Special Feature 2022 - Integrated Report 2022
Human Resources Strategy
I serve as Vice President in charge of the Human Resources Department. I would like to mainly explain how we should build a HR platform that will support our rapid growth.
Grow talent
To develop human resources who are capable of flexibly adapting to a rapidly changing environment and continuing to grow, we are accelerating initiatives to support our employees in their autonomous career development efforts. The first step is to support employees’ thinking about their career. Interviews are held between employees and their supervisors twice a year where they can review their own experience and feelings and think about the future direction of their career. This gives every employee opportunities to think about their career while encouraging the entire department to form an atmosphere that supports the career development of individuals. All of the information provided here is kept under centralized control by the talent management system. So it is possible to match the skills and desires of individuals with the personnel needs of the company and thereby achieve more effective personnel allocation.
The next step is to support their realizing their ideal career. We have systems for in-house job posting and job rotation. Nidec has introduced a job-based personnel system. We encourage a job rotation in three to five years especially for young employees, with the aim of having them experience various jobs before deepening their professional expertise. By making the most of the advantages of Nidec, which has many positions with various global opportunities, we will focus efforts on supporting our employees in their career development for their growth.
Meanwhile, at Nidec, a company led by its founder, development of personnel for future top executives is an urgent task. With the Human Resources Development Committee established in FY2020, we have discussed the appropriateness of the candidates for successors to the Group’s important positions, and formulated and implemented the development plan. Starting from FY2021, to develop and train individuals who could be candidates for successors, we recruit talented individuals from younger generations and conduct training over the medium- to long-run.
Revitalizing organizations
We consider the revitalization of organizations as another important task. As a new measure to improve and revitalize organizational performance, the organizational performance survey has been conducted under the leadership of Human Resources Department since FY2021. This is a questionnaire survey designed to clarify the situation of each organization, identify its problems, and help improve performance. Based on the survey results, workplace workshops are held by each organizational unit, where employees discuss good points and problems of their organization, as well as the specific actions taken for the problems as opportunities for follow-up. Furthermore, for good examples of measures taken after a workshop that led to revitalization of the organization, we have a system to enable sharing of successful experience across departments.
Personnel system
The job ranking system (job-based personnel system) introduced in FY2021 is an important measure for achieving the growth of Nidec over the medium to long run.
Before introducing the system, we interviewed directors and department heads regarding nearly 700 positions within Nidec they were in charge of. In the ranking system, the degree of duties and responsibility of each position is quantified by job appraisal, and the grades are determined based on the degree of responsibility of the position. So general managers may have different grades depending on the responsibility of their position.
Compensation is also determined in the job-based personnel system in view of the standards in external market. This is expected to contribute to recruiting talented human resources and preventing their outflow. So far, the ranking and compensation systems have varied among the Nidec Group companies. By expanding the application of the new system to our group companies, smooth personnel relocation will be enabled. In-house disclosure of job descriptions started in July 2022, which is expected to be actively used to support employees building their career plans.
In addition, in line with the introduction of the job-based personnel system, an in-house job posting program started in FY2021. This program allows recruitment of personnel from within the Nidec Group. The positions and their job descriptions, eligible applicants and other information are disclosed to encourage voluntary personnel relocations. Meanwhile, enabling flexible transfer of human resources to and from overseas group companies or overseas sites is another important task in human resources development and recruitment. Starting in FY2022, two non-Japanese executive officers have been appointed at the head office. As personnel transfers across countries and regions are expected to increase, it is necessary to build a personnel system that enables smooth transfers.
As for the compensation level, we announced in FY2020 a 30% increase in compensation by FY2023, which should be implemented in combination with the improvement in productivity declared in Vision 2025. Aiming to be a highly productive organization with “a capable few,” we will set a compensation level competitive with other companies, thereby promoting recruitment of excellent human resources.
Other systems
Regarding other systems, we have integrated the retirement benefit programs within the group. Nidec had two types of retirement programs; defined benefit pension (DB) and defined contribution pension (DC). But they were integrated into the defined contribution pension program in October 2021. We will apply a similar program for our group companies, with the aim of facilitating smooth personnel transfers within the group. We will also review other systems as necessary with a view to establishing the basis for the growth of the Nidec Group in the future.
Finally
In line with its 50th anniversary on July 23, 2023, Nidec plans to change its company name in Japanese on April 1, 2023. All of our consolidated subsidiaries both inside and outside Japan will also be renamed to names starting with “Nidec,” which is our Group brand name. We will thus advance the integrated global group management of Nidec, which will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary. Aiming to establish a platform to this end, we will make daily efforts to advance our personnel-related measures.
