” Companies and organizations implementing advanced initiatives to promote work-life balance receive awards |
Non-consolidated base | 2022〜 | |
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Acquired “Kurumin” mark Certified as a child-rearing support company by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare |
Dunlop Golf Club Corp | 2021〜 |
A female department manager who participated in the next-generation female executive development program in fiscal 2023 became the first female executive appointed within the company in March 2025. Building on this achievement, we will continue to develop and promote female leaders. Many issues must be addressed to achieve our target of 7% of the percentage (or ratio) of management positions occupied by women. Still, in 2025, we will establish a D&I Subcommittee to promote D&I across the entire company and evolve our initiatives to be more effective.
In 2024, we achieved a 100% rate of male employees taking childcare leave, thanks in part to the introduction of a paid leave system for childcare, which aims to promote the use of childcare leave (including the company’s leave system: a 15% increase from last year). We will continue to strive to create an environment where both men and women can easily balance work and childcare, and aim to be a company where diverse human resources can demonstrate their abilities.
We regularly hold training sessions for executives, including the President, and managers, inviting external experts and female directors from outside the company to help them understand the significance of D&I and the role management should play, and apply what they learn to their daily management activities. We are working to ensure that senior managers keep updating the latest information on D&I so that it can be used to make prompt and appropriate business judgments.
We not only train potential management-level candidates but also strive to produce female top management. Since 2023, we have participated in the Kyoto University Women’s Executive Leadership Program as a regular corporate member. This has allowed several female general managers to acquire the necessary knowledge for management and promote networking with external parties.
Ms. Sonoda, a female Outside Director of our company, participated in the event and openly exchanged opinions on careers and life events. The lively discussion was a valuable opportunity for empowerment for all participants.
To support women’s career development, we have been promoting a mentoring program since 2022, in which senior employees provide guidance and support to junior employees in other departments on their careers, work-life balance, and various concerns they face in their daily work, encouraging self-reflection. In addition, mentors themselves are empowered through dialogue with external professional mentors, which contributes to the development of leaders. Starting in 2023, the program has been expanded to include men as well as women.
To promote a climate of D&I in the Kobe area, where Sumitomo Rubber is headquartered, our Company and two other Kobe-based manufacturing companies held a networking event for female engineers. Four events were held by the end of 2024. Instead of keeping D&I promotion activities a solo effort, we will contribute to the advancement of D&I across the local community through co-creation with other companies.
The Company recognizes that men’s participation in childcare is essential for improving productivity and creating a workplace where diverse employees can work comfortably, and is working to promote the use of childcare leave. Corporate ethics lectures for executives and those in management position, including the president, and training for general employees have deepened the understanding of the relationship between male childcare leave, D&I, and productivity improvement. In 2024, the Company introduced a paid leave system for childcare. In addition, we are fostering a corporate culture that recognizes the importance of male participation in childcare and diverse work styles by introducing the “Iku-Boss” initiative, which actively promotes D&I, in our internal newsletter.
To raise awareness of unconscious biases and consciously change behavior, we conduct training programs for all employees on a continuous basis and use the results of company-wide surveys to improve the content and delivery of these programs. In 2024, we introduced training for employees at manufacturing sites to foster a corporate culture that embraces diversity.
For creating a workplace where diverse human resources can play active roles, we are promoting Iku-Bosses who support the growth of their subordinates while realizing the organizational performance and their own work-life balance. By measures such as making Iku-Boss Declaration by the President and other managers and posting articles for introducing superiors who proactively address D&I in company newsletters, we are fostering a friendly and positive workplace culture.
To eliminate discrimination based on sexuality in the workplace and create an environment where all employees can work as themselves, we are promoting the increase of Allies (people who understand and support LGBTQ+ people) through various initiatives that promote understanding and awareness among all employees.
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Many work processes at manufacturing sites are still physically demanding, even for men. We are implementing various initiatives on the production floor to create a safe working environment for all employees, regardless of gender or age. In response to a lack of facilities for female workers, we have added welfare facilities such as women’s restrooms and lockers, and renovated restrooms to make them brighter and more comfortable for use during night shifts. We also conduct on-site patrols by female workers to identify and improve issues that have not been pointed out in the past. We are also working to improve equipment to ensure it is more accessible and easier to use not only for women but also for other workers with muscle strength or height limitations.
Furthermore, in 2024, we established the “Future Factory Project for Better Workplaces” under the Sustainability Promotion Committee. We will promote stronger company-wide initiatives to realize a workplace environment where everyone can work comfortably.
Regardless of the type of disability, people with disabilities work in various workplaces, and we support them in utilizing their individuality and abilities. Our facilities are equipped with barrier-free restrooms, and we have job coaches on staff to support employees with disabilities in performing their tasks. We also have health management staff (industrial physicians and nurses) at each business site, creating a system where employees can easily consult with them about their physical and mental health.
*We have a subsidiary, SRI With. Ltd., which specializes in employing people with disabilities.
Under the previous re-employment system, post-re-employment compensation was uniformly reduced. However, in April 2021, we introduced a role-based grading system for managerial positions. Following this, we implemented the same role-based grading system for re-employed personnel in February 2022. As a result, some re-employed personnel who continue to perform line management or utilize their specialized skills can now work at a level comparable to their pre-retirement compensation.
Additionally, in 2024, we introduced a new career vision training program for employees in their 50s. This program aims to help employees aged 50 to 60 and older maintain high motivation and continue to contribute to the company and society by assessing their existing skills and experiences, understanding future career options, and considering reskilling and a fulfilling career path. The program will be expanded to include more employees in 2025.
As part of the D&I project, we launched a project aimed at promoting the empowerment of foreign national employees. Based on the results of questionnaires conducted in 2019 targeting these employees, we began providing Japanese language education while making English versions of in-house materials available to them. Moreover, an Employee Resource Group (ERG) was launched by foreign national employees in 2023. The ERG is currently serving as a place for these employees to share issues and challenges specific to them while developing suggestions regarding how the Company could make improvements.
We have established an internal information page on D&I and actively promote information sharing and understanding within the company. Furthermore, to enhance communication around D&I and to promote the use of HR systems, we introduced a chatbot on our intranet to serve as an information search tool. In this way, we are continuously improving our dissemination of information. To encourage the use of this chatbot, we created a mascot named “Chabo” for information dissemination. Chabo grows as employees use the chatbot. This makes them want to keep using the chatbot in order to nurture the mascot with a sense of attachment. Additionally, Chabo won the Grand Prize in the Internal Communication Character category of the 2021 In-House Newsletter Award*. Chabo has become well-recognized internally as the mascot for D&I and HR communications and has contributed to the broader dissemination of D&I and personnel system-related information.
* Sponsored by wis works, Inc.
In response to recent changes in the social environment, we have introduced and expanded systems and frameworks to allow for diverse work styles. To help employees balance their work and personal lives, we are endeavoring to reduce overtime, increasing the number of days of paid leave, encouraging employees to take advantage of their leave entitlements, and providing support for balancing work with childcare and nursing care. We also respect individuality and are working to revitalize communication by liberalizing office attire and implementing a partial free seating system to create a workplace culture that encourages free thinking and independent thinking.
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