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Workplace Environment
SMBC Consumer Finance implements a range of initiatives to create a workplace environment and corporate culture that allows employees to enjoy physical, mental and social wellbeing and to work with vitality.
Workplace Environment
Diversity Initiatives
Message from the President
The Two "Samas" and Diversity & Inclusion
I believe that the two everyday Japanese phrases otagai sama meaning 'the same goes for me' and okage sama meaning 'thanks to you' are important.
SMBC Consumer Finance has a very diverse workforce. All of us have our strengths and weaknesses and none of us are perfect. One person's strength complements another's weakness. And when one thing complements another, something better is produced. Everyone also has a different personality. When such diverse personalities work together, they make a strong team, producing better results and leading to a better society.
For our sustainable growth also, diversity is essential, providing the momentum for growth. Which is why we all go about our work, covering for each other, encouraging each other when things get tough and being open to diversity.
It is also important to show appreciation by saying thank you or through your actions, rather than locking your feelings of gratitude away inside yourself.
The presence of someone different from yourself helps you see things from their perspective and makes you different. To understand each other, we must first show understanding for diversity by saying otagai sama (the same goes for me) and show appreciation for diversity by saying okage sama (thanks to you). I firmly believe that this is precisely what is meant by diversity & inclusion and that when diverse employees accept each other, this leads to innovation and contributes to the sustainable growth and development of society and business.
SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd.
Ryohei Kaneko, President & Representative Director
Support for the career advancement of women
Around half of our employees are women and the career advancement of women is an important theme which is crucial for diversity & inclusion at SMBC Consumer Finance.
We are focusing on systems that help women balance work and life and make it easier for them to continue working and strive to develop an environment for the provision of 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 a training program to encourage women to overcome issues faced specifically by women at each stage of their career, right through from young employees to management level.
Facts & figures on the career advancement of women
| ① Women's share of new hires |
* Not applicable to Regular employee(Specialist) and Contract employee |
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| ② Women's share of total workforce |
* Directly hired temporary employees include employees on an hourly wage, full-time staff, and directly hired employees who have equivalent level of roles with employees dispatched from staffing agencies. |
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| ③ Women's share of management positions |
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| ④ Occupational breakdown by gender and changes in type of employment |
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| ⑤ Gender difference in average length of service |
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| ⑥ Gender difference in takeup of childcare leave |
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* Figures for ②, ③ and ⑤ are as of April 1, 2022
* Figures for ①, ④ and ⑥ are FY2021 data.
Action Plan
| Plan period |
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| Three years from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023 |
| Target |
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| ① Increase women's share of management positions to 15.0% or more by March 31, 2023 ② Increase women's average length of service to 80.0% or more of the average for men by March 31, 2023 |
| Details of initiatives | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
① Increase women's share of management positions to 15.0% or more by March 31, 2023
② Increase women's average length of service to 80.0% or more of the average for men by March 31, 2023
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Support for work-life balance
To accommodate the diverse lifestyles of our employees, we have systems to support work-life balance to suit the individual circumstances of employees, including childcare and nursing care commitments.
Holding of work-life balance seminars
Every year, we hold the 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, including 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 employees 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 Personnel Department sends information about our systems to support work-life balance along with a congratulatory message to 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 which fits in with their lifestyle.
Key systems to support work-life balance
- ① Child care leave system
- Our employees can take 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 the short working hour system and can choose to work between five hours and seven hours (actual working time; with time added in 30-minute increments) per day.
- 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 period of grace for any personnel change associated with their relocation for child care or nursing care reasons.
- ⑤ Geographical mobility opt-out system
- Employees can take advantage of this system if they wish to work in a specific region for the foreseeable future due to their private circumstances (having or raising a child).
Support for the active participation of elderly human capital
We hold training for elderly employees who have reached a certain age to allay concerns after re-employment at 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 at mandatory retirement age through consideration of future workstyles, 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 increasingly important. We are working on support measures including holding training and reviewing systems, aiming to create a workplace environment where elderly employees can continue working with vitality.
Work style reform
Telework
On April 1, 2020, we introduced telework (excludes business operations which involve handling customer information), with the dual aims of "realization of diversity through the creation of a workplace environment that allows employees to choose their work style" and "improvement of 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 the work-life balance through measures 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 dress code
To realize a comfortable working environment, we have a relaxed dress code and employees can dress as they wish provided they take the time, the place, and the occasion into consideration and are presentable.
Work style reform in figures
| ① Average overtime hours per month |
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| ② Average overtime working hours per worker per month in each employment management category |
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| ③ Take-up of annual paid leave |
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* The figures for ①,② and ③ are FY2021 data.
Activities to raise awareness about diversity
Appointment of diversity promotion officers
Every department has a diversity promotion officer who implements initiatives to change employee perceptions about diversity and provide opportunities for the active participation of diverse human resources.
Unconscious bias training
We provide e-learning training on the theme of unconscious bias, which is important in a workplace where employees with diverse values, attributes and lifestyles work together, ensuring that the training can be accessed by employees at any time.
Human capital development
Development framework
SMBC Consumer Finance sees employees as "human capital" and believes in "supporting personal growth." As such, we are actively focusing on employee training in line with three training policies. We are also concentrating our efforts on the development of human capital "capable of sensing current needs based on changes and trends in the internal and external environment, carefully considering necessary action, and rising to the challenge of our transformation for the creation of new value."
Training policies
- 1. Provide training tailored to career needs
- 2. Encourage employees to develop skills
- 3. Provide ongoing training for the career advancement of diverse employees
Training framework
Skills development
For the sustainable development of the company, we encourage employees to develop their skills to adapt to changes in the internal and external environment. More specifically, we are working on various measures to promote the career advancement of diverse human capital, including building competency to learn knowledge and skills required to adapt to the external environment, selective training to systematically develop leaders, career development and work style reform.
Self- development
We implement open-access training and measures to support self-development and the gaining of qualifications to support employees who want to learn flexibly. More specifically, we provide open-access training and online training, and resources such as SMBC Business School and SMBC Group Joint Seminars to enable employees to master the knowledge and skills they wish to learn flexibly in order to advance their own careers. We have also introduced the SMBC Group Learning Management System (SMBC Group eCampus) to strengthen online learning.
Through the company-wide implementation of measures to support employees in gaining the "Chief of Money Lending Operations" qualification, which is key for those working in the money lending business, and through the establishment of a system to subsidize the cost of gaining qualifications, we seek to improve the value of our human capital.
Implementation of Health & Productivity Management
SMBC Consumer Finance enacted the “Health & Produtivity Management Declaration” on October 1, 2019 to maintain and improve the health of its employees, who are its greatest asset, and their families. At the same time , we elected a Chief Health Officer to better ensure implementation of health & productivity management.
Health & Productivity Declaration Statement
SMBC Consumer Finance is committed to “Health & Productivity Management”, to enable every employee to continue working energetically in good physical and mental health and delivering customer-oriented services for the realization of its Vision for the Future: Aiming 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 familiies to take the initative and maintain and improve their own health.
Election of Chief Health Officer (October 1, 2019)
Chief Health Officer: President and Representative Director
Health & Productivity Management Implementation Framework
We have assigned members of the Human Resources Department to four sites: the Head Office (Tokyo), Toyocho (Tokyo), Kyobashi (Osaka) and Gofukumachi (Fukuoka), to take charge of the health & productivity management of employees, and we have also established a Health & Productivity 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 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 & productivity management.
Health & Productivity Management Meetings
The Chief Health Officer, Health Officer, occupational health staff, the health insurance society, the General Manager of the Human Resources Department and the Human Resources Department secertariat hold Health & Productivity Management Meetings to identify issues concerning employees’ health and to determine health & productivity management KPIs, policy initiatives and measures.
Health & Productivity Management Implementation Policy
We aim to be a wellbeing company where employees can work with enthusiasm and energy.
- Our employees shall physically, mentally and socially healthy.
Goals
1. KPIs
2. Key Measures
- ① Measures against smoking
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- Subsidizing stop smoking treatment
- Reviewing smoking area rules and closing smoking areas
- ② Metabolic syndrome measures
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- Encouraging the transmission of information with employee participation via online newsletters and other media to raise employee awareness
- Supporting employees in their efforts to improve their lifestyle through the use of e-learning and apps, involvement in events and other means
- ③ Mental health care measures
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- Conducting stress tests and providing guidance and support to high stress departments on how they can improve
- Assigning members of the Human Resources Department to sites on a permanent basis to enhance the framework for quickly grasping information and providing advice
- ④ Initiatives for achieving appropriate ways of working (work-life balance)
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- “No overtime day” reinforcement month
- Introduction of telework, etc.
- ⑤ Initiatives to maintain and improve women's health
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- Educational measures for employees through e-learning and other tools
- ⑥ Internal club activities
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Promoting activities by introducing a subsidy system and other measures, with the aim of strengthening a sense of camaraderie and unity amongst employees and encouraging them to be healthy (102 clubs registered as of April 2020)
Health & Productivity Management Strategy Map
Recognized as “Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organization (Large Enterprise Category)”
In March 2022, SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd. was recognized as a “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.
Efforts to increase the employee satisfaction level
We are taking steps to not only increase the customer satisfaction level, but also create a working environment with a high employee satisfaction level. We are also striving to achieve a work-life balance for employees by supporting their life events and work at the same time, through measures such as introducing region-specific jobs and work in a reduced schedule, providing information to employees who have taken maternity leave and childcare leave, and holding a support seminar for return to work. For employees who wish to focus on self-improvement, we have also introduced correspondence courses to help them acquire qualifications such as the head of money lending operations and improve their skills. We are also enhancing the quantity and quality of welfare program menus by introducing a cafeteria plan*1, for example, 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 return to work, the planning and promotion of mental health education, the enhancement of cooperation with industrial doctors and industrial health staff, the establishment of a healthcare room and the holding of safety and health committee meetings.
*1 Cafeteria plan: A welfare program operation method by which points are granted to eligible employees each year so that they can choose and use the predetermined menus within the range of points granted.
*2 EAP: Employee Assistance Program
- SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd.
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Head Office
2-2-31,Toyosu,Koto-ku,Tokyo,135-0061,Japan
Copyright SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
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