Promotion of Human Resources Development

To raise the collective strength of Toyoda Gosei globally, we are striving to develop human resources and create workplace environments where everyone can display their full abilities.

Enhanced Training Programs, Invigorated Personnel Development

To improve the skills and abilities needed in working at Toyoda Gosei, we are encouraging human resources development in three key areas: problem-solving, which is fundamental to work; the ability to work in teams based on communication; and basic skills for strong on-site abilities.

We have also launched a new training program to develop project leaders who can bring about reforms in order to respond to changes in the business environment, and digital talent to promote DX. We are also actively introducing online training, e-learning and other new training methods.

■Level-Specific Education System

New Employee OJT System

For early employee education, we have introduced a “New employee OJT system” for independence of young employees within three years of joining the company. We provide both on-the-job training and classroom training in the workplace so that they can perform their work according to the PDCA cycle.

Interviews in the pivotal second, fourth and sixth years in the company help them display their abilities, understand their individual growth, discover educational problems early, and take measures to counter them.

Special Skills Dojos, Maintenance Skills Dojos, and Mold Skills Dojos Raise the Level of Skill on the Manufacturing Floor

Improving the skills of each worker is an indispensable part of enhancing manufacturing capabilities at production sites. We therefore started up three dojos in FY2019 with the basic policy of “cultivating a culture that values skills.”

The Special Skills Dojo is designed to help managers and supervisors acquire specialized skills in addition to their supervisory duties. We have started a training program where they learn the mechanisms that lead to defects so that they are better able to take corrective actions.

In the Maintenance Skills Dojo launched to train maintenance personnel, we have added application-level training to respond to the shift to robotics and IT. To promote autonomation through the use of collaborative robots on manufacturing floors, general shop floor workers are also being trained in robot teaching skills. In FY2022, we have also begun to create a curriculum to train people who will bring autonomation to existing processes through the use of collaborative robots.

The Mold Skills Dojo provides basic skills training and trainer training for mold maintenance personnel at domestic and overseas locations. So far a total of 100 people have been through this dojo.

We have been entering the Skills Olympics since 2017. By helping young employees to acquire the high-level skills and knowledge related to their essential work, we are striving to develop employees who can play active roles on the production floor in the future. With these ongoing initiatives, we hope to achieve strong manufacturing floors that support the company.

Acquiring and Developing Candidates for Management Leadership

To systematically develop human resources who can assume roles in future management, we have adopted a comprehensive system from management strategy to personnel selection, training, and assignment. We acquire future executive candidates for important posts in each generation, starting with young employees, and continuously develop them through training and putting their training into practice (tough assignments). We will develop diverse human resources who can lead and realize change by appointing local staff/employees from outside the company.

Local Executive Training

Project Leader Training in the Age of VUCA

In addition to training based on problem solving, we believe people need to develop the expertise, capabilities, and skills required to respond to changes in the business environment and implement management strategies. We have started a training program where people learn new ideas, approaches, and other skills to create new value and take the lead in innovating business operations. Three types of project leaders are trained: 1) Business leaders who create new businesses and products, 2) Business innovation leaders who innovate business processes, and 3) DX leaders who lead digital human resources and promote DX. This training has been fully implemented since September 2022.

Digital Personnel Development for People Who Can Carry Out DX

In response to the rapidly changing business environment, we are overhauling production processes and products using data and digital technology. While transforming our business model, we are also transforming the work itself and the organization, processes, corporate culture and atmosphere. We will continue this DX to gain a competitive advantage. Training people who can do this is an urgent task, and in January 2022 we introduced a new educational program to train core digital personnel.

With this we will ensure business innovations and our competitiveness in the market, so that we can grow as an organization that can respond flexibly and rapidly to market changes.

Creating a Pleasant Corporate Culture

Toyoda Gosei believes that the development of various systems and measures to improve job satisfaction are crucial for employees to work with energy and enthusiasm. The company provides a safe and comfortable work environment and is actively creating a foundation for each individual to demonstrate their fullest abilities.

Initiatives to Improve Well-Being

We have always been committed to creating a pleasant corporate culture, and in response to the 2030 Business Plan, in order to take full advantage of these initiatives, we have been working to create an environment and systems that enable each employee to achieve self-fulfillment, placing importance on efforts to revitalize people and organizations. To achieve this goal, we are implementing measures to enhance well-being and to enable horizontal collaboration.

Measures to enhance well-being are centered on the three pillars of “Creating a safe and secure place to work,” “Creating a stage where people can play an active role,” and “Shining a light on each and every person.” In FY2023, we have been working on “Creating a workplace where people can communicate with each other” with the aim of changing the management style to one where managers are close to their employees and make the most of each individual’s values. Training is provided to management-level employees (GLs and section managers), and by having them put their training content into practice, we aim to build relationships of trust and bonding.

LGBTQ Initiatives

Creating Systems and Environments for Flexible Working Styles and That Support Increased Activity

Safety and Health

Basic Philosophy

Basic Policy for Safety and Health

The Toyoda Gosei Group considers employee safety and mental and physical health to be one of the most important management issues, and we do our best to ensure secure and pleasant workplace environments for all business activities.

Safety and Health Initiatives

In the Toyoda Gosei Group, safety and health declarations are made and company activities are spread based on the above basic philosophy.

Implementation System

The Central Safety and Health Committee, chaired by the general manager in charge of the Safety & Health Promotion Division and attended by the president, the labor union chairperson, all plant managers in Japan, and the presidents of domestic and overseas subsidiaries, meets four times a year to report and deliberate on various safety and health-related measures, and report the results of these deliberations to the Board of Directors.

In addition to the deliberation results of the Central Safety and Health Committee, the entire company works together to implement initiatives by repeatedly disseminating safety information through the president’s New Year message and company newsletters. We also regularly share information with our suppliers through procurement liaison meetings and other means.

Targets and Achievements (Global)

Based on the belief that it is the company’s responsibility to ensure that all employees return home from work in the same good health state as they arrived at work, we have set a global target of zero critical^*4 and severe^*5 STOP7^*6 accidents, and are implementing various measures. In FY2022, we implemented initiatives to prevent entanglement accidents by focusing on eliminating hazardous sources, isolating hazardous sources, and shifting to inherent safety measures through automation and other means.

In FY2022, to prevent entanglement accidents in which a worker gets caught in a machine, “separation” measures were taken to remove workers from contact with sources of danger. A “shift to essential safety measures,” in which sources of danger are eliminated or their energy is reduced, has also been adopted as a priority measure in the company’s activities.

■Global Target Achievement in FY2022

		Result	Assessment
No. of critical accidents	0	0	◯
No. of severe STOP 7 accidents	0	1	×
No. of lost time injuries	0	0	◯

• *4 Critical: Death
• *5 Severe: Victim loses part of body (or function)
• *6 STOP7: Seven events that may cause serious injury: (1) Crushing or entanglement, (2) Heavy object, (3) Drop or fall, (4) Electric shock, (5) Vehicle, (6) Hot object, explosion, or gas, (7) Amputation

■Global Critical and Severe STOP7 Accidents
(including contractors and engineering companies)

Specific Efforts

■Safety and Health Management System

■Equipment risk assessments

Risk assessments of equipment are conducted at the time of new installation, modification, and relocation by equipment planning departments, with the purpose of eliminating risk factors in the equipment design and fabrication stages. A safety check is done at the stage before the equipment is used to evaluate compatibility with our own equipment safety criteria to confirm safety.

■Work risk assessments

In manufacturing departments, surveys of workplace risks and hazards are performed and work risk assessments are done to counter them. Reliable implementation of risk reduction measures leads to the prevention of risk.

Work Accident Occurrence

To prevent entanglement accidents in which a person gets caught in a machine, with the aim of achieving zero critical accidents and severe STOP 7 accidents globally, Toyoda Gosei has been shifting to measures that isolate people from sources of danger and measures for essential safety. Despite this, one severe STOP 7 accident corresponding to machine entanglement occurred at an overseas subsidiary.

Analysis of the causes of the accident revealed that the risk identification was weak and safety measures remained too dependent on humans. To address this, the company has incorporated initiatives aimed at establishing a culture of risk assessment globally, and continues to work towards preventing critical and severe accidents.

Health Management

Basic Philosophy

We conduct health management activities so that all people working in the Toyoda Gosei Group can continue working in both mental and physical health.

Promotion System

Health Management Activities and Certifications/Awards

The ability of each employee to work with energy and health into the future is essential as a foundation to fulfill our corporate social responsibility as stated in Toyoda Gosei’s management philosophy. In recognition of this, we are promoting health management to maintain and promote the health of our employees.

A strategy map based on the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Guidelines for Administrative Accounting of Investment in Health and Productivity Management was created for the purpose of quantitatively showing health management initiatives and results, and implementing the PDCA cycle for activities. We will promote health management in a continuous and effective manner by quantitatively evaluating investments, effectiveness, and resources.

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■Strategy map

* Click to enlarge

In Toyoda Gosei’s strategy map, “cultivating and embedding a health culture of mutual development” is set as a management challenge to be solved through health management. Activities are being conducted with the ultimate goals of (1) reducing absenteeism, (2) reducing presenteeism, and (3) increasing engagement.

Since FY2021, reducing presenteeism has been a special priority, and the company has been promoting health creation and education activities.

Health Challenge 8 in Health Management

As part of its commitment to fulfilling the corporate social responsibility outlined in the company’s management philosophy, Toyoda Gosei recognizes that it is essential for each employee to be able to work with energy and health into the future. To that end, it is engaging in health management to maintain and improve the health of employees.

Of the health KPIs defined in Health Challenge 8, stress, sleep and exercise had low scores and were designated as priority items. Various initiatives have been implemented for improvement in these areas, including presentations on sleep and stress and the distribution of videos to promote exercise by athletes in affiliate companies. In recognition of these efforts, Toyoda Gosei was certified as a Sports Yell Company 2023 by the Japan Sports Agency and as an Outstanding Health & Productivity Management Organization 2023 (White 500) by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

• ※9 Health Challenge 8 is a metric consisting of the 8 items of weight, breakfast, alcohol, snacking, smoking, exercise, sleep, and stress

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Exercise videos by Toyoda Gosei and affiliate company athletes

Raising Health Awareness and Changing Behaviors

Enhancement of Specific Health Guidance and Medical Checkups

2021 Specific health guidance implementation rate 82.7% (Active support implementation rate 68.6%, Motivation support implementation rate 96.9%)

In 2019 we adopted specific health guidance (active support) for groups in collaboration with the health insurance association. This led to a significant increase in the specific health guidance implementation rate, from 42.6% in 2018 to 81.0% in 2020. In regular health checkups, we began checking all employees using even tests that occupational physicians say could be omitted, for the early detection of anomalies and to establish healthy lifestyles.

In addition to health guidance by industrial physicians and others for employees with adverse health checkup findings, since FY2022 employees have received age-specific health guidance through interviews with a public health nurse every four years, regardless of whether or not any problems are found in health checkups. Opportunities are also provided for all employees to review their own health.

Dietary Improvements

In FY2021 we remodeled our company cafeteria with the concept “Eat delicious food and be healthy.” Healthy meals with lots ofvegetables and protein were incorporated in the menu, which was adapted to be both healthy and satisfying in terms of qualityand volume. A system was also introduced that allowed people to check on their smart phones the nutrition and calories in the meal they ate that day for self-management.

Initiatives to Maintain and Improve Women’s Health

Toyoda Gosei places importance on health management activities that support the health of working women.

The first “Women’s Health Lecture” for managers and female employees was held to improve their health literacy, and in March 2023 a special menu (Pink Ribbon Lunch) was offered in the cafeteria for “Women’s Health Week.” Information was also provided via panels, flyers, and digital signage to raise awareness of breast and uterine cancer screenings. The cancer screening rate is particularly low for women in their 20s, and in collaboration with the health insurance association leaflets are distributed to those women to encourage them to undergo medical checkups.

We are also trying to support women who are returning to work after parental leave by providing information on consultation services and self-care information to help them balance childcare and work from a health perspective. In 2022, a women’s consultation office staffed by female medical professionals (doctors, nurses) was also opened. This office also provides health consultations.

Anti-smoking Measures

With the aim of preventing health damage in smokers and passive smoking in non-smokers, we first banned the sales of cigarettes in the company (including vending machines). At the same time, we provided support by public health nurses to help smokers quit smoking. Since 2016 we have held “Smoking cessation talks” with invited outside instructors and held experience-based exhibitions that include measurements of lung age as motivation to quit smoking.

In anticipation of the Revised Health Promotion Act in Japan, which went into full effect in April 2020, we extended a smoking ban on all company property in the country starting in January 2020. At that time, the ban on employee smoking was not limited to company property but was extended to at least 100m from the property boundaries to prevent passive smoking by neighborhood residents. In cases when a nursery school or medical institution was in that zone, we expanded the ban zone to include the area around them.

To protect all people working in the company from passive smoking, we set a company policy with the aim of preventing harmful passive smoking. In addition to steady efforts beforehand to gain employees’ understanding, we made repeated requests to staffing agencies and contractors for their cooperation. Today, one year after the smoking ban on company property, its continuation has had no effect on productivity or employee retention.

The company-wide smoking rate has decreased from 42.5% in 2010 to 25.7% in 2022.

■Smoking Rate at Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Responding to and Preventing Mental Health Problems

Stress checks and screening

A stress check system was introduced in FY2021, and a structure was set up that allowed people with high levels of stress to seek early assistance.

In addition to feedback on the results to individuals, group analysis result feedback is also provided to workplaces and advice is given about ways to improve the workplace.

Prevention of Infections Among Employees

Subsidies for antibody tests for diseases such as measles and rubella were added to the company benefit system in 2020. Partial subsidies are also given for influenza vaccinations, including for family members.

In response to the novel coronavirus we have prepared infection prevention guidelines, update them as needed, and are spreading them globally to prevent infections. At the request of the government, we have also conducted workplace vaccinations four times in our headquarters district and the Morimachidistrict. To counter diseases such as AIDS (including HIV infection), tuberculosis, and malaria that are subject to notification based on the Infectious Diseases Act, our Crisis Management Guide details prevention and initial response methods and we are familiarizing employees with them.

Many Types of Health Education

Responding to and Preventing Mental Health Problems

In 2018, we established TG Group Mental Health Activity Meetings and have promoted mental health activities at all subsidiaries. As a result, we have been able to carry out efforts including mental health education, contracts with psychiatrists, and the introduction of EAPs in each company.

From 2021, the name has been changed to Health Promotion Meetings and we have transitioned to activities that cover overall health, including physical health. Specific areas include (1) Planning targets for smoking bans on company grounds and support to achieve those targets, (2) information sharing and promotion of health creation activities, and (3) information sharing and promotion of mental health activities.

In addition, since 2022 smoking has been banned on the grounds of all 13 of the company’s domestic subsidiaries to further raise health awareness.

As a result of these efforts, two domestic subsidiaries received certification as a “2023 Health and Productivity Management Organization” (small and medium-sized business category).