Sumitomo Rubber believes it is important to approach both individuals and organizations to improve human resource performance. As measures for individual employees, we support career autonomy and provide an environment where they can improve their skills in line with their career visions. As measures to enhance the organizational culture, we conduct surveys to visualize the actual state of the organizational culture and support each organization in identifying its issues and promoting initiatives to resolve them.
We have prepared and systematized various training programs to develop human resources who can live up to “Our Philosophy” and enable each employee to actively build his or her abilities and achieve self-actualization toward realizing his or her career vision through a growth cycle.
Based on career vision training for each age group, we provide tiered training, skill enhancement training, and various e-learning content (unlimited learning) to support ability development in response to diversifying needs. Additionally, we will expand training programs to cultivate senior management, global, DX-related, and innovative human resources required for the company’s future growth.
Many of our employees work on the production floor at our factories, and we are also expanding our training system for skilled employees. In addition to promotional training to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for workplace management, we provide long-term practical training to hone management and improvement skills for leading members toward achieving workplace goals as workplace managers.
Having established Our Philosophy in 2020, we have since engaged in across-the-board efforts to disseminate it among employees. To this end, we have defined four phases of entrenchment of Our Philosophy: “recognition,” “understanding,” “empathy” and “practice.” In line with this definition, we are currently implementing various measures designed to suit the situation and phases of entrenchment at administrative divisions, production divisions, overseas bases, domestic affiliates, and other worksites.
The goal is for 80% of employees to reach the “empathy” phase and for all employees to embody Our Philosophy by 2030. We have held annual online seminars in a workshop format to promote understanding, and we are observing steady progress. Currently, we especially focus on dissemination activities targeting technicians at our factories and overseas bases.
As part of our action plans for dissemination, we have incorporated seminars on developing a sense of ownership of Our Philosophy into our tier-based training and promotion training curricula. We also support the implementation of dissemination seminars and workshops unique to each base to foster human resources who can embody Our Philosophy throughout the entire company.
To provide employees with opportunities to shape their careers, take on challenges, and shine, our career support initiatives are centered on three main pillars: programs, training, and counseling.
Under programs, we have introduced three systems: the Career Matching System, Open Project Recruitment System, and Job Exchange Program. The Career Matching System opens for applications twice a year, where employees can register their career aspirations in a database. This data is shared with the HR department and relevant executives to reduce mismatches and expedite personnel transfers. Departments looking to initiate or expand projects, but lacking personnel, can recruit members company-wide. This system also extends to external projects, such as those organized by the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition.
Regarding counseling, since 2023, we have established an internal framework where employees can consult in-house career counselors to aid their autonomous career development.
In 2019, we launched the “Be the Change Project” (BTC) to strengthen our organizational culture and profit base through company-wide initiatives.
To enhance our organizational culture, we are evolving our activities into the BTC Organizational Culture Change Project, which began in 2024. Continuing with our essential policies of (1) developing an environment (systems and corporate culture) supportive of those who take on challenges, (2) creating an open-minded workplace free of boundaries between departments and grades, (3) enabling each individual to exercise leadership, and (4) pursuing highly productive operations aligned with Group-wide strategies, each department is actively promoting activities to achieve sustainable growth and improved performance, as well as to continue changing into a better organization, in order to realize our new Vision for our organizational culture: “A company filled with the joy and excitement of its employees.” and to continue to transform into a better organization.
As part of this project to enhance our organizational culture, we have been conducting annual questionnaire surveys on organizational culture (organizational health surveys) to identify issues and reflect them in formulating our annual action plans.
From 2025, we will shift to a new engagement survey and evolve our activities to further enhance employee engagement.
<Initiatives at Global Bases of Operations>
As one example of its efforts to promote Our Philosophy, at Sumitomo Rubber do Brasil,
management encourages team members to practice “Bad News First/Fast.” The personnel evaluation system combines performance evaluations based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to be achieved through interdepartmental cooperation with behavioral assessment based on the company’s philosophy. In addition, the 9Box method is used to evaluate potential based on attitudes in line with Our Philosophy, which is then utilized in medium- to long-term personnel appointments and rotation considerations. Furthermore, we have introduced “Muito Obrigado” cards to recognize daily activities and behaviors. These cards allow supervisors and colleagues to express gratitude, and quarterly gatherings are held to share best practices company-wide.
