Japan
Sustainability Data Book 2024Suzuki respects the individuality and will of each employee, regardless of gender, age, nationality, human rights, religion, or disability, and is committed to creating an environment and culture in which every employee can fully realize their potential and enhance their abilities through diverse work styles, while maintaining a balance between work and life.
Promoting participation by women
To further create workplaces where women can work successfully, since 2020, the Company has set a target to triple the number of female employees with job titles in 2025 compared with the number in FY2015, and it is working to increase the number with job titles who are managers in administrative positions or candidates. This target was achieved ahead of schedule, with the number of female employees with job titles reaching 182 in FY2023, which was 3.4 times more than in FY2015.
Meanwhile, the number of female managers was 25 as of FY2023 (ratio of female managers: 1.85%). In order to bring the ratio of female managers to the same level as the ratio of female employees in the future, we will first aim to increase the ratio of female managers to 5.0% by 2030 and will work not only to support a good work-life-balance but also career development. Furthermore, Suzuki considers the low ratio of women in the automobile industry to be an issue. Suzuki is striving to achieve ease of work so that everyone, regardless of gender, age, nationality, human rights, religion, or disability, can work comfortably in all its workplaces, including production plants. To that end, the Company will take steps such as fundamentally improving work environments through production technology innovation.
General Business Owner Action Plan based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace
1. Term of plan
From April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2025 (5 years)
2. Issues
- Low ratio of female managers
- Low rate of paid annual leave taken by all employees including managers
3. Target
- (1) Triple the number of female employees with positions in 2025 compared to FY2015, before the Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace was enforced
- (2) Improve rate of paid annual leave taken by all employees, including managers in administrative positions, by 10% compared to FY2018 in 2025
4. Actions to take
Action 1: Reinforce awareness of existing measures to promote flexible work styles, and promote using them
◆ Education regarding work and family balancing (conducted at training by employment year / rank-based training)
- From the first half of FY2020:
- Conduct training to promote understanding among employees with a position
- Conduct explanations and promotions of the work and family balancing system for young employees
- From the first half of FY2021:
- Conduct explanations and promotions of the work and family balancing system to new employees
◆ Communicating information regarding work and family balancing
- From the first half of FY2020:
- Hold gatherings of employees taking childcare leave of absence ahead of their reinstatement (twice a year)
(Explanations of the work and family balancing system, exchanges of opinion with employees who have taken childcare leave of absence, exchanges of information among employees taking childcare leave of absence, provision of information regarding postpartum care from an industrial physician, individual consultations, etc.) - From the first half of FY2021:
- Set up an internal webpage regarding information on work and family balancing support
Action 2: Enhance awareness of promotion to take paid leave, and consider measures to promote taking leave
◆ Inform regarding the status of paid leave taken, and promote using paid leave
- From the second half of FY2020:
- Disclose the status of paid leave taken by each department on the internal website to promote taking leave
- From the first half of FY2021:
- Renew the attendance recording system so that employees themselves can easily ascertain the status of paid leave taken
Other initiatives besides the above include:
- Strengthen human capital development to support the participation of female employees
- Expansion of systems as a foundation for female employees to play more active roles
Going forward, the Company will take various initiatives to become a company where female employees can demonstrate their abilities and work successfully.
System for supporting work and family balancing
We are creating a working environment where employees with motivation and ability can continue working through a system that enables employees to choose from various working styles. We are enhancing awareness of work and family balancing in the entire workplace and promoting an employee-friendly working atmosphere.
● Short working hours system (childcare and family-care shortened working hours)
We have adopted a system to shorten daily working hours to six or seven hours based on application by employees raising children who are elementary school-aged or younger, or employees with family members in need of nursing care. In FY2023, 355 employees used this system.
● Leave · Leave of absence (childcare and family-care leave)
Many employees, both men and women, who need to concentrate on childcare or nursing care use the leave of absence system. In FY2023, 395 employees used this system. From April 2022, to create an atmosphere in which it is easier for men to take part in child-raising, the newly established “Paternal Childcare Leave” of up to five days can be taken within eight weeks of the birth of a child, in addition to the existing two days of “Paternal Childcare Leave.” In FY2023, 289 male employees took childcare leave (63.1%), reflecting steady progress in fostering a supportive corporate atmosphere.
● Life (livelihood) support leave
Employees can carry over up to 40 days of paid leave beyond the two-year validity period after it is granted. We have also introduced the Life Support Leave system, which allows employees to take leave for injury or illness, nursing care of parents or children, infertility treatment, and bone marrow donation.
● Acquired 2022 Kurumin accreditation
In accordance with the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children, Suzuki has received Kurumin certification as a company that supports child raising.
● Information sharing seminar for parents
Suzuki has restarted an Information sharing seminar for parents, which had been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. The seminar is intended for employees taking childcare leave and their spouses. It is held to create a system that allows employees to return to the workplace smoothly without feeling anxious, and to easily seek consultation after they are reinstated by sharing the experiences of employees who have returned to work from childcare leave and exchanging information among employees. The seminar is also held to give married couples a deeper understanding of childcare in dual-income households.
● Online consultation service for pediatrics and obstetrics-gynecology
Since April 2023, Suzuki has introduced a service that allows users to easily consult specialists on issues related to pregnancy, infertility, childbirth, childcare, and women’s health online from their smartphones anytime, anywhere. With this service, Suzuki aims to create an environment in which employees and their families in Japan, as well as personnel stationed overseas and their accompanying family members, can find solutions to issues and work with even greater peace of mind.
■ Overview of Obstetrics-Gynecology and Pediatrics Online
| Eligible users | Suzuki’s employees and their family members |
|---|---|
| Consultation topics | Issues related to women’s health (childbirth, infertility treatment, menstrual irregularities, menopausal symptoms, etc.) and issues related to children’s health and childcare |
| Consultation methods | Text messaging, video call, LINE (text messaging, voice call, video call) |
JapanSuzuki Motor Sales Miyazaki Inc.
Suzuki Motor Sales Miyazaki is making efforts in accordance with its actual corporate conditions and the lifestyles of its employees, such as introducing “child nursing care leave” and the “short-time flex system” and reducing overtime work by implementing “no overtime days” so that employees can balance work, childcare, and family life and work with peace of mind. In September 2023, it received Kurumin certification as a company that supports child raising.
To ensure that employees understand and take advantage of these systems so that they can thrive in the workplace for a long time, the company held a study session in June 2024, during which lectures were given about the work-life balance support systems, including childcare and nursing care leave.
LGBTQ
In addition to prohibiting harassment and discriminatory language and behavior related to sexual orientation and gender identity in our employment regulations, we are working to foster a culture of understanding and acceptance of sexual diversity among our employees, including addressing the issue of outing someone in the Compliance Handbook distributed to all employees to raise awareness. In addition, we have standardized uniforms for men and women and added gender-neutral restrooms.
Employment of people with disabilities
Suzuki strives to create a working environment where people with disabilities can continue to work at ease. We appoint a specialist in charge of employing people with disabilities, as well as a psychiatric social worker in the Human Capital Division to provide individual consultations periodically and also assign a vocational life consultant for persons with disabilities to each workplace to care for their problems.
Suzuki Support Co., Ltd., a special subsidiary company established in February 2005, has been conducting business activities for 20 years. As of the end of March 2024, 79 employees with disabilities, including those with severe disabilities, are performing janitorial services at Suzuki’s head office, employee dormitories and related facilities and stationery management services, as well as farm work at Suzuki’s farm together with supervisors. Their sincere and cheerful attitude toward work greatly encourages all the people in Suzuki. Suzuki will, through Suzuki Support, continue to actively employ people with disabilities for them to feel happiness through working and to grow as people through social participation in line with the philosophy behind the establishment of Suzuki Support, which is to contribute to society.
[Summary of Suzuki Support]
- 1. Company name
- Suzuki Support Co., Ltd.
- 2. Capital
- ¥10 million
- 3. Capital investor
- Suzuki Motor Corporation
- 4. Location
- 300 Takatsuka-cho, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
- 5. Establishment
- February 2005
- 6. Business category
- Janitorial services, stationery management, farming production
- 7. Representative
- Yusuke Kato
- 8. Number of employees
- 129 (incl. 82 employees with disabilities)
Workforce mobility
In a social climate where the mobility of human capital and labor shortages are accelerating, we strive to create a company and workplace environment where people feel that working for Suzuki is both attractive and conducive to personal growth.
Mid-career recruitment
To secure a diverse range of human capital, Suzuki has been focusing on mid-career recruitment in recent years in addition to new graduate recruitment. In FY2023, the Company hired 181 people (a 172% (105 person) increase over the previous year). Furthermore, Suzuki has established a new employment format that is not limited to the existing personnel system for certain human capital who possess knowledge and experience in new fields that have not been accumulated within the Company. This new employment format was implemented beginning in June 2023.
Alumni recruitment
We are actively pursuing alumni recruitment to rehire former Suzuki employees. We believe that they will be able to utilize the knowledge gained while working at Suzuki and combine it with knowledge and experience gained outside in order to once again become an immediate asset to Suzuki as a familiar workplace environment. We also expect them to contribute to the Company’s further growth by recognizing its strengths and weaknesses, further developing the strengths, and addressing the weaknesses.
Referral recruitment
We are engaged in referral recruitment in which we encourage current Suzuki employees to introduce their friends and acquaintances to the Company. By having our employees provide detailed explanations about Suzuki beforehand, applicants can gain a deeper understanding of the Company. We believe this will help them become familiar with Suzuki before joining, thereby enhancing employee retention.
Recruitment of digital professionals for next-generation technology development
Securing digital professionals necessary for the development of next-generation technologies, including CASE, has become an urgent priority. Amid the shortage of digital professionals in Japan, we have been focusing on India, which has produced a large number of talent in this field, and have been recruiting directly from the Indian Institutes of Technology Hyderabad since 2018. (A cumulative total of 16 employees have been hired as of April 2024.) In the Indian market, which is one of Suzuki’s strengths, we are working together with our subsidiary Maruti Suzuki India Limited to improve our competitiveness through the exchange of human capital.
| Communication environment |
|
|---|---|
| Japanese language education program | We provide foreign employees with educational opportunities and funding to acquire the minimum Japanese language skills necessary for independent daily life at the Company and in society. Additionally, we support self-education to achieve higher levels of Japanese language skills. |
| Providing food and housing environment | In terms of food, we offer authentic Indian cuisine in the Company cafeteria to accommodate Indian employees, who make up the majority of our foreign staff and have distinct food cultures. In terms of housing, our Company dormitories provide Western-style rooms, vegetarian-only kitchens, and fully private shower rooms to cater to the needs of foreign employees with different lifestyles. |
| Utilization of external services | We provide detailed services for foreign employees in cooperation with external providers who offer consultations on daily life and concerns. |
TOPICSTORIZEN and Suzuki start collaboration to improve food environment for foreign employees
—Serving authentic Indian vegetarian dishes to the Suzuki employee cafeteria—
TORIZEN Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture; Representative Director: Yoshitaka Date), a company engaged in the bridal and restaurant businesses, and Suzuki, have developed food kits for food service providers that enable them to serve authentic Indian vegetarian dishes with simple cooking, and have started serving them in Suzuki’s employee cafeteria.
At Suzuki, foreign employees from India and other countries are active mainly in the engineering departments in Japan, and the Company plans to increase the number of foreign employees, including highly skilled workers. Suzuki has served Indian vegetarian food in the cafeteria, and with this introduction, the Company will enhance the food environment in order to create an environment in which foreign employees can exercise their motivation and ability in a fulfilling state of mind and body to work actively.
Starting with the introduction of Indian vegetarian dishes, the company will enhance menus for foreigners and create a comfortable working environment.
In addition, in the future, the two companies will consider offering a service to serve foreign dishes to companies nationwide that have issues with the food environment of foreign workers.
To celebrate the launch, a tasting event of Indian vegetarian dishes was held at Suzuki’s head office, attended by Hamamatsu Mayor Yusuke Nakano, TORIZEN’s President Yoshitaka Date, and Suzuki’s President Toshihiro Suzuki.
Tasting event
President Suzuki (left), Hamamatsu Mayor Nakano (center), TORIZEN’S President Date (right)
Visualizing human capital
By breaking down tasks by individual division, visualizing the workflow and skills required, and linking the skills needed by each employee, the tasks that are dependent on specific individuals will become clear. This allows for an understanding of the allocation of human capital in one’s own department, clarifying plans for supplementing or training of staff in anticipation of any personnel vacancies. Through dialogue between supervisors and their team members during target challenges and skill development interviews, personal development plans, career paths and achievements are continuously shared, encouraging and evaluating individual growth and contributing to the growth of and reinforcing the organization. In the future, a “task breakdown chart (skill map)” created by each department will be incorporated as human capital data in the human resource base system and utilized in understanding the state of human capital and for recruiting and assignment, reskilling, talent management and so on.
Succession plan
The Company is working to develop a succession plan for next-generation leaders (officers, Executive General Managers, Division Managers) with the goal of maintaining continued corporate growth. In conjunction with human resource system reforms carried out in April 2024, we defined the competencies, personal and behavioral attributes required of each position, clarifying the roles of employees with job titles. In addition, we have established a talent pool of those at the executive and managerial levels, allowing for flexible assignment of these individuals in key management positions within the organization. Position promotions are determined at meetings of the Executive Committee, where the president and other executives exchange opinions based not only on recommendations from supervisors but also on a list of successor candidates drawn up by the Human Capital Department. Going forward, we will conduct multi-faceted evaluations of managers to assess their suitability as leaders from every perspective, and will work to engage in appropriate placement of personnel and human capital development.
Departments with human resources function
To respond more accurately and promptly to on-site issues closer to the field based on the three reality principles, a new department-specific human capital function, independent of the Human Capital Development Division, was established within the Automobile Engineering and Manufacturing fields in 2023. In addition to working together to solve individual employee concerns and issues, these departments hold roundtable discussions where junior employees and officers and executive general managers can dialogue directly with one another, and gather feedback from the field to drive workplace improvements and problem-solving initiatives.