Social

In order to maintain and improve the health of our employees and their families, all of whom support our business operations, we established the health and productivity declaration on October 1, 2019. On the same day, we appointed the President and Representative Director as the Chief Health Officer in order to promote and ensure the implementation of the health and productivity management. We will continue to promote health and productivity management in order to remain a company that is trusted by all stakeholders.

Health and productivity declaration

SMBC Consumer Finance is committed to “health and productivity management,” to enable every employee to continue working energetically in good physical and mental health and deliver customer-oriented services for the realization of its vision for the future: We aim to become a highly trustworthy global consumer finance company. SMBC Consumer Finance also declares that it is working closely with its health insurance society to actively encourage employees and their families to take the initiative and maintain and improve their own health.

October 1, 2019 Chief Health Officer: President and Representative Director

Selection of a Chief Health Officer

In order to maintain and improve the health of our employees and their families, all of whom support our business operations, we established the Health and productivity declaration on October 1, 2019. In addition, in order to further promote health and productivity management, a Chief Health Officer was selected on the same day.

System for promoting health and productivity management

We have assigned members of the Human Resources＆General Affairs Department to four sites: the Head Office (Tokyo), Toyocho (Tokyo), Kyobashi (Osaka), and Gofukumachi (Fukuoka), to take charge of the health and productivity management of employees, established a health office at each site and appointed occupational health staff such as occupational health physicians and public health nurses. Our Safety and Health Committee, Human Resources＆General Affairs Department, occupational health staff, and health insurance society are collaborating with each other and working alongside the Chief Health Officer and Health Officer to implement health and productivity management.

Health and productivity management meetings

The Chief Health Officer, Health Officer, occupational health staff, the health insurance society, the General Manager of the Human Resources＆General Affairs Department, and the Human Resources＆General Affairs Department secretariat hold health and productivity management meetings to identify issues concerning employees’ health and to determine health & productivity management KPIs, policy initiatives, and measures.

Direction of health and productivity management promotion

Based on a foundation of wellbeing, we aim to be a company where employees can work with enthusiasm and energy. • We will ensure that our employees are in good physical, mental, and social health

Health and productivity management strategy map

This map shows the ultimate goal we wish to achieve through health and productivity management and our health investments (major initiatives).

Initiative goals

❶ Key indicators

Ultimate health and productivity-related target indicators (KGI)

Target indicators for health-related initiatives (KPI)

Employee performance metrics

❷ Major initiatives

We conducted a survey on awareness regarding health and productivity management (February 2022)* to confirm employees’ state of awareness. We are taking the following measures to promote the health of our employees and raise their health and productivity awareness.

(*When asked “Do you know about our initiatives for ‘health and productivity management’?, 25.1% of respondents answered “I know very little”)

Efforts to improve employee satisfaction

We are taking steps to not only to improve customer satisfaction, but also to create a workplace environment with a high employee satisfaction level. We are also striving to achieve a work-life balance for employees by supporting them in balancing the two, through measures such as introducing region-specific jobs, the ability to choose to work shorter working hours, providing information to employees taking maternity leave and childcare leave, and holding support seminars for those returning to work. For employees who wish to focus on self-improvement, we have also introduced correspondence courses to help them improve their skills and acquire qualifications, such as Chief of Money Lending Operations. We are also enhancing the quantity and quality of our welfare program menu, such as by introducing a cafeteria plan*1, in which employees can use the welfare program in step with changes in their lifestyles. To strengthen the EAP*2 system, we are developing a range of activities, including responses to leaves of absence and returning to work, the planning and promotion of mental health education, the enhancement of cooperation with occupational physicians and health staff, the establishment of health offices, and the holding of Safety and Health Committee meetings.

In order to maintain a work environment in which each employee is able to work energetically in good physical and mental health, we have established “safety and health regulations,” and we are working to maintain and improve a comfortable and safe work environment, thereby maintaining the health of employees and preventing occupational accidents.

Details of initiatives

❶ Framework

The head office and each site hold monthly Safety and Health Committee meetings to ensure workplace health and safety and to promote a comfortable work environment. The Safety and Health Committee is comprised of occupational physicians, health managers, and employees selected to act as representatives for workers. They discuss and consider measures to prevent occupational accidents, maintain a hygienic work environment, and ensure the health of employees so that everyone can work safely and with peace of mind.

❷ Agenda of the Safety and Health Committee

Discussions are held according to the issues faced at each business site.

FY2023 Safety and Health Committee meeting agendas (Toyosu Head Office)

❸ Health and safety-related data

Recognized as a “White 500 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organization (Large Enterprise Category)”

In March 2024, SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd. was recognized as a “White 500 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organization (Large Enterprise Category)” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan and the Nippon Kenko Kaigi.

Recognized as a Sports Yell Company

We have been recognized as a “Sports Yell Company” by the Japan Sports Agency as a company that actively promotes sports activities to improve the health of its employees.

Efforts to cooperate, exist, and prosper together with business partners

We participate in the “Declaration of Partnership Building,” working to build relationships that promote cooperation, coexistence, and co-prosperity with our business partners. We will also work to support the health of our business partners by jointly organizing health and productivity measures.

“The Two ‘Samas’ and Diversity & Inclusion”

I’ve always held two Japanese phrases that contain the word “sama” in high regard: “Otagaisama (the same goes for me)” and “Okagesama (thanks to you).”We have a wide variety of people working at our company. All of us have our own strengths and weaknesses, and none of us are perfect. One person’s strength can complement someone else’s weakness. By complementing each other, we can create something that is more than the sum of its parts. Everyone’s personalities are also different. Having a diverse range of personalities work together creates a strong team that in turn creates better results and makes us a better company. Diversity is indispensable not only as a source of growth in general, but also for us to achieve sustainable growth. That’s why we all cover for each other, encourage each other, praise each other, and work together while embracing diversity. It’s also important to make sure your gratitude isn’t just kept inside of you, but expressed through your words and actions. If someone or something someone does is foreign to you, that same sentiment will be reflected back at you if you put yourself in their shoes. In order to understand each other, we must first appreciate both each other and diversity through ‘otagaisama’, and express our feelings of gratitude through ‘okagesama’. I believe this is what diversity and inclusion is all about, and I am convinced that when a diverse range of employees accept each other, new innovations are created, contributing to the sustainable growth and development of both society and business.

Terumasa Takahashi, President and Representative Director, Chief Executive Officer, SMBC Consumer Finance

Assigning Engagement Ambassadors

We assign Engagement Ambassadors to each department, working to change employees’ attitudes regarding diversity and creating opportunities for them to thrive.

Unconscious bias training

We have prepared e-learning courses on the subject of unconscious biases, which is an important topic in workplaces where employees have a diverse range of values, attributes, and lifestyles. These courses are available to take at any time.

Support for the career advancement of women

　　　　　

Around half of our employees are women, and promoting the career advancement of women is an important theme that is essential to diversity and inclusion at SMBC Consumer Finance. We are focusing on systems that help women balance work and life, making it easier for them to continue working, and are striving to develop an environment that allows us to provide them with long-term career support. We are also implementing management development initiatives such as enhanced training programs to encourage managers to challenge themselves to achieve further personal growth.

Career training for women

We provide training programs to help women overcome the issues they face specifically at each stage of their career, from fresh young employees to the management level.

Support for a work-life balance

To accommodate the various lifestyles of our employees, we have systems in place to support a work-life balance tailored to the individual circumstances of each employee, such as childcare and nursing care commitments.

Holding of work-life balance seminars

Every year, we hold a Work-Life Balance Seminar to support employees who are balancing work and childcare. The seminar program is intended to allay various concerns about balancing work and childcare, and includes explanations of the personnel systems available, useful information for finding nursery schools for children, and case studies introducing the work styles of more senior employees. The seminars are attended not only by employees who are currently pregnant or on childcare leave, but also by those who are considering having a child in the future. As the number of male employees taking child care leave increases, seminar participation by male employees is also on the rise.

Initiatives to encourage male employees to take part in child care

The Human Resources＆General Affairs Department sends information about our systems to support work-life balance along with a congratulatory message to both male employees who have recently become fathers and their line managers. By providing support to male employees who are involved in child care, we are working to create an environment in which employees can choose a workstyle that fits in with their lifestyle.

Key systems to support work-life balance

1. Childcare leave system:Employees can take a leave of up to 18 months, which exceeds the statutory leave of 12 months.
2. Short working hour system:Employees with elementary school-aged children or younger can take advantage of a shorter working hour system, choosing to work between five and seven hours per day (actual working time, with time added in 30-minute increments).
3. Nursing care leave system:Employees can take leave of up to 155 days, which exceeds the statutory leave of 93 days.
4. Personnel change grace period system:Employees are allowed a grace period for any personnel transfers involving relocation on the grounds of child care or nursing care.
5. Region-specific job system:Employees can choose to work in a specific region for the foreseeable future due to their private circumstances (having or raising a child).

Supporting the active participation of elderly human resources

We hold training for elderly employees who have reached a certain age to allay concerns about re-employment past mandatory retirement age and to increase their own understanding of their new role. The training program gets participants to think about their careers after re-employment past mandatory retirement age through consideration of how to work moving forward, discussions with senior employees, and messages from senior management. The active participation of elderly workers has huge potential upsides for both society and for SMBC Consumer Finance, and is becoming increasingly important. We are continuing to work on support measures such as training and reviewing systems, aiming to create a workplace environment where elderly employees can continue working with vitality.

Telework

On April 1, 2020, we introduced teleworking (excluding business operations which involve handling customer information), with the dual aims of “realizing diversity through the creation of a workplace environment that allows employees to choose their work style” and “improving productivity.” We encourage our employees to work remotely, not only at their own homes but also at satellite offices, which we subsidize the cost of.

Elimination of long working hours

We aim to improve employees’ work-life balance through measures designed to eliminate long working hours, such as months when we enforce no overtime days and the adoption of RPA based on BPR activities to increase business efficiency.

Relaxation of the dress code

To realize a more comfortable working environment, we have a relaxed dress code and employees can dress as they wish, provided they are presentable and that they take the time, place, and occasion into consideration.

SMBC Group DE&I Statement

The SMBC Group, including SMBC Consumer Finance, promotes measures to enable the active participation and growth of human resources from a diverse range of backgrounds, and is creating a workplace environment in which each employee can feel comfortable and motivated to work.

SMBC Group Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Statement

Message from the SMBC Group CEO

Respect for human rights

We have established a Statement on Human Rights as a premise for our various efforts to respect human rights.

To support employees' Self-Directed career ｄevelopment and active challenge and learning, we have an education policy and promote knowledge and skill development.

Training policies

1. Providing ongoing training for the career advancement of a diverse range of employees

Development framework