HR initiatives Human resource development

Deriving our competitive advantage from genbaryoku, the SATO Group prizes human resources as the key to value creation and the most important assets we have. To practice genbaryoku and our corporate values that underlie it, we understand that we must bring out the best in our diverse workforce, tapping into different ideas, skills and experiences.
As the business world moves at an ever-increasing speed, we need new systems and functions to foster employees who can think and act on their own to initiate change.

Global

Leadership development program

We offer leadership development programs for subsidiaries.

We assess locally hired managers heading our subsidiaries to understand their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for growth. As part of succession planning, we also identify other potential leaders and assess them too. We are developing action plans to follow up and provide the necessary coaching and group trainings in FY 2024.

Our global learning system: E.D.G.E

We rolled out our learning management system platform E.D.G.E (Engage. Develop. Grow. Evolve) in 2022, which aims to give employees an 'edge' by inspiring them to exceed customer expectations.
The system has helped standardize onboarding for over 400 employees worldwide,¹ cutting the average new employee onboarding time in half in certain countries, from nine months to four and half,² This enables new employees to generate value for the company sooner by learning about products and services without having to rely solely on managers.
It also streamlines managers' roles by allowing them to track training completion rates and guide employees interested in promotion toward the right courses to build the skills they need.
The system helps build a stronger sense of unity worldwide by breaking down siloes and employees report feeling more connected to their colleagues across the world. In our engagement survey, over 60 percent reported in 2023 that the company provides ample educational opportunities and work-related training.

• 1.Global excluding Japan, from 2022 to 2023
• 2.Results in several countries

E.D.G.E statistics on employee learning

Online learning is convenient for employees in different locations and time zones. We have started different awards to motivate more employees to learn and enrol in courses, hoping to increasingly leverage the learning management system as a key pillar of our HR development strategy.

Using selected content from the learning system, we also launched SATO Dojo, a knowledge portal for our strategic partners, to drive more awareness of our products and services and build stronger partnerships globally.

Japan

SATO Campus

In April 2021, we established SATO Campus, aiming to not only strengthen human capital for sustainable value creation in line with our medium-term management plan, but also increase workplace satisfaction. To nurture talent, it is important that we meet employees' professional development needs and help them grow sustainably. SATO Campus has three key objectives:

1. (1)
   Train self-reliant and self-determining talent
2. (2)
   Develop understanding of corporate values and business value chain
3. (3)
   Create opportunities for employees to demonstrate strengths and take new challenges

With a central focus on realizing the career goals of our employees, SATO Campus offers not just training but also programs for job transfer or assignment and channels for fostering connections between employees, and between employees and their workplace. We will take a comprehensive approach to HR development through SATO Campus and further enrich its offerings to encourage employees to think creatively and act proactively.

Overview of SATO Campus (incl. activities that are yet to start or still under consideration)

Career planning

Under SATO Campus, we are working to use the career ladder as an important HR development tool for employees to advance their careers following a clear skills and experience roadmap.
In parallel, we conduct trainings for employees in their third, 10th, 20th and 30th year of service to look back at their career paths and lives and plan ahead. These trainings are also offered to female employees and managers so that they can consciously use design thinking or help team members use design thinking for their careers.
100-year life expectancy is now the norm in Japan. As employees live longer lives, we want to keep them happy and healthy from learning new things and finding meaning in their work. In line with this, we are creating more opportunities for employees to rethink what they value most both in and outside of work.

Career development support

We support employees in achieving the long-term goals they set from career planning.

Personal declaration of career aspirations

Employees define their current job goals and future direction, sharing their career vision with the company.

In-house recruitment

Departments post job openings to attract and recruit suitable talent from existing workforce.

Internal transfer

Employees can register their skills, job experiences and desired role, and apply for transfers, subject to the acceptance of the receiving department.

Global internship

Employees can apply for short-term on-the-job training programs at SATO subsidiaries outside Japan.

Managerial training programs

We train new managers on knowledge and skills they need to fulfil the responsibilities expected of their role. These programs teach managers to be self-reliant and self-determining, setting a good example for their team members to follow.

Statistics on training participants

*Includes both experienced and new senior managers.

Value chain trainings

Value chain trainings in Japan aim to provide employees with a good understanding of our business and frontline operations. Through lectures and site visits, participants gain insights into SATO-specific keywords, business concepts and company operations. Going beyond their own jobs, they learn how every business activity connects us to our customers, and become more aware of how they can maximize the value of the customer experience we provide. This understanding fuels creativity and drives employees to think and take actions to improve their work. Value chain trainings also foster communication across departments and strengthen the fundamentals of company management. We plan to expand these trainings to cover the supply chains of our customers in different industries.

Our in-house value chain

Value chain training statistics

Fostering auto-ID engineers

We encourage employees to take the qualifying exam that is offered by the Japan Automatic Identification Systems Association (JAISA) every year to support the development of auto-ID engineers. Over 570 employees have been certified to date. We also run the JAISA-sponsored annual seminar on auto-ID basics to improve employee literacy in the technology that is core to our business.

Financial assistance for employee self-improvement

The company helps employees pay for job-related courses and certifications based on their needs.

Tuition reimbursement for correspondence courses

We cover full tuition for employees who register for correspondence courses and complete the course requirements within the specified timeframe.

National/industry certification subsidy

We subsidize exam fees for employees who take and pass certification exams that are approved by the company.