1. Basic Policy

Realizing Our Purpose

• We have defined our purpose to be to "sustain the prosperity of society, through innovation and communication". We will simultaneously realize both basic growth with our traditional strength of communication (dialogue) and disruptive growth through new social and technological innovations, and return the value we create not only to our company but also to society.
• We believe that human resources are the root source of the power to drive these old and new growth models at the same time. Our goal and reason of existence are to realize the purpose. To that end, each employee has a role, and we believe that it is a "work" or "duty."
• Our company is composed mainly of human resources (in other words, "human capital") based on recruitment in each of about 40 regions. Our value creation model has a basic structure in which the business is operated with the "human capital" as an input, and as a result, the "amplified and expanded human capital" is output to society together with profits. Also, we believe that it is the "shared value" between us and society to have people develop so-called "intellectual added value" ("intellectual capital") such as know-how and skills while working, and to have more opportunities to play more active roles in society.
• Therefore, education is the greatest theme in our company. We have been focusing on human resources development.

HR Policy

• We define material issues as the critical issues that we share with society. Diversity of human resources and work styles is the most important one. Next most important is improving the performance of human resources (quality and productivity).
• We have established a HR Policy based on those issues. This policy summarizes our human resources concept and values. We share three short key phrases company-wide: grow together, take on challenges and continue to improve. We do that to "build diverse workplaces where our employees can work with peace of mind, good health and can work as themselves" as stated in our Sustainability Policy. We also share those phrases so that our employees can convert our purpose into concrete actions in their work.
• We are aiming to make both our employees and our company more sustainable, stronger and better. We will achieve this aim by employees working with the values in our HR Policy and with our company offering support by providing opportunities and developing an environment (with job satisfaction).



• Priority Targets
  • Develop professionals:

    We provide training programs to strengthen the competencies widely sought after in general by society regardless of industry or job to employees aiming to become world-class business professionals.

  • Develop leaders:

    We offer a program to acquire the basic skills and stance as a leader. We also provide a next-generation leader development program to develop those who can lead and develop our business.

  • Improve the retention rate of our contract employees:

    We are optimizing personnel, evaluation and remuneration systems to create an environment where diverse human resources can work in diverse ways.

• Performance Indicators
  • Investment in training to develop human resources:

    We are aiming to increase investment in training to develop human resources by 0.03% from the current level of 0.3% of sales in 2021 to 0.33% by 2025.

  • Female leadership:

    We are aiming for a percentage of female employees in officer positions of at least 10% and a rate of female employees in management positions of at least 20%.

2. Organization and Systems

Human Resources Development Promotion Organization

• We have appointed a Director in Charge of HR Development. We have established the Human Resource & Development Division under that Director. This organization comprehensively plans, designs and builds education and personnel systems.
• We have established a Learning Group as a permanent full-time department for training. The group proactively promotes initiatives to improve the value of human resources focused on the training of employees.

  

3. Human Resources Development and Training Organization

Company-wide Education Program

• *1: Supervisors are responsible for the management and supervision of contact centers to improve their performance. They manage and monitor the progress of business, give guidance to communicators*4, escalate the response and develop the environment.
• *2: Leaders are responsible for supporting communicators based on the instructions of supervisors. Specifically, they are responsible for Q&A sessions, new business training lecturers and some OJT.
• *3: Operations management is our own contact center management system. The basic operations management training allows participants to acquire basic knowledge and skills of operations management.
• *4: The role of communicators is to provide support to end users through the telephone and e-mails in contact centers.
• *5: The telecommunications training is for communicators who provide support by telephone.
• *6: The e-mail communicator training is for communicators who provide support by e-mail.
• *7: We give the details of the elective business course skills, career development, thematic and job-specific training separately in the "Elective Training" item.
• *8: We developed the new division manager training and environment training and human rights training with external professional educational and training bodies.
• *9: Including contract employees and temporary employees

• In addition to the training programs we are developing independently, we are partnering with educational institutions to develop and deliver joint training programs for staff members.
• We are providing training together with GLOBIS Corporation, which has a business school under its umbrella, for executive managers, middle managers and next-generation leaders. In addition, with Insource Co., Ltd., we are jointly running the Women's Challenge Program for female employees.

4. Training Record

Three-year Training Program from Entry as a New Graduate Employee

Training Program upon the Recruitment of Contract Employees (Mainly at Contact Center Locations)

5. Personnel System

Basic Personnel System Structure

Jobs exist as the division of roles to realize the corporate philosophy. We have established the evaluation criteria according to the jobs. We then determine the rank and remuneration according to the evaluation.

• Jobs
  • We define jobs as the roles expected to realize our corporate philosophy. In addition, we initially set the hierarchical level value ("grade") from the responsibilities and scope of the job.
  • There are two types of job: clerical positions and management positions. Management positions consist of line management positions and professional positions.
• Evaluation System
  • We evaluate employees from the two aspects of job performance and competency.
  • Performance: We set performance targets broken down from the company plan for each job. We then evaluate the degree of achievement.
  • Competency: We evaluate employees based on the standard competency level defined with respect to the nature of the job and grade.
• Remuneration System
  • We determine basic remuneration according to each employee's grade, performance evaluation and competency evaluation.
  • We determine bonuses based on the overall evaluation of the individual and the performance of the company.

Expansion of the Personnel System for Contract Employees

Approximately 90% of our entire group consists of contract employees. Making it easier for contract employees to work is an important theme for our group.

• Jobs
  • In addition to our regular grade system, we have introduced additional grades for highly ambitious contract employees. We have increased the number of steps to promotion. This has created a gentle slope suited to work styles.
  • We have introduced a Specialist Course for those working as contract employees. We have developed an environment where we can provide those with diverse aspirations opportunities to further their careers on an equal basis.
  • We have introduced a system to employ those who satisfy conditions such as having been with us for at least six months as indefinite-term employees based on their wishes. We did this before the introduction of the legal system for it.
  • We have also introduced a system for full-time employees to further their careers. We select and review candidates on a large-scale basis company-wide twice a year.
• Evaluation System
  • We also pay a lump-sum performance allowance twice a year to contract employees in addition to officers and other employees according to the degree of performance achievement company-wide.
  • The content of the feedback is focused on mentoring aspects rather than instructive aspects based on the characteristics of the daily work that supports our contact centers. We have introduced special training for evaluators to help them provide such feedback.
• Remuneration System
  • We also pay a lump-sum performance allowance twice a year to contract employees in addition to officers and other employees according to the degree of performance achievement company-wide.
  • We give long-term service awards to employees who have worked with us for a long time.

Company-wide Personnel System Measures

• Assistance Services
  • We have set up a counselling room where employees can discuss work-related concerns.
  • We have set up an assistance and application service for the disclosure and correction of personal information.
  • We have set up an internal and external (lawyer) contact points based on the whistleblowing system to widely accept grievances relating to unfair practices and harassment.
• Talent Pipeline
  • We have put information on the talents of all our employees into a database. We are building a Talent Management Process to recruit, develop utilize and promote excellent human resources.
    • To secure next-generation management and executive talent, we have been conducting Innovation Training targeting manager candidates. Over a period of three years until 2022, a total of 32 individuals have participated in the training, and among them, 13 have been promoted to the position of manager.(As of March 1, 2023)
  • In particular, we have introduced an independent enhancement program for the pipeline to female managers.
    • Pipeline management by division for management positions of manager and above
    • We are implementing an executive mentorship program primarily focused on the managerial level. Over a period of two years until 2022, a total of 26 individuals have participated in the program, and the number has been increasing year by year
    • Pipeline management by division for those with managerial potential but who have yet to reach a management position
    • We have been implementing the Women's Challenge Program since 2021 with the aim of developing future managerial candidates. Over the past two years, a total of 55 individuals have participated in the program, and among them, 18 have been promoted to managerial positions.(As of March 1, 2023)
• Mentoring System
  • System for mentoring available to all employees.
• Remuneration System for Contract Employees
  • We have structured remuneration for contract employees to cover a wider range of diversity than the remuneration system for full-time employees.
    • We have established items that were taken for granted and difficult to evaluate as evaluation items. Those items include enthusiasm and other areas of work attitude, lateness, absenteeism and other work conditions, and length of employment. We now have an evaluation system capable of thoroughly evaluating work styles in terms of working hard with a positive attitude.
    • In the case of leaders and other management positions, we also evaluate how they interact with their subordinates.
    • We have hourly wage and monthly wage systems. We operate the hourly wage system by fairly understanding the time employees work at the minute level.
• Professional Job System (Specialist Courses)
  • We have established specialist courses that aim to enhance the careers of employees working in contact centers while utilizing their strengths in addition to working in the style determined by our company. We are expanding the diversity of work styles with this course. As a result, we are discovering people with skills in various fields. At the same time, we are improving job satisfaction and increasing the retention rate.
  • We review what is considered appropriate for the specialist courses from among various jobs. We have currently established more than 60 types of specialist courses.
    List of Specialist Courses
• Flexible Work Systems
  • Flex-time work system:
    • We have introduced a fully flexible work system with no core time.
  • Mobile work system:
    • We have introduced a mobile work system to raise productivity, improve the health of employees and to increase their level of satisfaction with life. This system allows employees to choose their optimal environment where they will work to suit their work circumstances and individual lifestyles.
  • Region-specific work system:
    • We have introduced a system that allows employees to choose a way of working without being subject to relocation. The aim of this is to create workplaces that support the work-life balance of employees so that they can work with peace of mind.
  • Extra job and work systems:
    • We have introduced a Double Job System as a system to do an extra job within our company and a Double Work System for extra work outside our company. All employees other than contract employees are eligible for these systems. The purpose of these systems is to increase the skills and income of our employees.
    • The Double Job System enables employees to do an extra job outside the division to which they belong.
    • The Double Work System guarantees the freedom of job choice premised on consideration for legal working hours. Therefore, we basically do not prevent employees from using of this system.
  • Work share system:
    • We have introduced a system to reduce the burden of work by assigning part of an employee's roles to the Work Share System. The purpose of this system is for when an employee's work hours are restricted such as due to reduced working hours because of childcare, nursing care, treatment for their own illnesses, pregnancy and infertility treatment.

6. Career Support

• Certification Assistance System:
  • We have introduced a system to assist with the cost of taking and renewing certifications. The aim of this is to support the improvement of skills in individuals and to enhance the organization overall. This system currently applies to more than 100 qualifications.
    List of Certification Assistance System
• Open Recruitment System
  • We have introduced an open recruitment system. The system matches the needs from divisions with the transfer needs of employees to increase the fluidity of personnel over the whole organization and to better ensure we place the right person in the right place.
  • Even contract employees can use this system depending on the job. We have also established jobs that allow contract employees to apply to become full-time employees at the same time as applying for the position.
• Career Counselling
  • Nationally-qualified employee consultants provide career counselling to develop the careers of contract employees.
• Job Rotation
  • We implement job rotation, taking into account employees' past assignment records, as an opportunity for diverse experiences. In 2021, 72 individuals were transferred, and in 2022, 146 individuals were transferred.
• Internships
  • We offer two programs as opportunities for students to experience business through our operations.
    • One-day program: This is a program to experience some of the operations of those in charge of contact centers. In FY2022, 192 students participated in this program.
    • Two-day program: This is a program to experience challenge-solving proposals with respect to clients. In FY2022, 66 students participated in this program.
      • Participant achievements in our internships

        Program	FY2021	FY2022
        One-day program	194	192
        Two-day program	48	66
        Total	242	258

7. Data

Hierarchical Training

• Record of Hierarchical Training Attendance by Full-time Employees

  Training	Attendees	Number of Attendees
  		FY2021	FY2022
  New graduate training	New employees	31	40
  Mid-career employee entry training	New employees	54	89
  Training when an employee is promoted to being a full-time employee	Those being promoted to full-time employees	165	162
  First-year follow-up training	New employees	30	39
  New associate training	Young employees	117	101
  Second-year follow-up training	New employees	37	29
  Third-year follow-up training	New employees	20	37
  New expert training	Young employees	131	153
  New general manager training	Pre-management position employees	84	96
  New management training	Management position employees	46	53
  Human resources management training	Management position employees	42	28
  New division manager training	General managers and division managers	47	47
  Total		804	874

• Record of Hierarchical Training Attendance by Contract Employees

  Training	Attendees	Number of Attendees
  		FY2021	FY2022
  Supervisor training	Contact center supervisors*1	272	279
  Leader training	Contact center leaders*2	955	767
  Basic operations management training*3	Contact center leaders to supervisors	218	204
  Operations management training*4（Ⅰ/Ⅱ/Ⅲ）	Contact center leaders to supervisors	-	42
  Total		1,445	1,292

  • *1: Supervisors are responsible for the management and supervision of contact centers to improve their performance. They manage and monitor the progress of business, give guidance to communicators*5, escalate the response and develop the environment.
  • *2: Leaders are responsible for supporting communicators based on the instructions of supervisors. Specifically, they are responsible for Q&A sessions, new business training lecturers and some OJT.
  • *3: Operations management is our own contact center management system. The basic operations management training allows participants to acquire basic knowledge and skills of operations management.
  • *4: "Operations Management Training (I/II/III) is a three-stage training program that deepens understanding through the acquisition of implementation skills and case studies in Operations Management."
  • *5: The role of communicators is to provide support to end users through the telephone and e-mails in contact centers.

Elective Training

• Record of Training Attendance by Selected Employees

  Training	Attendees	Number of Attendees
  		FY2021	FY2022
  Management strategy and marketing	Management position employees	49	-
  Communication that inspires others	Management position employees	25	-
  Innovation training	Management position employees	16	8
  Middle management training	Management position employees	21	8
  Executive management program	General managers and division managers	3	-
  English training	Applicable departments only	6	-
  Total		120	16

Self-development Training (Elective Training)

We provide over 60 elective training courses to improve business skills and job-specific skills, to acquire theme-specific knowledge, and to develop careers.