Human Resources Management

In addition to pursuing sustainable growth for the Mitsui Chemicals Group and promoting the happiness and fulfillment of employees, we are working to develop better, more motivating working environments that will maximize achievements.

Mitsui Chemicals has been steadfastly implementing Work Style Reform Phase I, which mainly focuses on improving the efficiency of input (labor input), such as reducing overtime hours and promoting work structures to achieve more efficient work styles.

On the other hand, in the era of the so-called VUCA*¹, where the world is changing rapidly and the future is difficult to predict, individual employee autonomy and organizational collaboration are needed more than ever.

Therefore, in recent years, we have been focusing our efforts on “Work Style Reform Phase II,” which is directed toward having diverse work styles, improving employee engagement, and maximizing performance values.

Mitsui Chemicals introduced a teleworking program in April 2019. However, the number of days allowed was limited, with very few employees using the program. However, in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we temporarily eliminated the maximum limit for the number of teleworking days as an emergency measure to prevent infection and ensure safety, which in turn resulted in a rapid increase in the number of employees utilizing this program. This has resulted in the expansion of IT tools and the accumulation of IT literacy, etc., expanding the range of work that can be performed during telework. Telework has spread not only in terms of health and safety, such as infection prevention, but also in terms of new working styles that make it easier to work and maximize results. Based on such findings, we revised the teleworking rules as of July 1, 2021, dramatically expanding the number of days allowed for teleworking, provided that employees come to the office at least four days a month. This revision has greatly increased the flexibility of combining telework with attendance, and we encourage employees and the organization to think more independently about their own work styles in order to maximize results.

In December 2021, we conducted a survey of employees regarding work styles such as telework, and found that telework users are using the telework system to their advantage in both their daily lives and work, such as increased non-work time and the ability to hold meetings without worrying about location, and that team management is functioning well even under telework. On the other hand, it was also confirmed that there are still issues to be addressed in terms of current digital tools, office environment, and human resource development.

In March 2023, the Head Office will be relocated to Tokyo Midtown Yaesu (Chuo-ku, Tokyo) and equipped with high-speed communication facilities to support DX promotion measures and other office environment. The use of an office environment that promotes good communication inside and outside the company and supports new challenges for VISION 2030 will allow even greater freedom and respect for diverse work styles when combined with telework, supporting the growth of employees and the company in the next stage of its development from the office environment as well.

In August 2020, we revised the guidelines on the employee dress code for the Head Office and branch offices to clarify the dress code for work, regardless of where employees are working from (both for onsite work and remote work), and to scrap and replace gender-based bans with rules common to all genders to promote diversity. The revision allows employees to make their own decisions on the appropriate apparel, provided that they remain aware of the need for safety, workability, and cleanliness and that their dress is always appropriate to the occasion and corresponds with social practices, especially when meeting clients and external business partners. With this outline, we aim to further foster a culture that allows for change and encourages employees to think and act on their own initiative while increasing the number of options available to them.

In 2004, Mitsui Chemicals launched open calls for internal positions for the company to provide options that help employees proactively plan their career and make choices. Currently, this program mainly targets positions for new businesses and those associated with business expansion in growth domains, and we recruit talent four times a year according to the needs of each department. In fiscal 2022, we received 70 applications for a total of 76 open positions. In addition, when recruiting, the divisions with the open positions hold briefings to accurately inform applicants of the responsibilities, requirements, and experience they can expect to gain, thereby improving the matching accuracy. In fiscal 2022, this program helped reassign 17 employees to positions that match their career aspirations.

The Mitsui Chemicals has been promoting activities aimed at reducing to zero the number of employees whose overtime and holiday work hours total 80 hours or more each month, and in recent years, the number of employees who do 80 hours of overtime work per month or more has significantly reduced. Initiatives include skills training to reduce overtime. For non-management employees, we provide time management training, where they learn specific approaches for reviewing and changing work habits, scheduling, and handling emails. For management employees, we provide organizational operation workshop training, where they learn specific approaches to efficiently run their organizations and how to plan for the reduction of overtime work.

In general, chemical plants operate continuously for long periods of time, but when it is necessary to carry out periodic maintenance, the entire plant is shut down for a specific limited period to allow repairs and inspections to both minimize the effect on production and ensure that the equipment is safe. In order to avoid the concentration of work at certain times of the year due to this scheduled maintenance, we reviewed the work and strengthened our workforce, including alumni and contract workers, which resulted in a significant reduction in the number of employees doing over 80 hours of overtime work a month.

To visualize overtime and hours worked on designated holidays, the managers share the monthly records of overtime and hours worked on designated holidays for each division and each employee. Each manager is working to establish a comfortable working environment by comparing the overtime and hours worked on designated holidays of other divisions and their own division, and by confirming that work is not concentrated on specific individuals. When an employee is found to have worked more than 80 hours of overtime each month, the Human Resources Division conducts an interview with the manager, and reviews and implements specific measures to identify the cause of the overtime and make improvements for the individual employee.

Please refer here for details of the usage status of other systems.

With the aim of realizing a sustainable society, the Mitsui Chemicals Group is strengthening support for working while raising children, not only by reforming work styles but also by providing specialized support for childcare.

Mitsui Chemicals has introduced a program that supports employees returning to work. The principal goal is to create an environment that allows employees bringing up young children to return to work smoothly after giving birth to their child or taking childcare leave and to help maintain a high degree of motivation. The program clarifies the types and details of support for each period from the time before maternity leave through childcare leave to the return to work. Prior to taking leave, the employee and their manager engage in a one-on-one interview to discuss the handover of duties, contact while they are on leave, necessary procedures, and other important issues. Even before returning to work, meetings between employees and their managers are also conducted to share details of work styles that will ensure the work environment will accept the employee and details of their job description when they return to work, and to ensure mutual understanding. After returning to work, the Company provides an explanation of the procedures and support available from its various programs for employees. In this manner, every effort is being made to relieve employees’ anxieties with respect to taking maternity and childcare leave as well as returning to work. This in turn helps to alleviate the need to resign from the Company and allows employees to continue their careers.

The Mitsui Chemicals supports our employees who work while providing nursing care. In order to prevent employees who are nursing caregivers from leaving their jobs, we hold an online seminar every year on the theme of balancing nursing care and work with the aim of promoting the concept of managing nursing care using public and in-house systems. However, participants in seminars tend to be limited because it is difficult for them to become aware of when they may become involved in the caregiving process. Therefore, since fiscal 2021, as an outreach measure, we have been posting useful information for caregivers on our internal portal bulletin board on a quarterly basis. Links to internal and external information are attached to the postings to provide easy access to the detailed information needed. Back numbers are also posted together on the portal, which helps to quickly convey the necessary information to employees who have to start providing nursing care at short notice. The topics we have dealt with include the difference between paid family care leave and family care leave, nursing care insurance certification system, dementia care, communication between parents and children, and cooperation with professionals. Reliable external YouTube videos related to the theme are presented to help them deepen their knowledge of what it takes to care for their loved ones.

Mitsui Chemicals has a program designed to prevent childcare or family care leave from affecting promotion or assessments for payments, bonus payments, etc. Employees who are absent from work for childcare or nursing care reasons will be evaluated fairly based on the degree of achievement of their goals and actions during the period of attendance, as long as the attendance rate for the period subject to evaluation exceeds a certain standard. Their job performance while at work is evaluated fairly, and if their attendance rate is lower than a certain standard, they are exempted from the job evaluation (no rating), so as not to affect their job evaluation or promotion.

In the drive to work style reform, Mitsui Chemicals is working to raise the rate of annual paid leave (20 days). We are taking the following actions to improve the acquisition of paid leave, to support the physical and mental health of employees.