Human Resources Strategy

Initiatives to Advance Human Resource Management

Human resources strategy

In order to continue to fulfil our purpose in a world of accelerating change in the business environment, working practices and values, we believe we must transform into an organization capable of autonomously honing our expertise and playing an active role. Based on this understanding, our human resources management policy seeks to continuously support human resources who continue to autonomously take on challenges and make changes.

The human resources management with two major pillars: autonomy and expertise

Based on this policy, the Bank implemented a revision of its personnel system in April 2023, with two major conceptual pillars of “autonomy” and “expertise,” aimed at enabling employees to autonomously enhance their expertise so they can play active roles both internally and externally, resulting in advancement of the organization.
In fiscal 2024, we instituted a “job group” system that classifies our businesses according to which customers they serve, what value they deliver and how this value is provided. This system involves employees signing up to a job group based on their own aspirations and career history. In principle, they then undertake work classified under this job group, thereby honing their expertise over the longer term.
We have established a number of systems to help our employees carve out an autonomous career path and to realize their ambitions, including a firm-wide open job posting that enables employees to choose their business area for themselves, a Trainee System providing opportunities to gain business experience inside and outside Japan, and a Course Change Program for employees wishing to enlarge their scope of activity.
For human resource development, we have introduced the notion of job competency, or required abilities for particular duties and functions, in addition to common competency, which defines commonly required abilities. Through interviews between supervisors and subordinates, we confirm the required abilities (competencies) and review and evaluate the behaviors demonstrated in various work-related situations, with the results being fed back to promote staff awareness and commitment to enhancing expertise.

Business strategy and human resource strategy alignment

In terms of aligning this personnel system based on our human resources management policy with the business strategy required to achieve our Medium-Term Vision, we have formulated a human resources portfolio strategy as a framework for developing the requisite types of human resources capabilities.
As well as developing the specialist and diversified types of human resources required by the organization as a whole, this enables us to take a strategic approach to building our human resource capabilities. We utilize backcasting to identify the specialisms necessary to achieve our business vision, enabling a top-down approach to building up the particular areas of human resource we need to strengthen, and a continuous PDCA cycle to support their development.

Job Group System

The job group system involves employees signing up to a job group based on their own aspirations and career history. In principle, they then undertake work classified under this job group, thereby honing their expertise over the longer term.
We have formulated a group job description for each job group, defined the requisite expertise for each function and career grade, and set job competencies for development and evaluation that form the basis of this expertise. We aim thereby to enhance the Bank’s expertise.
For Associate grade employees (mainly younger employees), we offer opportunities through job rotation and have introduced an internal internship program that enables them to gain brief experience of business in different job groups to help them when it comes to signing up to a job group in the future. We have also initiated the job selection open recruitment system that allows them to select the next business area they will engage in for themselves.

Human Resource Development Initiatives

Strengthening Training Program for Each Job Group

We are nurturing expertise by strengthening our training program for each job group. Taking the Food and Agriculture Business as an example, we have taken steps to effectively link on-the-job (OJT) and off-the-job (Off-JT) training to develop effective human resources. In OJT, we support employee growth through a cycle of one-on-one reviews of everyday business performance and workplace practice, with the job competencies providing shared yardsticks for managers and subordinates. In Off-JT, we support employees in taking systematic training courses suited to their level of expertise.
These training courses are designed to progressively upskill employees by utilizing practical content relating to client proposal-making and prioritizing the use and retention of learning.

Strengthening the Organization-wide Training System

(1) Nurturing Leaders and Managers
Fostering the abilities of those in leader and management grade roles is key to developing our human resources based on our human resource management policy. The Bank has instituted a system of training programs tailored to each role level to help Leaders and Managers learn how to support the development of their subordinates through effective dialog. By linking the programs to workplace practices, we hope that Leaders and Managers will really assimilate what they learn, rather than seeing training as something purely separate from daily working life.

(2) Acquiring a Diverse Range of Experiences and Ideas
The Bank also provides cross-border training (opportunities to transcend the boundaries of the organization and gain experience in other industries as well as for learning and co-creation through interaction with employees from other industries) so that employees can encounter ideas, values and working practices that do not exist within our organization, thereby making for a more diverse workforce.

(3) Autonomous Career Development
The Bank facilitates autonomous career development for its employees in all business streams by providing support for upskilling, reskilling and career autonomy. We also have an overseas trainee program enabling employees to gain experience working in overseas bases and offer opportunities to study overseas (for an MBA or LL.M) through open recruitment.

Recruitment Initiatives

Based on our human resource portfolio strategy, the Bank is stepping up mid-career hiring as one means of acquiring specialist and diverse human resources and strengthening particular areas of human resource capability where necessary.
Specifically, we have increased our fiscal 2024 target for mid-career hires by fifty percent compared to fiscal 2023. We are also broadening our recruitment methods and recruiting to specified business streams in order to increase hiring in different business areas. Further, we are hiring new graduates to work in specified divisions for those individuals who already know what area they want to specialize in.

Work-style Diversification Initiatives

As part of our development of specialist and diversified human resources, the Bank seeks to provide an environment that allows employees to choose a style of working that fits their own individual life circumstances, such as those surrounding marriage and child-bearing, parenting or other caring responsibilities, and to autonomously carve out a career path unique to them.

Promoting the spread of our corporate culture

In order to remain an organization in which directors and employees have a shared sense of purpose, the Bank pursues a range of initiatives to permeate a set of shared values throughout the organization as the foundation on which day-to-day business to realize our purpose is based. Examples include the following.

Internal Public Relations Initiatives

The Bank started internal PR activities through a corporate portal, with the aim that such delivery of internal information and communication among directors and employees would help them identify with the Bank’s purpose and see it as their own personal purpose. This information communicates best-practice examples of how staff are implementing our shared values and how diverse people are working actively within the Bank. In fiscal 2023, internal information was delivered 74 times.

Improving Employee Engagement

The company conducts a survey on employee engagement at least once a year. The results of these surveys are reported to the Board of Directors and other relevant bodies. Through analysis of the survey results and identification of issues, we discuss and implement effective measures to ensure that employees feel valued in their work and work environment, increasing their engagement and, as a result, we aim to enhance the vitality of the organization.

Anti-Harassment Measures

To prevent sexual or power harassment as well as harassment on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth and child- or nursing-care leaves, we engage in a wide range of activities such as providing e-Learning and position-by-position education, guidance and consultation by the persons in charge of human rights issues throughout the organization, and external contacts for consultation.
We have established and are operating a harassment hotline with which employees can conduct individual consultations, and are seeking to ensure a broad awareness that employees can quickly access the harassment hotline whenever they need to. Further More, we strive to protect the privacy of the persons concerned and to take prompt action.
So that we can ensure psychological safety in the workplace, we are focusing our initiatives on preventing harassment and strengthening the harassment hotline function.

Occupational Health and Safety

The Norinchukin Bank engaged in developing working environments where employees can perform their duties in good health and with a sense of security.
Our health management policy is formulated each year by the Occupational Hygiene Committee. This policy prescribes measures to be taken to reinforce the management of the physical and mental health of employees and help promote their health.
While ensuring that all employees take regular health checkups, we urge their families to take health checkups as well. According to the results of these checkups, health guidance is provided by industrial doctors and medical staff. Efforts are also being made to reduce working hours, considering the possible adverse impact of long hours of labor on employee health.
As part of its efforts to ensure mental health at the workplace, we advise self-care methods for employees, offer counseling and other consultation opportunities, and conduct position-by-position mental health education. In addition, we carry out stress checks, offer readily available self-checking functions and have the Mental Health Consultation Room in place to provide consultations as required at the medical office in the head office of the bank.
To increase the health consciousness of employees and establish the practice of doing moderate exercise on a regular basis, we offer a wide range of educational programs and welfare services. Specifically, we subsidize sports club memberships and have health leaders lead health promotion activities.

Labor Relations

The Norinchukin Bank has an employee union as a counterpart organization to its management. In addition, this employee union employs a union shop system. As a general rule, all employees become union members on joining the Bank.
Our employee union has the authority to negotiate with management on important matters such as the maintenance and improvement of labor conditions for its members. Furthermore, surveys are conducted with members to aid in negotiation with management, and forums have been established for offering various recommendations to management. For any changes in personnel and labor-related systems that would exert significant impact on the lives and work styles of union members, management is required to come to an agreement with the employee union, whether through the management committee, the labor committee or other negotiations.